The Mother of All Bad Pictures
embarrassing, Fun December 27th, 2007In this season of giving, I present you with Blue on Blue — the worst picture in the history of picture-taking.
I once told someone I would only post this to the blog if I was drunk. But upon further reflection, I decided I can’t keep this to myself. Seeing it might actually make someone feel better about themselves.
This is a 12-year-old me taking part in a benefit walk for MS research. For the record, I am not color-blind. I thought this ensemble matched perfectly because most of the pieces had blue in them, some shade of blue. I can’t explain away anything about this picture: the white belt, the short shorts, the tube socks, the hair. Oh, the hair! It’s just so wrong from head to toe.
Enjoy this snapshot because there will never be another one like it. It is the single worst picture that exists of me outside my prom pictures, which are a whole different matter. For my junior year prom, I wore what looks like lingerie. In the senior prom picture, I look like Ma from Little House on the Prairie in a pink, lacy, bustled number that goes all the way up to my chin. If someone wants me to post them, you’re going to have to pay me. That, or I’ll need to be drunk.
Stumble it!
December 27th, 2007 at 7:10 pm
Aggggh…I’ve gone blind…you wouldn’t have any
college video laying around,, of you and your sorority
sisters at a wet T-shirt contest?…….nice socks,, at least you went with horizontal stripes instead of vertical… 🙂
gt281’s last blog post..LITTLE KNOWN FACTS……………..
December 27th, 2007 at 7:11 pm
Funny, for some reason it looked to me like you were on roller skates.
Anyway, the way things work, those shorts and socks will probably come back around in style again. Then you can claim you were “all that” in your day!
Jeff’s last blog post..Winter
December 27th, 2007 at 7:17 pm
I’ll start the bidding at $5.00 for the prom pictures!!
I can probably beat your worst. In college, I ran for homecoming king for independent organizations. My campaign photo was in a royal blue, crushed velvet vest suit with a lavender ruffled shirt. And I won the election!!
Lee’s last blog post..What Day Is It?
December 27th, 2007 at 7:42 pm
Oh, no. You just scared me. A lot. I think I’m going to have nightmares now…
December 27th, 2007 at 8:34 pm
It is not often I am rendered speechless.
Congratulations. I struggled to come up with just these few words.
🙂
Margaret’s last blog post..My Wish for Each and Every One Of You…
December 27th, 2007 at 9:26 pm
Oh PLEASE have a few drinks and show us the prom pics, because I am still laughing at your remarks. They are almost better than the photo. Jeff’s comments compliment the whole thing and I am still giggling!
December 27th, 2007 at 9:51 pm
Where do I send the booze.
janeywan’s last blog post..Reindeer Travel
December 27th, 2007 at 9:55 pm
What is so funny is my 11 year old daughter had a similar outfit on the other day- turquois gouchos, baby blue t-shirt, brown cardigan sweater, and red crock shoes. We were going to church and I looked at her…she said what, it all has blue in it!! I just turned on my heels and got in the car. I’m glad she’s confident to be herself!
Thanks for sharing that one truly out of the Junk Drawer!!
Sam’s last blog post..Borrowing is sometimes better
December 27th, 2007 at 10:46 pm
Get out the booze, Kathy… I WANT to see those photos!!!!
Maureen’s last blog post..Set The Wayback Machine to 1997 Sherman
December 27th, 2007 at 11:44 pm
The 70s and 80s were a cruel, cruel time for fashion. We all looked that bad back then. However, back then, we looked really cool. Just remember that.
Can’t wait to see your prom photos 🙂
Riayn’s last blog post..Movie Review: The Golden Compass
December 28th, 2007 at 2:41 am
I remember socks like that! They’re back in style here in France, BTW, although with spiffier outfits…
Betty C.’s last blog post..Can’t I have just a little more time?
December 28th, 2007 at 6:02 am
gt281 — I’m sorry. Maybe I should have put up a warning with a link to the picture so you didn’t have to be slapped in the face with it when you arrived here.
Jeff — Strangely enough, I do appear to be on skates. I’m walking uphill. Maybe that’s why. I wish you could have seen the shoes. If memory serves me, they were Adidas sneakers with green striping. Oh, the horror!
Lee — I promised I’d never put ads on my blog to make money, but perhaps I have another revenue source here: ugly pictures for auction. I’m picturing you in your get-up and I’m seeing that weird Burger King guy from their commercials. I’d kill to see a picture of that!
Regan — I had a nightmare, too. The day I realized how un-hot this look was.
Margaret — Then I’ve done my job well.
OSoNY — I was on the phone with my sister when we read the first comments that came in. We laughed so hard we couldn’t get through a conversation without snorting.
janeywan — 325 Thinks She’s Hot Road, Not a Chance, USA
Sam — It’s true. If you are confident in your look, nothing else matters. I absolutely thought I had it together in this picture!
