Zubaz Sighting!

This morning at the gym, I saw a guy wearing red, white, and blue Zubaz! Anyone over 50 may not immediately know what I'm talking about - or why I am so amused by them - but everyone surely remembers these awesome zebra patterened pants that were ultra-popular (but no less horrifying) during the 80s.These fabulous bottoms were paired with white high-tops, complete with velcro straps, worn loose. I wish, wish, wish I could say that he was wearing this outfit in earnest; a bold, sassy fashion choice. But since he appeared to be a teenager, who was likely not even alive when Zubaz made their initial debut, I'm pretty sure he was being ironic.

Besides, to really top this outfit off in true 80s fashion he would have had to wear his hair in a mullet. Right Chris? I have a feeling there is a picture out there of you rocking the Zubaz and your ever-present mullet. If only.

Obama & Fitch?

Did anyone happen to watch Obama's speech last night? If you did, there's no way you could have missed the three guys in Abercrombie & Fitch t-shirts standing behind him. See below.
OK, maybe some people (Dad?) didn't notice, but it caught my eye right away. First of all, I always look to see who the campaign has positioned behind the candidate during these speeches.

Of course there's a strategy, as there is with everything in politics. The strategy is usually to place some representatives of their least likely supporters behind the candidate. See the middle-aged white couple in the lower right above. Young people of diverse ethnic backgrounds behind Hillary. Anyone but an older white guy behind McCain.

What's going on with the Obama & Fitch campaign? College frat boys are already part of Obama's base. I don't think Obama has to worry about losing their support, as long as they actually come out to vote and don't get sidetracked at a bar somewhere.

Wait - could it be that they're offering free beer at these rallies? Show us your "I voted" sticker and we'll give you a keg cup? The guy on the far right (number 54) did appear to stumble numerous times and had that red-around-the-eyes "dude, I'm gonna puke" look on his face. (Yes, I was paying more attention to the Abercrombies than I was to the speech. I can't be the only one who's getting bored hearing the same speech after every primary.)

Are these A&F-clad supporters strategy or mere coincidence? My first thought when I saw them was that this was an Abercrombie & Fitch advertising ploy. Unless this is a campaign finance loophole, it seems unlikely.

A more plausible explanation could be that the Obama campaign selected these guys to show their base (carefully mixed with the non-base old folks). Perhaps they are looking to draw in more 20-something women, who are leaning toward Obama, at least publicly. I've read about young closet Hillary supporters who don't voice their opinion in the face of Obama-mania. Who knows.

The more I think about this, though, I wonder if this was one of those rare moments in politics: a meaningless coincidence. With A&F as ubiquitous as it is on college campuses, these guys probably didn't even realize that they were a three-piece walking billboard for $40 t-shirts. And now they are semi-famous. Who knew that conformity could lead to 15 minutes of fame?

Traumatic Trend Spotting

I just got the latest issue of Lucky magazine and am frankly traumatized by a trend they featured. Pegged pants. Ugh! I hope that - like high-waisted jeans - this look will be an option rather than de rigueur. Although at my age nothing is "required" the way it seemed to be in high school.

Pegged pants, whether pinned, rolled or a combination of the two will always live in my memory as one of the most horrible trends ever. Even at the time I didn't like it and in fact stopped doing it for awhile. Someone said to me "what, do you think you're better than us" and so I reluctantly started pegging again.

It sounds ridiculous in retrospect, but in a small town there is nothing worse than being accused of thinking you're better than anyone else. In fact, there's even a name for this phenomenon: Jante Law. It's origins are Scandinavian, but I think these "rules" apply in small towns of any ethnic origin.

There are ten different rules in the law, but they are all variations on a single theme and are usually referred to as a homogeneous unit: Don't think you're anyone special or that you're better than us.

