Young O.C. Set Slips Into Finger Paints

The temperature might read 65, with not a snowflake in sight, but that hasn’t stopped some Orange County girls from sporting woolly or furry gloves.

Even with a windchill factor of, oh, 50 degrees, young women are heading to local high schools with gloves on.

“I wear mittens because my hands get really cold,” says Tara Hodor, a 16-year-old junior at Cypress High School.

That’s what most girls say--with a slight isn’t-it-obvious? tone in the voice--when asked why they wear gloves.

Yet with the weather outside downright balmy on some days when girls are seen with gloves, you have to wonder whether they wear them more for fashion than function.

“Some people wear them just because they’re cute and they go with their outfits,” says Marni Falk, a San Clemente resident and 15-year-old sophomore at Dana Hills High in Dana Point.

“I usually wear my black ones with fur. I take them to school almost every day,” she says.

Marni pays close attention to fashion trends. She and her friend Christina Elliott, also a Dana Hills sophomore, “are definitely going to be fashion designers,” Christina promises.

Christina, a 15-year-old Laguna Niguel resident, has several pairs of gloves to coordinate with her clothes.

“I wear them whenever I have an outfit to go with them,” she says. “They keep my hands warm, and they look real cute with my clothes.”

She has red ones, blue ones and a black pair with fur. Many of her friends also wear gloves.

“I’ve even seen a couple of guys wearing them,” she says.

Hands down, one of the hottest styles are gloves with faux fur cuffs. Bright-colored solid and striped chenilles, spotted leopard and snowflake patterns and leather driving styles are also popular.

Students have been buying gloves at stores that cater to young clothes buyers, such as Urban Outfitters at the Lab and J. Crew at South Coast Plaza, both in Costa Mesa, and at Wet Seal stores throughout the county.

“We’ve sold out of almost all our [gloves],” says Marla Stack, a 16-year-old sales representative at Wet Seal in Westminster Mall. Marla, too, wears gloves to Cypress High.

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Even if they’re trendy, gloves do protect the hands from the elements. Jackie Ishiki, a 19-year-old Fountain Valley resident and sales rep at Wet Seal in Fashion Island Newport Beach, wears gloves to save her skin.

“My hands get really dry in winter, and they crack,” says Ishiki, who wears the gloves to Golden West College in Huntington Beach. “It’s not a fashion thing--but it can be.”