Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, August 27, 1995                   TAG: 9508280117
SECTION: CURRENT                    PAGE: NRV3   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: LISA APPLEGATE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG                                 LENGTH: Medium

IF THE LOOK IS BAGGY, IT'S CALCULATED BAGGY

Just look at teen-agers sauntering around the New River Valley Mall on back-to-school shopping missions. Fashion is a compromise between the expression of individuality and the pressure to be "in."

When asked about fashion, teens will shrug their shoulders like they've thought more about molecular physics than what kind of pants to buy.

If you push them, though, an attitude - a style, almost - creeps out through rolled eyes: a kind of casual, baggy, didn't-think-twice-about-it-when-I-pulled-it-off-the-floor posture.

But don't let the stance fool you. There are some calculated shopping sprees and thin parental wallets behind every flannel shirt and pair of grubby sneakers.

Parents figure they shell out about $200 per child for back-to-school fashions, in an unscientific poll conducted by an un-hip reporter at the mall. That amount doesn't include school supplies.

For Debbie Linkous, a Christiansburg mom who has six of her seven children heading off to school on Monday, it's almost unbearable.

"I don't know how we do it," she said. "Just go for the sales."

Linkous was shopping with her 16-year-old twin daughters, Samantha and Tabitha. She said her kids stick to the basics - jeans and T-shirts, mostly - and that keeps the cost down.

Samantha Linkous said she wouldn't be caught dead in some of the "in" clothes. Holding up a tiny, pink T-shirt that was intentionally designed to look seven sizes too small, she rolls her eyes.

"No grown woman would wear that. And those '60s shoes, with the heels, those have got to go," she said.

Anything that's too chic, it seems, is out. But anything without a label, especially a sports-related label, isn't in at all.

For example, the trademark Nike check logo adorns everything from sweatshirts to jackets to shorts.

And, of course, don't forget the shoes. We're talking $60-$130 pairs of canvas and rubber with one little (but essential) swooping check mark on both sides.

Joe Monear, a salesperson at Champs Sports, said Nike shoes named after basketball stars - with prices to match their salaries - are very popular. A massive boat of a shoe called the "Chris Webber" (who plays for the Washington Bullets) runs for about $140 and has more air cushioning than a tractor tire.

Kids, usually boys, even try to match the color of their Nike shoes to their Nike baseball cap, Monear said.

Nikes even clobbered the school supply business.

More than a week ago, Becci Nagle and her son, Jason, hit the Christiansburg Wal-Mart in search of Nike notebook organizers.

"It had to be Nike," Nagle said. "Once they're in middle school, it matters." (At this, Jason performs the mandatory eye-roll.)

The brightly colored, plastic notebooks cost from about $20-$25. (At that, Becci Nagle rolls her eyes.) Sentiments like "Football: If you're going to play at all, play tackle football. Anything else is for wimps" blanket the inside folders.

Occasionally, a chic touch will slip into the yeah-whatever attire. Some girls admitted purchasing the popular bright yellow daisy T-shirt. Jason Nagle said he planned to don a few western-style vests.

But, warns a group of Pulaski High School girls, you don't want to overdo it.

"Some kids wear the in things," says 13-year-old Jessica Faddis, "but I don't want to look like everyone else."

This from a girl who just bought a pair of those $130 Nike shoes.

Faddis and her friends travel to the Christiansburg mall and spend a good chunk of time buying all the jeans, T-shirts, sneakers and assorted casual duds they claim to need.

Ronnie Adkins, assistant manager at Leggett, said fall sales have been strong. He expects the beginning of school - after kids see what their peers are wearing - will boost sales even more.

"I was thinking about why we spend so much money at the beginning of the year on stuff," Faddis pondered. "It's to have something new, I guess."

So what does Faddis plan to wear on the first day of school after this shopping spree? A boys-size T-shirt and a pair of jeans shorts - an outfit she's had for years.