Resist as you might, fashion magazines are fun to look at. Despite their encouragement of a state of perpetual insecurity that keeps you chasing silly trends season after season, there are valuable tips to be gleaned. I, for one, like looking at "Street Style" blogs like The Sartorialist, Face Hunter and Street Peeper to see what women are wearing around town in bigger cities.
I grew up in New York (Upper East Side of Manhattan to be precise) and I'm hyperaware of how adult women often dress just like their friends here. Like a badge of membership along the lines of a mohawk for punks, belts around the thighs for the Hip Hop set, and black lipstick for Lolita goths, I find my local women huddling together in bland uniforms that are completely out of sync with the rest of the country. And I am not talking in a good way. I thought you left the clone factor behind when you graduated college.
I love my friend Laura, but Laura and I dress nothing alike. I like Tara too, but she wears Patagonia—I like Rick Owens. Does it make me any less close to my friends because we're not both wearing designer logo flats and carrying logo bags? No. In the sea of apparent sameness in which I float, I can only think of one friend who also wears Converse Chuck Taylor All Stars. They wear Chucks in London. They wear them in Los Angeles. They wear them in New York. Geez, Michelle Obama wears them. We need to wear them here, sans Bettie Paige bangs and tattoo sleeves. Converse are not just for six-year-olds, aging rockers, and college girls. Treat them like flats; they're perfect with skinny Balenciaga trousers, an oversized tunic sweater, and an Hermes Kelly, or a vintage Courreges vinyl jacket and slouchy Current/Elliot jeans.
St. Louis needs to become a little less anonymous in the grand style scheme of things, and I think we all need to start by sporting Chucks. When looking for inspiration, don't look around you. Look much, much farther. Then we can all be the same in shoes that I think are cool.
Madeline Meyerowitz is the owner of enokiworld.com, a website specializing in vintage designer clothing.
