FashBlog.com

By Rae A. Costa

I'm a people watcher. Race, gender, size it doesn't matter. I love to watch people. Swapmeets are the best place for this type of activity, but the other day riding on my city's fabulous trolley system, I saw something that made me start to wonder.

The trolley line runs through varying neighborhoods, including downtown so all sorts of different people get on and off. However, this blog isn't about people. It's about fashion.

At one of the stops a young woman boarded. She was about 20 years old, but it's hard for me to tell ages, so she could have been younger. Her race isn't important and, although the trolley does run through some very ethnic neighborhoods, this was not one of them. The woman could live next door to me for all I know.

What first caught my attention was she had a long piece of green tinsel wrapped around one of her wrists. You know, the kind you decorate your Christmas tree with or put around your front door during the holidays. Had it been during the holidays, or even in December, I wouldn't have thought it odd, but it's September.

After I lost interest in the tinsel, I noticed her hat. A green baseball cap was perched on the top of her head and across the front in big white letters was the phrase "Got ho?" Again, if this had been around the holidays I would think 'ho' was short for what Santa bellows, but again it's September.

Every now and again a weirdo gets on the trolley. Muttering to him or herself and having no concept of fashion, but this was a clean looking woman. Casual tee and blue jeans with the cuffs rolled up to expose a pair of chic little tennis and a cute little purse that matched.

So what gives with the tinsel and hat?

I'm definitely no expert on today's fashion trends. I went to high school in the 1980s. I wore blue eyeshadow, those icky jelly sandals, and my hair was feathered. Of course I don't wear that stuff now or feather my hair, but what fashions are hip with today's young people are completely lost on me.

I guess this was one of those 'express yourself' fashions. The cockeyed hat I understand. I see a lot of teenagers wearing hats that way, even though I think it looks ridiculous. For me, wearing a baseball cap is to protect oneself from the sun, to show support for your team when you attend a sporting event, or to cover bald spot or disguise a bad hair day.

'Got ho?' I'm pretty sure is a play on the popular 'Got milk?' ads. I could understand it more if a young man was wearing the hat. Maybe he's advertising for a girlfriend or just wants to find a hookup for the evening, but this was a woman.

I don't think she was looking for a girlfriend. She didn't look like a lesbian, which I know sounds absolutely absurd. It's not like a lesbian tattoos her sexual preference on her forehead or wears a big sign around her neck professing her love for other woman.

Still perplexed by the hat I started checking out the other woman on the trolley. I checked out woman of all ages and races and their fashions ran the gamut. Except for a few, most of it was absolutely dreadful. Some of it I wouldn't even know how to describe, except to say too tight too much skin.

After scoping out the chicks I decided the ho' hat was rather conservative. It was only two o'clock on a Friday afternoon. I can only imagine what I would have seen had it been later in the evening. Most of the passengers were on the younger side and besides myself, there weren't many business-type dressed people.

On my way home from the trolley stop, I picked up the latest copies of US and People magazines to check out the newest fashion trends and maybe learn a little something on how to improve my own casual-hiker look.

There on the second page was a very pregnant Britney Spears wearing cowboy boots and a very short purple dress with an extremely scooped neck. A few pages later, Jennifer Aniston in torn jeans (Damn! I should have kept mine!) and revealing tank top (since when did a camisole become outerwear?) looked rather drab compared to Britney.

Even Shania Twain, one of my favorite country singers, had her blouse pulled open with part of her red bra and half her boobies exposed. No wonder young women are dressing more and more provocative, if not down right slutty. These are their role models.

Although I didn't see any tinsel, it was quite obvious how celebrity fashions are influencing the fashion tastes of young women. Unfortunately, most of what I saw in the magazines was just as awful as what I'd seen on the trolley.

Whatever happened to the days when ladies wore dresses that actually covered up their bodies? Or wore sun bonnets that were flattering instead of baseball caps with sleazy slogans? And heaven forbid a woman should wear boy's clothing!

Don't get me wrong. I'm not a prude by any means. I understand the need for self-expression, but when a young woman's style makes those around her go, "Oh my God!" and not in a good way, then maybe she should spend a bit more time in front of the mirror. Or ask her Mother for an opinion. I bet she'd be more than happy to oblige.

As teenagers, we were allowed to pick out our own clothing, but it had to pass Mother's inspection first (since she was paying for it). Do parents not pay attention to what their daughters are wearing when they leave the house? To put it simply, what I saw on the trolley were women dressed like tramps. I won't include everyone, because there were some stylish trolley riders who weren't exposing to much skin, wearing stupid hats, or wrapped in Christmas fandangle.

Now that I think about it, the woman's hat summed up about half the woman on the trolley rather well. Got ho's? Yes, they're sitting all around me. I couldn't even move without bumping into one. I couldn't wait to get off the trolley, because I felt so out of place in my silk blouse, black slacks, and heels.

I find the current fashion trends for young women appalling in some aspects. Torn jeans, I can live with, although it's not my style. It's just that I hate to see an impressionable young woman trying to emulate J'Lo on her trampiest day and indeed resembling just that. Whether the woman is truly a tramp or not, it's not a look she should be trying to imitate.

Unfortunately, that's what I saw on the trolley. A bunch of copy-cats on their way to a tramp and ho' convention. I applaud them for having the confidence in their bodies to wear such skimpy clothing. However, leave something to the imagination. Not all of us want to see our fellow trolley riders' cracks and cleavages.

After perusing the magazines, I felt incredibly self-conscious. If I compared myself to the women on the pages, I was in no way ever going to be considered fashionable. I promptly tossed the magazines into the trash, grabbed a piece of chocolate for comfort, and settled down on the couch with the latest L.L. Bean catalog.

Lo' and Beho' there on the inside cover was the exact same flannel shirt I have in my closet! Now that's a piece of clothing that'll never go out of style.