Man-O-Style

A new year has begun whether we like it or not, and with a new year come things like new resolutions, new company budgets, new leases, and new, and perhaps long awaited, promotions at work. Heck, maybe on Jan. 1 every year you decide to rock a brand new hair-do for a while.  Maybe it’s because were conditioned to feel like January brings new things with it since we have to pull the thumbtack out of the kitchen wall and put up another 12 blown up sketches of Gary Larson’s “Far Side.”  Whatever the case may be, there’s always something seemingly “fresh” about January. And in this case, we’re bringing you, the reader, a brand new column to enjoy and look forward to.
    There are a significant number of stereotypes that seem to follow surfers around. A while back I was pumping gas at a 7-eleven, oh thank heaven, and an older woman asked me, “Are you a surfer?” It doesn’t matter where I travel to, I always find people asking me if I’m a surfer. And it’s not that general “I’m just curious” type of question. It’s almost always rhetorical, as if what they’re really saying is, “You’re a surfer, aren’t you?” Don’t get me wrong, they don’t mean it in a negative way, nor do I take offense to it, but it has, in the past, made me wonder.  
What is it about me that let’s people know I’m a surfer. Now, if it’s winter, there’s one particular dead giveaway that comes to mind. It’s in the form of a little ring around my neck, a tan line about halfway up. I almost feel like I should be waving a flag that says, “Yeah, the only sun I get is half blocked by my wetsuit, thanks for noticing, and no it’s not just turtle-neck-sweater season.” Surfers recognize this much easier than the general public as a tell tale sign, but regardless, it’s an easy spot. Growing up in Southern California, I can easily come to the conclusion that it’s how I say certain words, and sometimes it’s the words themselves, “Dude, Sick, Gnarly, Killer, and Bro,” to name a few. Maybe it’s the surf companies I represent in sticker form on the back window of my truck, or perhaps the solid blackish marsh of melted wax in the corner of my truck bed.  It might be the haircut that I have, or rather the lack thereof. But one more thing comes to mind, as the person looks me up and down gathering as much evidence as they can to support their thesis. And in my mind it’s quite possibly the most obvious of reasons.
It’s been said not to judge a book by its cover, but in certain cases it’s a pretty safe bet. Cover equals clothing. You can tell a lot about a person in just a glance at their taste in apparel. Now, I don’t want to encourage stereotyping, nor am I condoning the passing of judgment on others. I’m simply implying that beyond the need to keep warm and legally clothed, when people dress themselves they are, more often than not, saying something about who they are, or at the very least, about what they like. People create their own book covers, and usually with the intention of being judged.
Let’s say there’s a book from 35 years ago and it’s a small, thin, all-brown paperback book with the title in a small plain gold font. The contents of that book are good, but to the modern person, nothing about it is eye catching or updated. Now let’s say that the book’sk publishers want to push their once-a-best-seller short novel again, but this time they make it a hardcover, and the title is huge and bold, and there’s a painting of one of the settings in the background, with a giant explosion. Now that’ll catch someone’s eye at the checkout stand more than the original would. Thus, mission accomplished. The contents of the book, the storyline, characters, plot, and even the author have remained the same. All that happened was that the outward appearance was improved.
That’s what I want to do for you. I don’t want to tell you what to wear; I’m not here to tell you that what you’re wearing isn’t good enough. In fact, I’m one of the bigger advocates for wearing what you want to wear, and rocking it with your chin up. But you’ll have to admit that in the modern day, fashion trends are evolving quite a bit faster than they used to. Anyone who’s been to ASR knows that there are hundreds of styles and even more options within those styles. What I will do is simply bring these changing trends to your attention. I’ll merely offer them as options in order to make you more aware of what’s available. I am a firm believer that there is always room for improvement, and that the opportunity to change is one of the better parts of the life that we live. I promise I’ll keep it simple. I won’t cover what’s going on in Hollywood, and I don’t care what Europe is doing. I’m going to be giving sneak peeks at advanced attire, continuing couture and floundering fads, with a slight chance of more terrible alliterations still to come. Happy New Year.