filed in Myths and stereotypes
How to Dress Like a Girl
Although I don the occasional dress, I’ve never been a girly girl. I fit in fine in San Francisco, where the cooler weather inspires an urban, tomboy chic. But moving to L.A. was a wardrobe shock as I perceived most women as wearing their hair long, their shoes high and their skirts short. More than a decade later, I’ve been influenced by the Southand style (pops of color in my closet and an array of flip flops), but mostly I’m sticking to my look.
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The preferred dress of people in my town when they’re milling about in public is camo (deer-hunting or military). Girls only wear dresses for prom.
Rugged!
Style, as opposed to fashion, is a sign of knowing yourself, and that is exactly you, Wendy: you have defined your style. BTW, I just got done Kondo-ing my regular clothes (a la Marie Kondo’s The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up) and about 85% (or more!) of my wardrobe is black, white, and gray, with an urban edge. Definitely heels (with flat feet, some heel is actually more comfortable), quite a few dresses that hug my body (I do love dresses and skirts). But the local “style”, while not quite as militaristic as Leyla’s town, definitely leans toward the “Purdue Mom” sweatshirt, evangelical-jeans-skirt-with-long-hair-in-bun or conservative, shapeless, mid-calf skirt looks. My NY-black look actually stands out here.
Ha, I wouldn’t exactly call it a militaristic town. It’s just that fishing, hunting, camping, and farming are big staples here so people wear the attire for it. In my neighborhood, everyone is dressed for gardening at all times. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone in my town wear formal or fancy attire or a suit except for realtors and insurance agents. I kind of like living in two worlds. I am a lawyer, but I commute to the nearest major city.
Sorry, Leyla–I meant militaristic with respect to camouflage style, but my words didn’t come out well! I’ll bet you do get some interesting perspectives with your two worlds!
How dressed do you get for work? On the plus side of L.A, jeans are suitable almost everywhere.
That is a very big plus, Wendy! I would love to dress casually every day. However, I usually wear slacks and a blouse to the office. I’ll throw on a blazer if it’s an important meeting. I ALWAYS wear sneakers, though. My feet have to be healthy and comfortable. Most people have stopped noticing. Black sneakers look close enough to formal wear…
There are lots of cool sneakers these days, even wearable with a skirt.
Depends on the weather and my mood and weather it’s a teaching or a research day! Anything from jeans/skinny pants-and-boots to dresses/skirts with boots or heels. I rarely wear dress pants, though, and I just discarded all of my trouser socks (I dislike trouser socks!) If the weather is cold and snowy, then the dresses stay in the closet.
Although I did have a meeting with a graduate student the other day and I wore yoga pants and my half-marathon long-sleeve tee shirt! I also secretly hoped NOT to run into the provost.
One of my go-to fashion sites is the Sartorialist http://www.thesartorialist.com Lots of flats (and sneakers).