by Libby Hyde

“Sinead, you’re supposed to tuck that IN!”

“Will you PLEASE do my hair!?”

“Where are my shoes?”

“It looks weird tucked in.”

“I don’t want to wear this. I’ll get too hot!”

“Oh, Gina, that looks so cute!”

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It’s a lengthy process for STA girls to get ready to go out on the weekends. From picking out what you’re going to wear, to hair and make-up, let’s admit it. You’re going to be spending a while standing in front of the mirror.

Clothes laying all over freshman Basil Burnette’s room– falling off of hangers in the closet, thrown across the floor in a hurry to pick out something to wear, and overflowing drawers. It didn’t take much to realize this place was in a frenzy.

Freshman Gina Ptacek was rummaging through Burnette’s clothes, covering most of the floor, looking for something to wear; Freshman Gretchen Dudley was hurriedly eating a bowl of macaroni while Burnette was doing freshman Sinead McGonagle’s hair. Freshman Gracie Fleming was applying make-up in front of a small mirror. Within the first 10 minutes of this lengthy process of getting ready to go to the Fun concert April 7, Ptacek had tried on three different outfits, going from jean shorts, to high-waisted shorts, then to white shorts.

In the hour before the friends left for the Fun concert, a lot had been accomplished — a complete transformation from wild hair and bare faces, to smooth hair and lips now thickly coated with lip gloss.

“How long everything takes really depends on if I have to shower, or if I blow-dry and curl my hair and shave my legs,” Gracie said.

Gracie was wearing a pair of faded jean shorts and a blue striped crop top on the day of the Fun concert. She said that the clothes she wears are mostly practical pieces that fit her style.

Gracie’s routine on the weekends often involves getting ready with her friends at one of their houses. Gracie’s friends ask each other to do their make-up and hair, and they borrow each others’ clothes. The friends often ask each other for style tips as well.

But what’s so different about getting ready with your friends? Fleming says she is sometimes a part of her friends’ routines for getting ready to go out.

“When I get ready with [other people], I usually do my friends’ make-up, because I’m good at make-up,” Fleming said. “We all help each other pick out our outfits, and sometimes help each other with our hair.”

But why do STA girls spend so much time getting ready? Why do they dress the way they do?

“I think girls at STA invest so much time in getting ready to go out, because at school [students] don’t try at all,” Gracie said. “We only get 1 or 2 chances a week to really look nice, and we use those chances. We don’t get to see guys often, either.”