1. Black Velvet: "When I first moved to Los Angeles, my neighbor and I were [window-shopping] and I saw this velvet coat with flowers embroidered on it. I was like, `Oh my gosh! It`s so cool.` It was around my birthday, and three days later, he showed up with a box! I`d never really received clothes that I liked as a gift."

2. Dress Her Up: "I bought this yellow dress in New York City at a vintage store. I`ve always worn black, but in the past year and a half I`ve thought, `You need to wear some colors, and you need to be a little more feminine.` I grew up a tomboy outside of Boston. I thought I was a boy until I was ten years old!"

3. Fashion Emergency: "I was in Amsterdam on New Year`s Eve, and it was absolutely freezing. It started to rain, and I was near this big market right in the center of the city, and I saw that coat. It`s completely quilted inside, all the way down to my shins. I got drenched in that thing, and I was still cozy. And I got it for like, a hundred dollars."

4. Mom Knows Best: "My mom gave me this sequined bag for my senior prom last year. She`d had it for ages. It was one of those meaningful things, like, `Here, honey, you`re a big girl [now]. You`re going to your prom.` I wore it with my fake Gucci dress that my brother got for me on a street corner."

5. Hot Couture: "My manager gave me this Marc Jacobs furry skirt the Christmas before last. I never wore it then because when I got it I was like, `I`m sixteen. How dare she give me [such] a [sexy] skirt.` But now I`m so into it. My manager is like my big sister, and she kind of turned me into a girl."

6. Brownie Points: "I got my brown boots at a steal - fifty bucks on a street corner. I love them, but they had this little flap that went up, and they looked really funny when I wore them. I took them to four different cobblers before I found a place right down the street where they knew how to fix them."

7. Cowabunga: "I bought my cow slippers with my grandma and my mom in Battle Creek, Mich. Kellogg`s Corn Flakes are made there, and the whole town smells like them. We went into a department store, and the slippers were the one thing we could all agree on."

8. Good Jeans: "My trusty Calvin Klein`s are my favorite jeans in the world. I bought them in Manhattan at Canal Jean Co., and I wear them all the time."

9. Whiteout: "White Jack Purcell sneakers were totally the trend when I was in high school, I was first in line at the store to grab them. This is my second pair of the exact same shoes. The first ones got all dirty and worn out."

10. Purse Snatcher: "I bought this bag just the other day. My next-door neighbor had a little yard sale, and everything was like, a buck. She said, `Take it, take it.` And it was really great, so I did."

Reprinted from Teen People - August 1999