The popular girls

[justginger]

I'm brainstorming for a novel. What I need to know is...what did the popular girls in YOUR high school do? And by that, I suppose I mean what did they do to show unity?

For example, our high school had 2 pseduo-sororities. Not joking. They had hell week and the whole 9 yards. Some of the things they did to outwardly show they were together (so to speak) was keeping their nails painted certain colors, having specific hair ties, wearing coordinating bracelets, etc.

What sort of behavior did cliques in your school engage in to show everyone that they were a unit? I'm honestly getting a bit old to remember the ins and outs of high school now!

 

[Jennifer W]

I honestly don't recall anything like that. Maybe I was too unpopular to even to know about the depths of my unpopularity?

I still hang out with the old crowd occasionally - I'll ask at our next wine night, see what they recall. I suspect we were just too damp, cold and depressed to have popular cliques though. It was Scotland in the 1980s.

 

[mrscushion]

At my school, they were perma-tanned. Almost all of them had long, blond hair. They all chose tennis as their sport. That'll all I can remember.

 

[Dancing Fire]

What sort of behavior did cliques in your school engage in to show everyone that they were a unit? I'm honestly getting a bit old to remember the ins and outs of high school now!

big bell bottom pants...

 

[armywife13]

Bleach their hair blonde, tan themselves until they are orange, shop, gossip, and sleep around

 

[Gypsy]

Called each other up and wore the same colors most days. Green days, blue days... it was sad. And they all drove VW Jettas. Herd of sheep.

 

[amc80]

Can't really help. While my school definitely had cliques, everyone was still friends or friendly with everyone else. I think it's because I grew up in a small town. There were four elementary schools (1 "town" one and 3 country ones, which only had one class per grade), one middle school, and one high school. So by the time high school came we knew everyone.

 

[partgypsy]

These were more the "cool" girls than the popular ones, but I remember going to a party and a number of them had all dyed their hair black. I can understand people changing their hair to show their individuality, but it's not that individual if all your friends do it too!

That and various clothes fashions which I can't reall recall. for example they would wear anklet socks at gym versus the standard issue knee high socks (so they can show off their impeccably groomed legs).

 

[marymm]

The "popular girls" at my HS were the football and basketball cheerleaders - they wore the fashionable trendy clothing and hairstyles seen in Seventeen magazine, and wore a bit more makeup too. They definitely seemed concerned with image and tended to the same brand names in clothing, makeup, cars, accessories, etc. Most of them had quite a bit of school spirit and were involved in other school activities like gymnastics or diving or student government. Some of them did bleach their hair but a lot of other girls did too - and some of them were mean and gossipy but other girls in other cliques were too. They did seem louder and more noticeable in how they conducted themselves when they were all together. They had their own lunch table in the cafeteria and their own "spot" outside in the quad (as did all the other cliques). The cheerleaders' and football/basketball players' lockers were all located in the same area, lining a covered hallway - always a lot of action in this area in terms of the girls and boys showing off to each other or engaging in some kind of drama. Because they were cheerleaders they had to make decent grades and a couple of them were brainiacs - one of the most popular was a long distance runner and known for her kind nature.

 

[ame]

They all dressed similarly, they all used Clinique makeup, touched up all at the same time, their nails were always done the same (usually fakes with french manicure or red polish), all were tanned like leather, and had Z Cavaricci and Guess Jeans, the bangs...ugh the hair....ew, and they all had expensive purses and nice cars when they turned 16. They also were all rail thin, and dancers and cheerleaders. Theyh ad a specific corner of the lunchroom too.

 

[Haven]

Just in case you'll be writing about the outsider's perspective of these girls:

One thing I've noticed is that the only people who really seem to pay all that much attention to the popular girls are the girls who either want to be a part of that clique, or the very unpopular girls who feel targeted by the popular girls. (This second group exists only in a mean girls sort of situation.)

Otherwise, high school kids have their own groups and they tend to be extremely self-involved, so they don't spend a lot of time worrying about kids that are outside of their social circle. This was true for me in high school, and this is what I observed when teaching high school.

I attended a huge suburban high school (4,000+ students), and taught in a mid-size suburban high school (2,800 students).

I can't remember a popular clique in high school, but I think our school was way too big for any one group to be popular. There was a group of popular girls in middle school, though. They were just the rich kids who had all the brand-name clothes and fancy perms. Yes, I attended school in the age of perms and tight-rolled jeans. This is why I'll never share school pictures.

HAPPY WRITING! I'm in revisions right now on my own book, which has an 11-year-old male MC.

ETA: One thing I DO remember from HS is that it was very UNCOOL to get bad grades. I attended a public school, but it was very competitive. You would not be cool if you were a bad student. It was also cool to be involved in clubs and sports, though we had so many cheerleaders that they weren't their own clique, and I don't think that was a sign of coolness.

