The Best Thing That Happened This Week: The Girl Scouts Get a New Look
This is not your grandma's uniform, that's for sure.
The new Girl Scout Uniform. Photos courtesy Girl Scouts of America
There’s been a lot of news on the Girl Scout front lately. Earlier this month, the organization unveiled a brand-new cookie flavor: the Toast-Yay!, shaped like teeny slices of French toast, dipped in icing, and intended to evoke “warmth and joy,” according to a GSUSA rep. (Don’t fret, fans of Thin Mints and Samoas; your old faves are ready to roll out in the New Year.) A few days later, the 108-year-old organization, which used to segregate girls into white and Black troops, announced the appointment of its first-ever Black CEO: Judith Batty, a former ExxonMobile executive who was a Scout as a girl and is a former member of the national board, says she intends to make sure that in this time of social and political upheaval, Scouting “continues to offer shelter in a storm” to girls.
But most exciting of all for those of us who learned valuable lessons about friendship, fire-building and spiders (eek!) from our years in Scouting was the revelation of new Girl Scout uniform options designed by three young Fashion Institute of Technology students — and all, you’ll be happy to know, incorporating pockets big enough to hold the biggest iPhone model. Included are a utility vest, black Spandex leggings, a denim jacket, drawstring joggers, cargo shorts, and other items intended to look more like what real girls wear these days than you probably remember from your Scouting days. The Scouts hope the updated looks will help them attract and retain members — which has proven challenging as Boy Scouts have made moves in recent years to admit girls into their ranks.
Just don’t forget your chargers, girls. And good luck finding someplace out there in the woods to plug them in.
