Teens

Nicole Mann, 15, has a pretty sweet life. She plays softball every day, wakes up late on weekends, and gets $15 every two weeks from her parents, which she spends on "clothes and stuff." A high school sophomore in suburban Westchester County, N.Y., Nicole knows what she wants to do with her life: graduate from college, go to business school, and "be an accountant in the entertainment field." She studies "all the time," but doesn't work. That leaves plenty of time to chat on the portable phone (she has her own line), read Rolling Stone, and tune into Seinfeld and Beverly Hills 90210, which is "kind of cheesy, but I have to watch."

And, like all children of the time-pressed, dual-income modern household, Nicole shops. A lot. Her musical taste, honed by MTV, runs toward new bands such as Cypress Hill and Smashing Pumpkins--though she also likes 1970s disco. Her favorite raiments: baby-doll dresses from Reminiscence and black Doc Marten boots ("my Docs"). Or a T-shirt from the funky apparel store Stussy, with Vans sneakers and second-hand Levi's, "kind of shredded at the bottoms," bought at Urban Outfitters, a youth-oriented apparel chain.