Maureen — If I put them up, it occurs to me I’ll need to black out the eyes of my date to avoid a lawsuit. He wasn’t looking so fashionable, either.
Riayn — Those are the two decades that will never come back in style, I’m convinced. The only upside is that most people looked like that. Well, not like THIS picture.
Betty C. — Seriously? Tube socks with stripes? Oh my. Let’s just hope they look better with something else to match. Clearly, this was a mistake.
December 28th, 2007 at 6:05 am
I hate to tell you this, but 80s fashion is making a comeback. It is even more scary the second time around.
Riayn’s last blog post..Movie Review: The Golden Compass
December 28th, 2007 at 6:09 am
Riayn — Oh, no. Please don’t tell me that. At least maybe the big hair and shoulder pads won’t make a comeback. Nearly all of my suits and tops had pads in them. Truly awful!
December 28th, 2007 at 8:15 am
That isn’t SO bad. If I still had my grade 8 grad pic I’d share it. It was those tenuous times between mullets and grunge, and I had a frolet. That’s right, half fro, half mullet, and the worst grade 8 molester mustache you could imagine!
See, things could always be worse 😉
December 28th, 2007 at 8:56 am
I’ll up Lee’s opening bid of $5 to $10. I’ll even throw in an offer to post a picture of me with my “Mom Perm” from high school.
Kathy: You were/are CUTE!
JD’s last blog post..I Love Christmas so you HAVE to!
December 28th, 2007 at 9:19 am
Come on, I’m your niece! Can I at least see the pictures, maybe take them home, make my own blog and post the pictures on there all without you knowing?
If not I’ll continue the bid to $15.
December 28th, 2007 at 10:11 am
I’m in for $15 on the prom picture. Do I get copyright privileges for this investment?
December 28th, 2007 at 10:54 am
I am glad I gave all my old photos to my mom. She does not have a computer.
December 28th, 2007 at 12:19 pm
This pictures screams 1980s and for some reason I can’t get the image of Jennifer Beals in Flashdance out of my head.
December 28th, 2007 at 2:25 pm
[using my jedi mind powers]
You want to show us your prom pictures…
Jon’s last blog post..What’s Your Favorite Photograph of 2007?
December 28th, 2007 at 3:56 pm
LOL! That pic looks like several of mine from high school, except I had a bad Dorothy Hamil haircut. And I too had an up-to-the-chin prom dress — made by my mother. Unbelievably scary.
December 28th, 2007 at 4:26 pm
I love it!
Now you know that since you have acknowledged the existence of even worse picturs than this, you have so show them.
I think we all have really bad, embarrasing high-school pictures.
You still look the same, though. You have aged well, as they say.
Jacki’s last blog post..Tillykke med Fødseldag, Peter!
December 28th, 2007 at 5:49 pm
Mike — A frolet! I’m imagining it and you look hideous. I do believe I would pay to see that picture.
JD — I’m starting to think we should have some kind of cross-blog “Ugly Off” to see who looked the worst in our early years. Could your “Mom Perm” have possibly looked any worse than my natural afro parted down the middle?
Regan — The chances are growing more and more likely that I will post my prom pictures. But I may have to warn gt281 ahead of time, so I don’t blind him again.
Rich — You will get no such thing unless there’s a boatload of money in it for me.
anti — So far, you are the only one known to be safe. Keep it that way!
lotus07 — I want you to know that I sang the song from Flashdance for at least two hours after reading your comment. Please don’t do that again. When I post the prom pictures (assuming I do), we’ll all be singing something horrible from the Journey years.
Jon — Your mind meld powers must be working. I’m planning to dig out the pictures and scan them. As long as I don’t chicken out at the last minute, they’ll be posted to The Junk Drawer sometime soon!
Carla — Oh, I’m so sorry you had to wear something homemade. Do you still have the dress? What a hoot!
Jacki — Oh, thank you! I might also dig around for some of my other school pictures. I don’t have all that many from those years. Wonder why….
December 28th, 2007 at 6:37 pm
Yes, I still have the dress. It’s hidden in a storage facility where no one can ever see it.
The dress being homemade wasn’t the worst of it, because my mom was a professional seamstress and the dress was well-made. What makes it SO bad is that it was long-sleeved (in the summer!), made out of a weird burnt orange material and had a full skirt — complete with a fluffy, multi-layered slip that rustled when I walked. But as cheesy as it was, it was better than the dresses my friends wore. Hoop skirts were actually in style for prom dresses in 1977, so my friends had even bigger skirts than me. Theirs extended out two feet at the bottom in all directions, held in place by round plastic hoops.
December 28th, 2007 at 6:45 pm
Carla — Good Lord. Then I guess you count yourself lucky. My pink one was hot, and I don’t mean I looked hot. The pink dress for my senior prom was long-sleeved, as well. Every inch of me, except my face, was covered in layers and layers of lace. I’ve located the junior prom picture, but have to find the senior one yet. I know it’s somewhere. I just saw it the other month somewhere. Must be in a different box.