 

[Octavia]

I don't remember them doing anything to show unity -- but I went to a very small, K-12 school where everyone knew everyone, who was friends with whom, who was dating whom, etc. So there was really no need for cliques to set themselves apart in any way. Some of the popular girls did tend to dress more fashionably (but not all of them) and a lot were on the soccer team (but again, not all --some played other sports and some didn't play at all). I was in the "one step below the cool crowd" group, and I don't think we ever did anything to show solidarity either. It just wasn't that kind of environment. The social order seemed to have been set somewhere around kindergarten/first grade and just didn't change much from there -- I don't know if I was lucky or not in that I transferred into that district in middle school, so I was always a "newcomer" and therefore not eligible to be really cool, but I also didn't have my early years held against me, haha...I was really awkward as a kid!

 

[innerkitten]

I went to a high school for the arts that was within a regular public school here in San Francisco. I graduated in 89. Being an art school and being in San Francisco things were not totally like the average U.S high school. Thinking back I guess a lot of the popular girls were running for class president and stuff like that. Many some were cheerleaders cause all their friends were etc. We used to call those types of preppy kids "apple heads". I don't know where that came from though.

I hung out with a group of arty punky girls so I guess you could say it was a clique and one thing we all did was speak a secret language. First it was turkey irish ( do any of you guys know that one ), but then when the code was cracked by some of our younger siblings we switched to gibberish.

 

[Haven]

I went to a high school for the arts that was within a regular public school here in San Francisco. Being an art school and being in San Francisco things were not totally like the average U.S high school. Thinking back I guess a lot of the popular girls were running for class president and stuff like that. Many some were cheerleaders cause all their friends were etc. We used to call those types of preppy kids "apple heads". I don't know where that came from though.

I hung out with a group of arty punky girls so I guess you could say it was a clique and one thing we all did was speak a secret language. First it was turkey irish ( do any of you guys know that one ), but then when the code was cracked by some of our younger siblings we switched to gibberish.

Idiguy spidigeek gidigibidigeridish!!!! Midiguy sidigisdidigers idigand idiguy stidigill yidiguse idigit idigall thidiguh tidigime!

 

[madelise]

There were different type of popular girls at my HS. The ASB-popular and the wanna-be-sorority-popular. Well, those ASB students were also part of another wanna-be-sorority so.. I guess they were all just in these fake sororities.

They were "service clubs" that had "rush" every fall. They held socials and did very few volunteer or service hours. They had dances. They all hung out with each other. A few of those "sororities" didn't have the "popular" girls. They truly were trying to just bond with each other and do service hours. But 1 in particular was really mean. They hazed all their girls. The girls had to be REALLY PRETTY (for high school). They had a "brother club" that would have guys that would either date them or just socialize with them ALL THE TIME.

They all had similar hair. All layered haircuts with side swept bangs. Some highlighted blonde, some bleached all blonde, some bleached brown or red or whatever. But they were all similar. Their eyebrows were all the same. Their clothing was all the same. Abercrombie & Fitch. If you were cool in HS, you had to break your parents' banks and buy nothing but Abercrombie clothing. $50+ tops and $100 jeans. And post online all your cool new purchases. Because they never wore those same clothes. They always bought new ones.

I was friends with a girl in that club, and I remember she drove herself and her family so broke that she broke into her grandmother's room to steal a few yellow gold jewelry to sell for cash at a local jewelry store. I went with her. I told her she was stupid, but whatever. She "had" to have that $20 to pay for her social event! So she'd steal jewelry from her grandma, but she'd spend whatever cash she had on her Abercrombie and Louis Vuitton purses. LV IN HIGH SCHOOL! Who the hell even wore purses in high school??! I wore a backpack. Or a large tote bag.

She soon backstabbed me and spread rumors about me to her club and to the whole school. I should have known. Eh. Most of them now are still just as superficial. Half of them are failures in life, and the other half actually hold semi-decent positions at their profession. None were "great" though. That girl that backstabbed me? She works at Starbucks now.


ETA: ASB = Associated Student Body. President, VP, secretary of the student activities.. and etc.

 

[partgypsy]

That's weird about the dyed blonde hair and the tans. We did not have that, the only girl I knew who tanned like that was a body builder. Although I lived in an affluent suburb I really didn't notice people flaunting expensive clothes or accessories that people here are talking about. I went to High School 25 years ago has it changed that much? And girls didn't wear too much makeup, was considered declasse to do so.
Yeah the various groups, some which overlapped (jocks/cheerleaders, the school council, smart/outgoing students with lots of extracurricular activities like the newspaper or language clubs, the drama club people, punk rockers, nerds, and the burnouts. I hung out primarily with the nerds and punkers, but then again a lot of people overlapped categories. When I went to my HS reunion with one exception it was refreshing that people were just people and everyone got along.

 

[jaysonsmom]

I set to a small private school in Germany....they all left campus to smoke during recesses.

