Dress for class, dress for style

Ellen McCarty

HUNTINGTON BEACH -- It’s OK to send your kids back to school in their

slippers, as long as they’re made of plush leopard skin -- this fall’s

hot pattern for shoes and accessories.

Girls love leopard-skin lunch boxes, furry leopard-skin pens and

leopard-skin head scarves -- anything that makes the classroom look like

a wild kingdom, said Carrie Benoit of Surf City Casuals. The store owner

hopes her Labor Day sale will make up for business lost during this

month’s beach closure.

Butterflies are nothing new, but neither is Badtz Maru and Hello Kitty,

cartoon characters that decorate this year’s quick-selling backpacks for

kids.

Some older students will haul books around in Jan Sport packs with

special pockets for skateboards -- even if they don’t have one -- and

both girls and guys will strut their stuff in “etnies,” surfboard shoes

that, to the untrained eye, look like any other sports shoe.

“I just like the way they look,” said Ashley Ginbey, 12, holding up a white and pastel-blue version of the big shoe. “A lot of people wear

Adidas, but I don’t like them.”

Her mother, Karin, who just returned from a crowded Esprit outlet, said

she expects to spend about $400 on back-to-school clothes for Ashley and

her 7-year-old son, Shane, who will attend Rancho Santa Margarita schools

this year.

“There’s hardly any people down here today,” she said while shopping on

Main Street. “It’s great.”

Of those stores that have had business during the beach closure, dark

blue jeans with lots of pockets are popular staples for guys as are

bright blue, orange, yellow and red shirts that exclaim single words like

“hola!” “Indonesia!” and “Tokyo,” said Kurt Chrestensen, a spokesman for

Sakal Surfboards.

Even with basic styles like jeans and T-shirts, not everyone dresses

alike, said Michael Nitti, a Huntington Beach High School student who

works at Huntington Surf and Sport.

The 16-year-old competitive surfer prefers more conservative white shoes

and T-shirts, while his best friend, Jon Gorak, 17, dons solid, bright

colors, he said. You can catch both of them in revived and reversible

fisherman hats and rip-resistant canvas pants, but Nitti said he’s saving

most of his money for a new wetsuit.

Until the beach is safe again, guys are spending money, not on

surfboards, but on Pokeman game trading cards, Chrestensen said. Trendy

girls are loopy over Crystal Power bracelets and “invisible” wire

headbands, but the down-to-earth students prefer less flashy jewelry made

of hemp, Benoit said.

Her 15-year-old daughter, Jennifer, said the most popular fashion ideas

originate on MTV, but she doesn’t allow herself to be brainwashed by the

fleeting hype.

“I’ve always liked picking out my own styles,” she said. “I try to have

my own identity and not look like everyone else.”