Current outfit: organic cotton t-shirt with a zebra printed on the front, yellow asymmetrical skirt, Chaco sandals, lovebird earrings and tortoiseshell glasses.
Yesterday as I changed (I was at the college) to drive home, I realised that clothing is an incredibly telling geographical identifier. I slipped out of leggings, tunic and flip flops to put on my Chacos, rolled up ratty jeans and a favorite soft T-shirt screen-printed with my home town's name. Pearls were exchanged for bird earrings. As I made the costume change I took a deeper breath and already started to feel more at home.
When I recognised this I felt a little ridiculous. Clothing feels like such a superficial, fickle thing but it is important. The first thing we have to judge a person on is usually their clothing choice and different places have different clothing mores. While L and I were by the ocean for a weekend this summer we suddenly realised that we stuck out like sore thumbs. We were wearing our usual clothing and at home, we could have traded outfits with multiple passer bys. At the beach it was hard to look at an outfit and say "Oh hey, ho" (and yes, I realise that that is incredibly sexist, politically incorrect, slut shaming, etc. What I mean is "My underwear are bigger than your shorts.")
As a daughter of the South, I appreciate a nicely dressed person now and again, which happens at my small Southern college. My dad attends weddings in seersucker suits with pink shirts and enjoys a nice Madras outfit now and again. College is a mass of boat shoes, collared shirts, dresses, pearls, cowgirl boots and lacrosse shorts. The hometown regular consists of dresses made by yogawear or rock climbing companies, river sandals, boots, screen printed tee-shirts (birds, dandelions, umbrellas, typewriters) and some hipster glasses. It's good to fit in now and then.
