The fashion disconnect caused by the Cascade Mountains is truly amazing. This week-end is Sasquatch, a music festival in Eastern WA, that attracts tons of young people from Western WA. I was in the grocery store in Quincy and it was like watching two worlds collide. Oh, how I wish I had had a camera, but then it is probably unethical to surreptitiously take pictures of 20 and 30 somethings in the beer aisle.
The usual customer in Aikens Harvest Foods on a Saturday morning is wearing boot cut or wide leg jeans and a t-shirt or blue denim work shirt, work boots, or cowboy boots, maybe tennis shoes. This works for both male and female. There is some variety with the over sixty-five set. While the men wear the standard jean and work shirt, the ladies mix it up a bit with blueish hair and pastel pantsuits. Of course there are a few young people, trying to break out of the mold. The boys wear low slung jeans showing off boxer shorts topped with a black t-shirt (sleeves torn off) and a tribal tattoo on their bicep. They may be accompanied by girls in skin tight jeans with skin tight t-shirts decorated with sequins and/ or glitter.
Enter Sasquatch! The young men wear skinny jeans(faded black but some bright red) plaid shirts that are unbuttoned to expose bare chests or white "wife beater" t-shirts. Multi-colored sleeve tattoos, or shoulder, neck and back tattoos of snakes and dragons sometimes taking the place of shirts altogether. Sandals (with socks for the boys who are breaking the trend by wearing Bermuda shorts) or converse tennis shoes rule the day. The young women are wearing as little as possible: halter tops or short shirts worn with short short jean shorts that are very tight and expose a "fashionable" bit of butt cheek . Ankle and/or calf tattoos of flowers are common accessories. The girls" ohh" and " ahh" over the straw cowboy hats on a display rack in the front by the check out stands. They try to get their boy friends to buy matching hats. (Oddly enough, I have never seen this straw cowboy hat display in the grocery store at any other time. I have seen it in the farm seed and equipment store, but I don't think these kids with money in their pockets are headed over there.) The visitors load up their carts with ice and beer, which in all fairness is what the locals are buying for the Memorial day family BBQ's too. They also load up on sunscreen since" the Eastside of the mountain is so hot and sunny". Never mind that it is 60 degrees and cloudy, their over exposed skin is all goose bumpy, their lips are blue and the locals are still wearing long sleeve shirts and light jackets. Most of the locals are welcoming. When the concert is over, the Westsiders will have left a fair amount of garbage, but also lots of money behind in their wake.
Believe it or not, my intention is not to be mean or even critical. It is just such a stark difference in style that one can not help but notice. I was very amused and it brightened my day. The downside for me was this nagging question that kept popping into my head. Do I look this obviously out of place when I go to Seattle?
No comments:
Post a Comment