I've decided to make a blog about my new life in a new city. I know, it's really original. But, every day is filled with such wonderful new things that I feel I should keep track of them all. (In keeping with the groundbreaking originality of this blog, I'll probably choose some cliche theme or lesson of the day.) And, I am now for the first time living the farthest I ever have from the people I love. I've never been good at keeping in touch, maybe because I never felt the distance was that great, but now I'd really like to. I don't want to be that person who calls all of her friends every day, and I hate the phone anyway, but I do want you all to know about my life. And I do want to know about all of yours. Obviously I realize how egocentric it is to assume that you're all pining to know every detail of my day...so I guess this is really just for Mom and Dad. But anyway, I love you all and I hope you care to check up on me once in a while.
Lesson for today: Philly is phashionable (I know, clever right?)
I find it really hard to not dress up every day that I live in Philadelphia, because everyone around me is dressed up. I don't mean office clothes or night-on-the-town clothes. I mean people are put together. No one crawls out of bed in hoodies and jeans (well it's too hot for that I suppose) or college t-shirts and shorts around here. People look good. They have style. And that's inspiring. Whether or not I want to replicate everything I see, I definitely appreciate how every person on the street spent some time getting fancy before they went out the door. Not only have I gone shopping (not too much) but in bursts of creativity I've altered a bunch of my clothes and come out with some good results.
So I'm on some clothing missions here in Philadelphia. 1. I need some cute sneakers. 2. I need skirts, flowy dresses, and a tube top in order to survive this mad humidity which is a Philly summer, and all of which can transition into fall or winter wear. The problem with shopping missions however is once you have an idea of what you want it's so hard to find it. I'm looking for a Puma-like sneaker - pretty light, sole not too thick, tongue not prominent, $40 or less, kind of Euro...it slips into inexpressible criteria at that point. I've searched high and low and found some things which would be suitable, but I haven't found THE shoe. It's like I'm searching for my soul mate. Perhaps I shall go to the Puma store, pick a style I like, and then see if I can find it on Ebay?
I don't mean to be shallow and waste time talking about clothes. Clothes aren't really what I learned about today - they reflect what I learned. First, cities have energy. People who don't know each other are walking and biking and driving around each other, and even if they don't talk, their visual exchanges of existence have an effect on one another. They are atoms bouncing off each other, exchanging energy, and continuing on altered paths - and it's all subconscious. With personal style people are exchanging ideas subconsciously, promoting certain brands/stores and not others, even displaying subcultures and beliefs. Then, regardless of the individual's style, the fact that everyone has style creates a social norm which holds everyone to a higher fashion standard. That's pretty neat.
The second thing I learned is more about me. I'm in some weird but pleasant state of simultaneous connection and disconnection. A lot of my heart is rooted to true home (Detroit) (and that keeps me from feeling total anomie,) while new parts of me are connecting to my new city, my new classmates, my new apartment, my new home. At the same time I have all this independence - no one to answer to or tell where I'm going. I love times like these because I feel like I have a clean canvas on which to rediscover/invent? what it means to be me. And me, well, I guess I'm a city girl at heart because I feed off the energy of this city. Every city thing I do makes me happy: being surrounded by people I don't know, not needing a car, buying groceries on my bike, getting asked for directions, exploring totally different neighborhoods that are just blocks from one another...I feel like I'm part of something real. Even though it's a big place and I'm somewhat anonymous in it, I feel like I'm now part of this city's life. It's affecting me (for example, my clothes) and I'm leaving subtle imprints on it. This is fascinating and refreshing and exiting.
Part of my personality I suppose is to express my creativity through dress. This past summer I found myself caring about my clothes mostly because I wanted to look nice for somebody. There's definitely nothing wrong with that. (I'm still doing things so I'll look nice for that somebody the next time I see them.) But now, in the absence of that motivation, I find myself dressing as an expression of myself. It's good to remember who I am. It's good to feel inspired. It's good to think that maybe my fashion is a small part contribution to the invisible, unspoken life of the city. It's good to think that I'm an atom in this mix.
No comments:
Post a Comment