December 28th, 2007 at 8:30 pm
lol…you were a slave to the 70s fashion. Oh the socks! Why did we wear them like that? LOL
Your prom dress sounds like mine…all the way up to the neck…lace…again the style.
You have to post them now…it’s only fair. 😉
DrowseyMonkey’s last blog post..Something for You from Me
December 28th, 2007 at 8:40 pm
Ok come on let’s see em….:):)..on second thought if Drowsey Monkey sees that she and Olga will be bugging me about posting my pic when I was three and running nude on the beach…..:):):)
robert bourne’s last blog post..The Summer That Was
December 28th, 2007 at 8:47 pm
Personally, I think the socks are fantastic. But I’m a fan of stripes and pink, so do with that info what you will.
StephanieC’s last blog post..wear for the lazy
December 28th, 2007 at 8:55 pm
DrowseyMonkey — I remember buying multi-packs of those socks and spending an inordinate amount of time deciding whether to get the green stripes or the blue stripes. As if it mattered. I’m sorry the picture is cut off, because as I mentioned to Jeff, I believe my sneakers had green stripes, NOT blue. So below the knee, I was green, red and blue. Not a match in sight.
Robert — Nude at 3 is cute. Color-challenged at 12 is sad. Be glad you were cute. And I dare you to post that on your blog. It’s not as easy as it looks.
StephanieC — Pink would have sent this picture right over the edge. Can you imagine? No, don’t!
December 28th, 2007 at 10:57 pm
Kathy, Like Jeff, for some reason I think you’re on rollerblades. Other than that, it looks great to me. You were a little cutie.
December 29th, 2007 at 6:47 am
Bernie — I think you may need to up the prescription on your glasses. If you don’t wear glasses, you need a pair! Oh, and thinking back, I could have used rollerblades that day. The charity walk was 20 miles. Trying that now would kill me. I did a walk for Meals on Wheels a few years back, and that was only six miles. I couldn’t walk for two days after that, and I thought I was in shape!
December 30th, 2007 at 5:52 pm
Whoa!
Let’s take a moment to gather our thoughts and turn this ‘fashion no’ moment into a marketing machine that will convert your readers “Oh-My!” reactions into a tasty, ice cold beverage buzz!
1) Download the WordPress “Buy me a Beer” Plug-in here:
http://tinyurl.com/2fv26u
2) People vote for more “silly” pictures with ‘beer votes’
3) You get free beer.
4) You get happy.
5) You post more photos!
The epitome of Win-Win!
It’s part of my new book: BigNerd’s Five Steps To Success Through Blogging And Humiliating Yourself To Make People Want More And Give You Things For Free. (See Amazon.com for pre-orders)
I personally have a hand full of beer tokens ready to plop through the slot of your Way-Back Machine.
I’m sure I’m not alone.
BigNerd’s last blog post..Dead Pixel Tester
December 30th, 2007 at 9:02 pm
BigNerg — I’ve seen that plug-in and considered installing it. Of course, I’d have to change it to “buy me a cup of coffee” since I don’t drink. But yeah, this sounds like a great win-win situation. I vowed never to put ads on my blog, but I just might do this! Excellent idea, and funny the way you put it. Got a big kick out of it!
January 1st, 2008 at 10:32 am
It’s not that bad Kathy, considering when it was taken. You were probably so in style back then, lol. Now don’t try to wear that to any party any time soon. I won’t even post old or new pictures of myself. I don’t think anybody every combed my hair when I was a kid. They had hoped it would just comb itself. Not!
Natural Woman’s last blog post..Money Monday Tip #8
January 1st, 2008 at 2:52 pm
Natural Woman — You (and others) are being too kind. I look at this picture and cannot imagine I was in any kind of style. About the hair — you should see my kindergarten picture. Total rat’s nest. Hmmm, might have to bring that one out of hiding…..
January 2nd, 2008 at 3:01 pm
Come on, Kathy. That is not an awful or ugly photo of you. I think we all tend to be hard on ourselves, especially the way we photograph. In every one of my childhood photos I look like Ralphie in “A Christmas Story.” Funny, post. -Michael.
Mr. Grudge’s last blog post..First Name, Last name, Shouldn’t be a Pain
January 2nd, 2008 at 3:41 pm
Mike — You are way, way too kind. Also, I think you may be blind. When’s the last time you had your eyes checked. Ralphie is such a cutey. Would love to see one of those!
January 6th, 2008 at 6:41 pm
Kathy not a bad pic at all. I like it. I am sure their is one worse you wouldn’t post on your blog.
You write some funny stuff, keep it coming.
Gale Rainwater’s last blog post..Reflection of Longs Peak at sunrise in Bear Lake, Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado
January 6th, 2008 at 7:18 pm
Gale — The worst ones have been burned.