Do you ever look back at old pictures and cringe? I know I do! As those middle school pictures pop up on my time hop, I find myself asking: "What in the actual hell were my parents thinking letting me leave the house in that state?!" Middle schoolers nowadays seem to skip the "awkward-ugly" stage we all went through. Though it is definitely a fashion that is uncool now, it was "in" back in our day, and to be honest, we totally rocked it.

1. Blue eye shadow / Half and half eye shadow.

If I could go back in time and slap myself for a phase it would be this one. When I say blue eye shadow, I mean bright aqua blue. No matter the color of my outfit, blue eye shadow was a must. Along with blue eye shadow, half and half eye shadow was pretty cool. Half white and half black was my go to, but any combination of colors could be used. The key element was NOT to blend the two colors together.

2. Thick black eyeliner.

To top off the makeup look, thick black eyeliner was a must-have for any middle school girl, no matter what kind of eye shadow you wore.

3. Sequins.

Purses, shirts, really anything that could possibly have sequins did have sequins.

5. Thick hard headbands.

6. Pre-Wrap.

You either had your hair slicked back or you had your bangs still out, but either way, pre-wrap was used for every practice and game.

7. Gauchos.

If you didn't have a pair of these, you're lying. This was the ultimate middle school girl dress up attire for concerts, dances, game days, and really for anything you needed to dress up for.

8. Platform flip flops.

Because you needed an appropriate shoe to go with those gauchos, am I right?

9. Spaghetti strap tank tops.

Whether this was over a shirt, under a shirt, or all by itself, it didn't matter. All styles were popular.

10. Tight graphic tees.

These types of shirts were literally ALL you owned. Abercrombie and Hollister shirts were a must!

11. Hoodies tied around the waist.

If you got hot, no worries just tie that hoodie around your waist, everyday did it. This trend seems to be making a comeback, only with flannel.

12. Soffe shorts.

I'm not going to lie, I had a pair of these shorts in just about every single color possible.

Middle school was a trying time. We all thought we looked so cool, but as we look back we can see that we were sorely mistaken. If only we could go back in time

Enjoy some more awkwardness from middle school:

For some reason, this was a very popular pose for our group... also, sports shoes WITHOUT crew socks used to be a thing.

Because, you know, matching.

Peace signs, am I right?