If you went through a phase in your teen years where you redid your entire wardrobe/worldviews to mimic a band or cultural movement you thought was "cool," you're part of a long tradition that is keeping Hot Topic in business. Maybe you were goth, punk, emo, or a white guy with dreads.
Or maybe, like me, you paired parachute pants with a puka shell necklace and went to Dave Matthews Band concerts dressed as Avril Lavigne. It was that classic combo of trying to fit in while also being "unique" that defines so many people's awkward-yet-exciting teenage years.
Someone recently asked Reddit: "What's the cringiest teenage phase you went through?" And here are 33 of the best responses that I am in no position whatsoever to make fun of, having worn a tie and a fedora in public on multiple occasions:
1.) From galejprz:
There was a time in my mid-teens where I could grow my sideburns out but no other facial hair to accompany it. I thought the sideburns looked cool on their own, but upon further review, they did not.