dorkster

Biking home from the bakery, I was passed by a hipster. 

Down to the curly mullet, tight skinny black jeans, uber skinny physique like he hadn't eaten in a week, fixie bike, black leather shoes and a tshirt with the arms ripped off, carrying a willy street coop paper grocery bag in his arms while biking, because of course his back pack was purse sized.  I mean....he was hipster verging on white trash, that said, I have to respect any dude who spends that much time on his appearance!  He filled the stereotype to a T!  Amazing! 

It got me thinking about style and culture and trends....

I'm not one who should really talk at all on this subject as I have NO style, but that in itself IS my style...which makes me wonder... where do we discover our "thang"?  The look that makes us feel like us?!?  That makes us cool/trendy/hip or just plain happy in our own skins walking down the street?

I grew up with dorky parents...and when I say this, I don't mean it as a diss.  They were and are proud of their Eddie Bauer-esque dorkdom, which is probably where I picked it up and once again proves that yes, we do eventually somewhat become like our parents!  They wore clothes for function/weather/comfort, not style.  Big brimmed hats in summer and sorel boots in winter.  Tube socks with shorts and ankle socks with sandals and enough sunscreen to make skin turn white.  Whatever worked, who cares how it looks!  That's how I was raised, and it's rubbed off permanently!

I still remember the embarrassment I felt at the fact that my parents drove an old school SAAB.  Years later when I told them this, they surprised me with the fact that they felt very sophisticated and special driving a Swedish car....yet proving how very Minnesotan we really are, and now looking back, if I could afford a safe, reliable boxy vehicle like a SAAB for my little family, dude, I'd jump at the chance!

When I was dating in college, to Rodolfo's great horror, I've never ever been attracted to the pretty good looking boys.  I think perhaps the R man was actually the first man I'd dated that had the ability to match his outfits.  The boy really does have a classy style with a very limited wardrobe and I don't know how he does it.  He's able to travel for two weeks out of a suitcase and everyday have that fresh classy suave look to him, plus he always smells good.  I really don't know how he does it!  I myself resort to exercise clothes for traveling...once again having comfort come first....which led to R man being horrified to be seen with me while we were traveling in some of the larger more trendy cities of Paris, London and Madrid, with comments like..."Oh Sarah, when will you learn."

So...when will I learn?  Right now, I think....NEVER!
Aren't people just supposed to get more stubborn as they get older?

I've come to accept before the fact, my children will probably observe me to be the most dorkster parent on the planet, and really, I'm pretty ok with that!  Thank GOD they'll have some Rodolfo style in their veins so they won't wear the all purple matching outfits down to puffy purple headband and pull on cotton purple shoes that I did in grade school.  From there  I moved onto overalls and over sized sweaters in high school and college held its own special obsession with black penny loafers which I would wear thru and replace one after another....to the point where a boyfriend complained about them saying he wouldn't kiss me until I threw them away and my parents paraded them to the trash can singing and dancing during a summer break....true story.

I now categorize my outfits by the hour of the day...
work clothes (jeans and t shirt)...after work clothes (my favorite patagonia cotton dress or a pair of sweat pants and a tank top)...evening going out clothes (some kind of cuterish dress someone with actual style has given me at some point)...and of course pajamas.  Done!  That's it!  Nothing more!


So what's worse really..who looked more ridiculous earlier this afternoon on the intersection of East Washington and Ingersoll?  The hipster or the dorkster?!?