Mandy Moore's current style game is strong, whether she's taking inspiration from an emoji or rocking super wearable looks to awards season parties. However, that might not have always been the case.
Nearly two decades ago, a 15-year-old Moore gifted us with her hit single "Candy," and burst onto the teen scene wearing crop-tops, cargo pants, and long straight hair that was "basically 1999 personified." Now, like all too many of us, she laughs a bit at her teenage self for some of those dated looks (she wore them well, at the time, though!).
“There were some really questionable choices," the This Is Us star laughingly told People of her '90s pop star days. "There’s like leather pants with fringe on them," she continued, but before admitting that there's no one to blame but herself. "In the "Candy" video, I decided it was really cool to tie a leather ribbon around… that was my choice."
AdvertisementADVERTISEMENT
A choice she laughs off as a necessary byproduct of youth. “I started when I was 15,” she explained. "I had no idea who I was or what I was doing," and for that, she'll rightly give herself "a bit of a pass."
What she won't give herself a pass for, however, are the spectacularly permed bangs she sported at the age of ten.
"Red carpet ready," Moore quipped alongside a throwback photo of herself, peek '90s Christmas-style. Holding up a just-opened travel Clue, pre-teen Mandy wears a floral printed dress, and her grin shows a mouth full of the now-so-old-fashioned metal braces, complete with red and green rubber bands over her front teeth. But the clincher is her permed strawberry blond hair adorned by a then-very-on-trend oversized red ribbon.
"Permed bangs? MOM," she posted. Also, I only had those braces for 6 months (shoulda been longer cause [SIC] my teeth are NOT straight) but I took full advantage of the colored rubber bands for the holidays."
Finally, proof positive that celebrity childhood photos can be just as embarrassing as our own.