Forgotten mall store Weathervane's 2000s zine
Tunes, polls, poetry, horoscopes, and more. You never forget your first thong!
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Even if you are from Connecticut, Massachusetts, or New York, there’s still a chance you may not remember Weathervane. Here’s a quick introduction for the uninitiated:
“Every girl asks herself: “What am I going to wear?”
Whether it’s for school, gym class, a big date, babysitting or just hanging out, do you find you are constantly asking yourself, “What am I going to wear?” Don’t worry, you will always have something great and cool to wear when you shop at Weathervane.
Weathervane is an apparel retailer based in New Britain, Connecticut. Weathervane Retail Corp. has operated 53 stores from New England to Ohio since 1969. We have the quality fashions you want at the prices you like. Shop Weathervane for all the Best Stuff...at the Best Prices.”
- Weathervane’s website, 1999
While many Millennial and Xillennial clothing stores have achieved legendary or cult status on nostalgic meme pages, Weathervane is not one of them – to anyone except me, Nicole Tremaglio. I’m taking it upon myself to keep the memory of this mall gem alive. Their stores shuttered completely in 2004, making their self-proclaimed announcement as “your store for the next millennium” painfully short-lived.
Weathervane was the critical connective tissue between my formative experiences at Limited Too and dELiA*s, where I shopped as a curious tween without having to grow up too fast. Weathervane was relatively wholesome in comparison to hoe (complimentary) stores like DEB, Wet Seal, Rave, Rave Girl, and Windsor. I specifically remember Weathervane as the first place I ever bought my own thong. It was pink and had a d-ring buckle. I got it in blue too. This was before the $5 for $25 (RIP) deal that had us hooked on Victoria’s Secret and PINK only a couple of years later. But one of the most interesting aspects of mall culture at the turn of the century wasn’t even the brick-and-mortar clothing store or mall itself. It was the internet.
Weathervane’s Digital Zine
Zines have exploded in popularity in the past couple years, as every single thing Gen Xers did in the 90s does. I’m not talking about zines for political mobilization, community activation, or artistic purposes, but rather zines as a magazine derivative, distinctly created to support commercial activities. E-commerce functionality had not yet been normalized, and the web 1.0 internet was a fabulous way for clothing stores to broadcast product knowledge, build their brand world beyond their four walls, and hang out with their young consumers in the digital realm. Although there is no cohesive brand identity for their internet presence judging by today’s standards, it didn’t matter back then.
Let’s explore the eight categories of Weathervane’s WZine: Tunes, Polls, Be A Star!, Horror Stories, Goodies, Teen Poetry, Entertainment, and Horoscopes!
Tunes
Move over Windows Media Player, there’s a new custom web-based radio in town! You could get the news, weather, traffic, AND music in one place – ummm that’s literally a glimpse into our future! Steve Jobs was probably inspired by the Weathervane Custom Radio to create the first iPhone. Plus, there is literally nothing else I’d rather be doing in 2001 than listening to Britney Spears’s eponymous album. *Britney voice* LIKE THAT!
Polls
Girls could make their voices heard!!! By answering polls about boys lol. Most of these choices were a lot longer, and Substack is making me abbreviate them, but I tried to keep them as true to form as possible. They are hilarious. The “submit” button said “My 2¢”, which I find amazing. Now you can take the polls yourself!
Be A Star!
There was always some kind of sweepstakes or casting call you could enter in order to become a model. As we know now (and perhaps still knew back then), a lot of modeling agencies were really feeders for nefarious activities – cough, Abercrombie & Fitch, cough – but this didn’t stop companies from soliciting underage girls for their contact info and pictures. “I’m gonna be famous!” is the label on the “Submit” button, which is giving Kim Kardashian circa 2007. Again, a glimpse into our future.
Maybe I’m amazed by Weathervane’s sweepstakes was from 2004 – I guess they really decided to go out with a bang. “Win a chance to shop & dine with Jem. Enter to win a $500 Weathervane shopping spree with Jem, artist featured The O.C. Then be whisked to dinner with Jem and 2 of your friends!!” Can I still sign up by any chance??
Horror Stories
From J-14’s Embarrassing Moments column to this, teen magazines always had a humiliation kink. Puberty and adolescent awkwardness were constantly rooted in shame, versus being framed in a “you’re not alone, this is embarrassing but normal” kind of way. (See: Sarah Ditum’s Toxic, Alice Bolin’s Culture Creep, and Sophie Gilbert’s Girl on Girl: How Pop Culture Turned a Generation of Women Against Themselves for more context on how being a teenage girl in the sociopolitical climate of the 2000s was TOUGH.) So *SVU voice* Here are their stories. (I’m not editing them, so any misspellings are theirs 😇 – also, WHO IS JESSE?? She’s from my hometown!)