Thou shalt not:

1. believe thou art something.
2. believe thou art as good as we.
3. believe thou art more wise than we.
4. fancy thyself better than we.
5. believe thou knowest more than we.
6. believe thou are greater than we.
7. believe thou amountest to anything.
8. laugh at us.
9. believe that anyone is concerned with thee.
10. believe thou canst teach us anything.

Don't get me wrong. I love small towns and love my fellow Norwegians even more. But there is so much truth to this! It also reminds me of people I know who are offended by the movie Fargo (one of the best films ever, in my opinion) and who even walked out of the the theater in anger/embarrassment/whatever (see numbers 8 and 10 above).

I really digressed from my original point about the pegged pants trend. Trust that this is one I will not be following!

It's all downhill from here.

It seems that I have crossed the line into becoming an old lady. How do I know? Shoes. Yes, shoes.

Over the past few months, I've noticed that as I troll the aisles of DSW (on an animal-like hunt, just like in the commercials) or any other shoe shop that I'm seeking the comfortable shoes rather than the cute ones. Sure, I'd love both, but more often than not I barely notice the stilettos and go right for the flats and wedges - especially the ones with ice-friendly tread.

*sigh*

The worst part is that wearing these comfortable but not so stylish shoes makes me really, really happy. I blame it on the flats, snazzy sneakers and Ugg-style boots that have been popular the past few seasons.

I imagine that I'll still wear heels and probably buy a few more pairs, but my closet is becoming increasingly dominated by comfortable shoes.

What's next? Wearing a jogging suit to work? Carrying a backpack instead of a purse? This comfort thing could become addictive.

p.s. DSW lovers who don't live near a store - they're about to open an online store! Not sure when, but should be soon.

Busy Body Strikes Again

Some of you may have thought I was exaggerating about mister busy body and the importance of wearing jeans on Friday. Even I thought I probably made too big of a deal about it. Until now. You won't belive this...BB (busy body) just stopped by my office to see if I have jeans on!

He stopped by and peered from the doorway under my desk (which is more like a table - there is no panel covering the front). Figuring I knew why he was here, since he has no business reason to talk to me, I just looked at him inquisitively.

The exchange that followed went something like this:

BB: You've got to wear jeans.

Me: I am wearing jeans.

BB: Oh, those are jeans?

Me: Yes. Are there a certain type of jeans we're supposed to wear? Because I didn't know that.

BB: No, no. Just making sure that you're wearing jeans.

Me: Yep. I'm wearing jeans.

Is this guy not seriously annoying?

I'm thinking that instead of not wearing jeans in protest of this fool that I'll start wearing jeans every day. Maybe jeans from head-to-toe...jean jacket, jean shirt, jeans. I used to have some cool denim ankle boots in sixth grade. Mom, why did you let me get rid of those? They'd probably still fit! Maybe I'll even start calling myself Jean.

I wore jeans today.

Thanks for all your input. I decided to wear jeans today. Mostly it was because I don't have much to choose from and was tired of my other pants. But I'm not going to wear them every week...I won't be goaded into conforming!

This all reminds me of a time in high school (ca. 1988?) when "bump shoes" as I called them were all the rage in Ivanhoe. I'd say 99% of the people in about a four-year age span had the same pair of shoes. Boys and girls.

They looked approximately like those shown, only the boys' were slightly more masculine. Slightly.

The only people in 9-12 grade who didn't have them were the kids who probably only had one pair of shoes...and me. There's nothing wrong with the shoes - they're cute - it was just weird that everyone had them.

Disclaimer: I actually own a similar pair now and really like them, but as with most things in high school, if everyone had it and it became a big deal, then I didn't want it. That's still kind of true.

Few people probably remember the bump shoe days, but that was a uniquely Ivanhoe time I've found hard to forget. Every day, it seemed, someone new would show up with a pair of bump shoes. Most people wore white ones and if you'll recall, 1988 was still the height of pinned/rolled jeans in Ivanhoe. These shoes tended to make feet look larger than they were and in contrast to the peg leg jeans (all too often white jeans, again on boys and girls), let's just say it was not a good look for very many people.