I didn’t have the balls to go black so my naturally ashy blond hair is now platinum, with long bangs and snipped close to my neck up the back. I am in the little room, smoking and wishing I could pull off the downtown girly swish of Betsey Johnson dresses or big black-and-white polka dots like those girls from Strawberry Switchblade. I’d be a tempest in a circle skirt, complete with crinoline and a big fat scowl.
I rewind the cassette and the jingle-jangle of Strawberry Switchblade’s “Since Yesterday” kicks in. I realign the makeup mirror I’ve propped up on the desk beside my typewriter and try again.
It’s long past midnight. I have a test tomorrow, but couldn’t care. I hold the black eyeliner pencil as steady as I can and start lining my right eye. It stings a bit. I’ve wiped my eyes clean several times tonight already and the skin is red and sensitive.
I hold a clipping from Smash Hits up beside my face to compare. The right eye doesn’t look too bad, I think, but not as good as Jill’s or Rose’s. The left eye, however, is wonky. The inside part dips down too much and the wing spikes too high. I look like a psycho, or like I let my brother do it blindfolded.
I take a cigarette break and scrub the liner off with a damp washcloth already stained with thick swipes of black kohl. Then I rewind the cassette and start again.
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Image: Strawberry Switchblade, Smash Hits, December 6-19, 1984.
Welcome to the Little Room is a series of 250-word re-imagined vignettes from my ’80s youth with a focus on music and style. It appears weekly on periodicult.com.