One day at camp when I was little. I had to rush off that morning and I thought I had my bathing suit top on underneath my tee shirt. I usually put it on before I went to camp. So when I went to take off my shirt all I had on was my bra. I totally forgot that that morning I was rushing. I felt so dumb. I didn’t act myself all day.
-Sarah -- Burlington, MassachusettesIn class I was fooling around because I was bored and playing in my seat we have swivel chairs because it was computer class, and I started to lean back and all of the sudden I fell backwards along with the chair. The whole class saw me and my face was bright red. Afterwards I got a detention for disrupting class. Pathetic huh!?!?!?
-Jesse -- Southington, ConnecticutAt the beach I was using a porto potty. (standing up because its so nasty in there) All of a sudden I got dressed, didn’t pull my pants all the way up because my hair was in my face, so I was brushing it with my fingers to the side and then the door to the porto potty opened and standing there was an extremely emabarrased, hot, guy! He quickly slammed the door closed and from the otherside of the door all I heard was a the yelling of “I’m sorry, i’m sorry...” I came out obviously humiliated and he was long gone!
-Jill -- Newport, Rhode IslandI was walking around the mall the other day and I went into a mens clothing store looking for something for my brother to wear. Plus I was looking for a hot guy to talk to. This guy asked me if I needed help and we got onto other subjects when we were talking. He was so hot so I thought I would give him my number. As I went to get a pen out of my purse he told me that my fly was down. After my face turned bright red and I was ready to cry I played it off as if I didn’t have a pen and walked shamefully towards the exit! I’ve never returned since!
-Megan -- Greenwood, IndianaIt was the night I had my first date with Romero. I had waited soooo long for him to ask me out and when he did I almost fainted. He was SO cool the way he asked me if I wanted to go on the Haunted Hayride with him. Well anyway as I was getting ready I found that my stupid little brother had used ALL my chamomile shampoo making a skating rink in the bath tub for his dorky action figures so I had to use my mom’s stinky cheap shampoo. Things just got worse from there. My curling Iron fell into the toilet while I was brushing my teeth and my dad FORGOT to buy me my deodorant when he went out to get the pizza. While I was putting on my makeup I noticed I was getting this totally monster zit right on the end of my nose, and I couldn’t find any coverup. When Romero finally arrived he pulled into the driveway with his sound system so loud it shook the house and he honked the horn for me. My dad is so 1960s and wouldn’t let me out of the house unless my date came to the door so I had to wait. As soon as Romero stepped into the house my dad started asking him all sorts of questions about what time I would be home, where we were going, did he have a hearing impairment and stuff like that I thought I would die. Just then my little brother came running through the living room in his underwear with a towel around his neck like a cape screaming, “I’m superman and you better not hurt my sister.” I was so embarrassed. My mom saved me by sending my brother to his room and saying to my dad that we had to go or we’d be late. With a family like that is it any wonder Romero didn’t ask me out again?
-Nichole -- Colonie, NYI had just bought the cutest pair of white pants and couldn’t wait to wear them! So Monday morning I had my outfit all picked out and couldn’t wait to get to school. I arrived at school, and things were going fine, until 2nd period. I walked into class, expecting it to be a fun class as usual, but when I walked in a few of my friends called me over to talk. One of them tugged on my pants as I came over and said “Nice pants, and before I could thank her for the compliment she points out to me that you can see my dark purple thong right through the white pants. I was so embarrassed I ran straight to my locker and grabbed my sweatshirt. I didn’t let it leave my waist for the rest of the day.
-Sarah H. W.Hartford, Connecticut
Goodies
This pic of a couple canoodling is from the “goodie” page, where your apparent benefit is signing up for Weathervane’s mailing list. My jaw is on the floor. Honestly, this vibe is kinda what being subscribed to Nicstalgia is like. Right?
Later, goodies included computer wallpapers and were separated from signups, which could be received via email or the new and novel “wireless messaging”. What is this FREE TEXT MESSAGING all about?!?!? HOW does all this work?!?!?
Teen Poetry
Grown men will write poetry and realize the same things a girl does when she’s 11 years old. This is better than most of the poetry I’ve ever read. Just saying. Weathervane didn’t have to go this deep, but they did.
True Love
True love is such an extraordinary thing,
But you never know what pain and sorrow it could bring.
You think that you have found the one,
That it when you realize what you have done.
You let him play games with your heart,
That’s when you slowly start falling apart.
You know what he did was wrong,
But in your head you keep hearing your song.
And then you see him with another girl,
Then your head starts to whirl.
How could he move on so fast?,
While you are still stuck back in the past.
You know that you made a mistake,
And it was your heart that he did take.
He asked you out and then he dumped you,
He just doesn’t understand all of the pain that
you’ve been through.
