Ah, Boy Meets World, part of ABC’s TGIF lineup. It was never a critics’ darling, nor did it pull in a huge number of viewers or a lot of shares in the household demos, but who doesn’t remember Boy Meets World? Cory, his BFF Shawn, his goofy older brother Eric who went on to be the voice of Batman Beyond, Mr. Feeny, and the girl-next-door, Topanga Lawrence.
Seriously, who names his or her kid Topanga?
You guys remember Topanga, or as I always think of her, To-po-gi-gio. (That was what this one chick that was into Cory called her. It was funny.)
In case you don’t, here she is.
Topanga always had an interesting fashion sense: Lots of full hemmed skirts, blazers, printed dresses past the calves, combat boots, white leggings, cowboy boots…
…It was interesting.
She loved mixing together prints and patterns and she only wore flats or boots. So if that’s similar to your style, or something you’d like to incorporate into your style, try this on for size.
And if you’re not crazy about the shoes, substitute with a pair of heels and you’ve got a look that is understatedly Topanga.
Solid Sheath Dress in Black ………. $21.99
Checks and Balances Blazer ………. $49.95
Buckle Flat ………. $15
Woven Wire Puffed Heart Pendant ………. $10.15
I picked a black sheath dress rather than one of her huge poofy skirts or her long but not quite maxi dresses, just because this piece is nicer, in my opinion, and it’s more versatile. You can wear it with plenty of other things and create completely different looks, and I figured you’d appreciate that.
Topanga often wore printed blazers. It gave her a very business woman look, which was weird because she was 14. Now, in the wardrobe department’s defense, that’s a difficult age when it comes to dressing a kid. After all, she wasn’t a child anymore; she had sweater puppies at that age.
But she was still supposed to be in that middle school/high school stage, so they didn’t want to sexualize her. (And now that I’m thinking back, they did a great job not overly sexualizing her, even in high school and college. Sure, her clothes were tight – and her sweater puppies were massive by that point – but she was always covered up and her tops weren’t ever scandalously low. Kids playing fifth graders have lower cut tops nowadays than she did back in the mid-nineties. You go, ABC.)
And they couldn’t really put her in licensed clothing, like Winnie the Pooh sweatshirts or whatever. Well, I guess they could have, since Disney is the parent company of ABC. Hm. But you know what I mean. They couldn’t dress her too old and they couldn’t dress her too young and that just leaves turtlenecks and frankly, I think all turtlenecks everywhere should be burned, so that’s that.
So they went with blazers and jean jackets and long dresses, and it kind of worked because in elementary Topanga was the weird kid with hair that went on for days and Cory always made fun of her for it, so now that she’s in high school or whatever, her personality isn’t really that weird anymore (she doesn’t talk about glowing auras or do interpretive dances in the cafeteria) but they can still channel that little bit of harmless, non-threatening eccentricity in her style.
So, okay. That explains the blazer from Anthropologie. Aren’t you impressed that I was able to blow half my budget on one item and still put a look together? I’m boss.
Anyway, instead of going with cowboy boots or combat boots like Topanga would have, I went with flats, just because…it’s less weird. And like I said, if it’s still too weird for you, and I don’t blame you, just put on a pair of pretty heels. Black. White. (I don’t like white shoes. Don’t wear white. Okay, fine, wear white. No, don’t! Okay…wear white, but lie to me about not wearing white.) Blue would actually be lovely, maybe a nice, vibrant teal. A bright, happy purple would be a great choice. Purple shoes are so underrated.
And I threw in a little necklace just because I had like $13 left over, and I just thought Topanga would have some sentimental little trinket necklace that she always wore, probably made from something Jedediah found during their very first (of many) family trips to the Badlands.
And there we have a little outfit inspired by Mrs. Cory Matthews. :) Oh, my childhood. Okay, not really. Mama Hoomster never let me watch Boy Meets World when it was on ABC. She thought it was a naughty show and didn’t want any part of that. I watched it once the reruns hit the Disney channel.
