Read this excerpt from “life without go-go boots” by barbara kingsolver and answer the question.

"we lived in the country, in the middle of an alfalfa field; we had no immediate access to bobbie brooks sweaters. i went to school in the hand-me-downs of a cousin three years older. she had excellent fashion sense, but during the three-year lag her every sleek outfit turned to a pumpkin. … my black lace-up oxfords, which my parents perceived to have orthopedic value, carried their own weight in the spectacle."

judging from the diction in the excerpt, what is the implicit meaning kingsolver is conveying?