People say that your time will come,
But if you ask me I think that my time is done.
Kalais -- OHUntitled
Our short good byes seems to last an eternity
I can’t bare to stay away
When I’m with you I feel such pleasure
And somehow you make me complete
At first I was afraid
But you offered an unspoken guarantee
You open up what’s inside of me
And still I feel at ease
To be here for a moment with you
Is just too good to be true
If what you have been waiting for is me
Then maybe its time we set our spirits free
Que sera sera, what will be will be
To my heart you have found the key
I look forward to being with you
& I never want this feeling to end
My knees get weak, and I can’t speak at the sight of you
“Smile though your heart is aching” but I no longer need too
To be here for a moment with you
Is just too good to be true
So I’ll follow what my heart says
And allow myself to fall
-AshleighUntitled
You hate him, but you don’t
You don’t love him, but you do
You look inside his eyes and find no clue
Right then and there you know,
Your love for him has died
Deep down inside,
You start to cry
He gets on his knees and wants to die
That’s the story of life
And all people hate it
But that’s life
It’s just the way it is
There’s nothing we can do.
-L. BarnardMothers Day
People come and go
But I always seem to know
That you are my mother
I make you mad
I make you sad
Yet you’re one of a kind
and yes you’re mine
You’ll never leave me,
Even if you drown in the deep blue sea
You’ll always stay in my heart
And yet, we never seem to part
God gave me a gift which is you
I’ll always try to be true
If I have bad affection
You always seem to turn me in the right direction
I have one more thing to say to you
Which is that, Mom,
I love you.
- LisaFriendship-A Poem
Some say friends last forever.
Mine sometimes do and sometimes never.
Best friends are there with you,
Thick and thin and all the way through.
It doesn’t surprise me to believe
That they will always use me in a time of need.
Whether in school or in the mall,
Friends always seem to get me through it all.
Friends make me happy and make me sad;
I just want to thank them for all that we had.
- Amber SlomskiBecause of You
Because of you I have a heart,
you gave me faith
right from the start
Because of you, I never felt sad
I was so happy, I always felt glad
But then you changed
Into something I never knew,
Something took over
Inside of you.
You never talked
You never stayed
You always left
And then I prayed
I hoped for the memories
To come again
To stay forever
Until the end
And although things aren’t the same
And you have become so far away,
Because of you
I still have faith
And always will
Everyday
- Tara, Long Island
Entertainment
This section’s content matter in 2001 seemed to be diametrically opposed to Weathervane’s target demo of teen girls. It listed syndicated Billboard articles about electronic pop band Triangle, Ozzy Osbourne, country group Montgomery Gentry, and Southern rock jam band Gov’t Mule. They should’ve had me blog for them about Britney Spears, Hoku, Mikaila, and Hilary Duff – although I guess that’s what I’m doing now!
The music section seemed to crawl toward relevance in 2003, featuring The Streets, Underworld, and Taking Back Sunday, and entertainment expanded to include gossip like, Madonna’s Life, A Movie? What’s Kirsten Dunst’s Next Movie? What Turns the O-Town Boys On? and tips on what’s in style, featuring Jennifer Garner in Alias, Hello Kitty, and Destiny’s Child.
Horoscopes
Ahhhh we saved the best for last. Looking ahead to next month, here are your Weathervane horoscopes for Taurus season:
Taurus
Happy Birthday! You Will Be Starting A Big Romance That Will Really Pay Off! Reap The Rewards This Month. The Time Is Yours.
Gemini
Let People Know Who You Really Are. Stand Proud And Be Heard! You Can Make It Happen.
Cancer
Your Confidence Will Be Strong This Month. Someone Will Notice And They Will Love The New You!
Leo
Summer Is Just Around The Corner And This Summer Will Be One For The Record Books! Summer Cuties Are On The Way To You!
Virgo
Your Helping Hand Will Be Needed By A Friend This Month. Your Friend Will Be Ever Grateful For Your Assistance.
Libra
You Are Definitely Where It’s At This Month. Your Popularity Will Soar. But Don’t Forget To Stay Grounded.
Scorpio
You Will Receive A Surprise Gift From A Secret Admirer And Will Spend All Month Trying To Find Him! You Will Be Surprised When You Find Out Who????
Sagittarius
This Month Use Your Gift Of Gab To Talk To All The Class Cuties. One Will Listen.
Capricorn
Get Ready For A Shopping Spree! But Remember Don’t Go Overboard Or You’ll Pay The Price Later.
Aquarius
Good Luck Is Yours This Month. Good Grades And A Winning Record Are On The Way To You.
Pisces
Your Creativity Will Soar This Month. You Will Come Up With All The Cool Ideas For School And Play.
Aries
Miss Fashion Is On The Way! You Will Be The Envy Of All With Your Fashionable Cool Duds!
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