 

[innerkitten]

I went to a high school for the arts that was within a regular public school here in San Francisco. Being an art school and being in San Francisco things were not totally like the average U.S high school. Thinking back I guess a lot of the popular girls were running for class president and stuff like that. Many some were cheerleaders cause all their friends were etc. We used to call those types of preppy kids "apple heads". I don't know where that came from though.

I hung out with a group of arty punky girls so I guess you could say it was a clique and one thing we all did was speak a secret language. First it was turkey irish ( do any of you guys know that one ), but then when the code was cracked by some of our younger siblings we switched to gibberish.

Idiguy spidigeek gidigibidigeridish!!!! Midiguy sidigisdidigers idigand idiguy stidigill yidiguse idigit idigall thidiguh tidigime!

Odogo wowdagow! Itagits hadagard todagoo wridigite.

 

[Haven]

I went to a high school for the arts that was within a regular public school here in San Francisco. Being an art school and being in San Francisco things were not totally like the average U.S high school. Thinking back I guess a lot of the popular girls were running for class president and stuff like that. Many some were cheerleaders cause all their friends were etc. We used to call those types of preppy kids "apple heads". I don't know where that came from though.

I hung out with a group of arty punky girls so I guess you could say it was a clique and one thing we all did was speak a secret language. First it was turkey irish ( do any of you guys know that one ), but then when the code was cracked by some of our younger siblings we switched to gibberish.

Idiguy spidigeek gidigibidigeridish!!!! Midiguy sidigisdidigers idigand idiguy stidigill yidiguse idigit idigall thidiguh tidigime!

Odogo wowdagow! Itagits hadagard todagoo wridigite.

Idiguy knididgow! Idigit tidigook midigee idigay lidigong tidigime tidigoo gidiget idigit ridigight!

Thidigis cidigood bidigee fidigun, thidigough!

 

[justginger]

Thank you, all. It seems as if my high school was the outlier, with the exception of one other person who had these "little girl sororities." I agree that most cliques were self-involved but with behavior like coordinating clothes and terribly styled hair (done by older members of their "club"), these girls made sure they were impossible to NOT notice. We'll see where I can go with it.

 

[canuk-gal]

HI:

Had great expensive watches, gorgeous diamond and colored stone jewellery...Oh wait a minute; those are the PS girls!

cheers--Sharon

 

[innerkitten]

I went to a high school for the arts that was within a regular public school here in San Francisco. Being an art school and being in San Francisco things were not totally like the average U.S high school. Thinking back I guess a lot of the popular girls were running for class president and stuff like that. Many some were cheerleaders cause all their friends were etc. We used to call those types of preppy kids "apple heads". I don't know where that came from though.

I hung out with a group of arty punky girls so I guess you could say it was a clique and one thing we all did was speak a secret language. First it was turkey irish ( do any of you guys know that one ), but then when the code was cracked by some of our younger siblings we switched to gibberish.

Idiguy spidigeek gidigibidigeridish!!!! Midiguy sidigisdidigers idigand idiguy stidigill yidiguse idigit idigall thidiguh tidigime!

Odogo wowdagow! Itagits hadagard todagoo wridigite.

Idiguy knididgow! Idigit tidigook midigee idigay lidigong tidigime tidigoo gidiget idigit ridigight!

Thidigis cidigood bidigee fidigun, thidigough!

Yedigis itigit idigis!

 

[AGBF]

Had great expensive watches, gorgeous diamond and colored stone jewellery...Oh wait a minute; those are the PS girls!

That's why I'm here! I phoned MZ last night and she said Sharon and she were going to wear high karat Gurhan on Wednesday. I didn't want people to think I wasn't one of the group, so I made absolutely certain to have my Gurhan out of the safety deposit box and ready to wear on Wednesday, too. It would be just too, too embarassing if everybody else in the crowd wore Gurhan on Wednesday and I didn't!

AGB-Popular Girl-F

 

[SB621]

In my highschool, which i attend from 98-01' all the popular girls dated the same guy...seriously, I look back now and it is sort of disgusting. But popular girl A would date popular guy A. Then they would break up and popular girl B would date Popular guy A. It just went on and on. I think the group of 8 girls pretty much all dated the same 2 maybe 3 guys.

 

[JuneRose]

In my school they actually called themselves "the clique". They all had nicknames too.

 

[missy]

In my highschool, which i attend from 98-01' all the popular girls dated the same guy...seriously, I look back now and it is sort of disgusting. But popular girl A would date popular guy A. Then they would break up and popular girl B would date Popular guy A. It just went on and on. I think the group of 8 girls pretty much all dated the same 2 maybe 3 guys.

Yuk! That is sort of incestuous and gross.

I can barely remember that far back but I don't remember any big distinction but there were a lot of cliques back in HS. Jocks/cheerleaders were in one but I don't remember one group being more popular than another per se. Just lots of different groups.