Sort of.
Growing up, when I saw a kid wearing Vans, they were a skater. Unless it was a total fluke, your clothing was your identifier. Finding this clothing was impossible in southern VA. You had to go out of your way to dress in clothing that you would be ridiculed for during the duration of a school year. Needless to say, you could pick the "alternakids" of the crowd pretty quickly.
I loved this. There was no ambiguity in finding your own kind. Sure, they could be just as awful as anyone else, but at least you knew that there was some understanding of your world. If they didn't love the Pixies or weren't in the know of H-Street skateboards, at least they were willing to learn.
Fast forward to the new millennium. I am not sure if mp3s, the X games, the O.C., or urban outfitters is to blame. Let's just say that the mainstream took a liking to the very identity that myself and my peers were beaten up for just 10 years prior. I can't go out anymore and not see loads of people wearing "urban" dress as they call it these days.
This usually consists of the following items:
-Vans Classic Shoes
-Flannel Shirt
-Skinny Jeans
-Joy Division, Bad Brains, or Sonic Youth t shirt
-ipod loaded with 80gigs of music (.5 gigs have actually been listed to)
This is where it gets tricky...
I look like these impostures now! I have no idea whether or not these people are in the know about the Undertones, or they decided that the guy from 90210 looked really cool and decided to emulate that style.
When did this become cool?
Where are my fellow music dorks outside of the record stores and shows?
Hopefully this will pass and we can all live in harmony together again with our cardigans and beaten up chucks.
OH but these kids today are not "bad as nails" like we were so many years ago!!!
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