Given the current state of international politics, the environment, global health and all other important issues effecting our world that fine academics such as ourselves should be rallying around, the following topic – one of fashion – may seem a bit trivial.
However, one thing has been bothering me quite a bit – someone has ripped me off with the whole bandana-on-the-Ugg trend.
Look, I’m from New York City – something you may have witnessed me broadcast to greater Burlington, and to essentially anyone who will listen, especially after an eve-ning out at the bars. Last year, during my freshman year, I was über homesick, seriously missing city life and urban stimulation.
Long story short, in an attempt to entertain myself, I started wearing a red bandana around my boots, including my Uggs, in an effort to quietly mock my oh-so-un-urban surroundings.
Allow me to explain – a red bandana, or for that matter any red accessories, should be worn with caution in any metropolitan area due to the implication that the wearer is repping the Bloods, a notorious and dangerous gang that is generally recognized to have originated in New York City. Some rather unhealthy rivalries with other gangs, such as the Crips, have been infamous in many American cities. You’ll be familiar with all this if you’ve ever listened to any rap, especially from the 1990s.
So my motivations for wearing said red bandana were to, first, do something I’d never be able to do at home because I would be sliced in the street; second, to mock everyone for not getting it; and for a third reason – I would get drunk and convince people that I used to be in the Bloods (they call their girls “strawberries”).
It was fun.
I realize now that Burlington is not so lacking in culture and nightlife and stimulation, and in my second year I can truly say that I LOVERMONT. So I have cut down on mocking people for not being from a city. However, I do still rock the bandana quite often, now as a fashion statement, and also as a little something to remind of the good old days of bitching.
Recently, I have started seeing some ladies that I have never met before following suit in my fashion pioneering – and I am torn. Who was it that said that imitation is the greatest form of flattery?
Admittedly, my initial reasons for submitting this piece was to rip on those girls who were ripping me off, but I’ve decided on another piece of advice – rock the sash, ladies, but keep it in Burlington or you’ll find yourself holding your bloody cheek on a subway platform. We white middle-class girls got to take care of our own. True.
