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Show Gaps in judgement by Missy Votel IBL EM INDI Ive never been a savvy dresser. But its gallon of milk, get a haircut and buy not for lack of trying. My parents dressed truck tires. Im a victim of circumstance," I told me for as long as they physically could. But when it came time for me to fly solo, something always and inevitably went horizontal stripes w'rong. Colors clashed, vertical battled it out with ones, socks were mismatched, shirts were inside out. They finally gave up and shipped me off to Catholic school. Years later, I was unleashed on the world with an utter lack of understand- ing about anything beyond black jumpers and saddle shoes. Luckily, a little voice told me to move West and I soon a fashion found myself in a Durango down vests and time warp. Here, puffy bootleg jeans never went out of style, Mon.-Fr- i. 9 am -- 4 pm; Sat. noon-- 4 pm And if it werent for the date and time with The World Cafe at noon Mon.-Wed- .; hanging in the post office, it was easy to believe it really was 1975, or at least the Putumayo World Music Hour on Thurs.; feature CD on Fri. early 80s. All around the Four Comers on your FM dial: Ties were things that went in railroad beds and style" was somewhere you kept Durango 90.189.5 IgnacioBayfield 91.3 CortezMancos 89.5 Dolores KGLP 105.3 91.7 91.9 Gallup PagosaFarmington your horse. Tucking in one's shirt led to For a complete program guide call inquiries as to w'hat the special occasion was and drycleaning was for sissies. It t matter if your shoes didn't match LARGEST! NEW your pants. Hell, just wearing pants was enough for most folks. And a night on the town meant brushing the dirt off your best Carhartts. Of course, locals embraced their anti- liTJIW RAMPLLK fashionness, wearing it like a rawhide and fit badge of honor. lliey will be the SINCE 1963 first ones to tell you they were voted Over 37,000 PARTS IN STOCK MALLARD RECREATIONAL VEHICLES Worst Dressed" in a national poll. ITiis is TRAILERS TRAVEL MON. FRI. 8:00AM 5:30PM usually followed by the disclosure that one 51 WHEEL TRAILERS SAT. 8:00AM 1:00PM of their highest elected officials is openly RV BODY SHOP mocked in the national media for polyester HITCHES suits that look more at home in a spaghet- (505)13251280 ti Western than the congressional floor. Regardless of all the notoreity that Ron & Judy Jennings SINCE 1963 went along with it, moving here felt as if 301 S. MILLER AVE (DOWNTOWN N.M 87401 FARMINGTON, weight of 1 ,000 French Vogues had CO lifted off my shoulders. Gone was the anxiety that I would commit some fashion faux pas and wind up on the dont pages of Glamour with a black bar plastered over my face. I embraced Hey, what about us? my new freedom and blissfully slipped Dear Editor, into fashion oblivion. I eschewed silk for B&Bs n devoted It is lovely to find an entire, of to issue your magazine cotton, cashmere for fleece and suede for at the start of the millennium year, when many of us in the B&B business are hoping Gore-tcMy purse became a ratty old for a good start. It is also lovely to see a page devoted to Bluff. But it is discouragbackpack and my preferred footwear had ing to discover all attention focused on one B&B here, when there are four other fine nubby rubber tread. I didnt own an iron for years and even if I had, couldnt work operating B&Bs in town and another fine one 19 miles west. hard worked to have for and here time in of business have been us a long c Many run attractive accommodations and promote tourist trade to this region. 1 his is not to say I became a slob. It; just that even if I wanted to outfit myself Cordially yours, locally in the latest garb, I would need to Rosalie Goldman, Bluff Bed and Breakfast sacrifice my left arm as down payment. Duke and Sarah Hayduk, Calf Canyon Bed and Breakfast Sure, there were some cheaper options, and David Bond, Calabre Bed and Breakfast but 1 made it a rule to never Patricia Cork-Bonbuy clothes Amer and Cindy Tumeh, Desert Rose Inn in the same place where I could pick up a 4 Cross Currents - April 7, 2000 AHAL RTiON SAM BUSH LYLE BRUC - 563-025- 5. c MEXICO'S! PARTS mSERVtCElCENTER r if k -- -- -- EAZ-UF- T a 1I800I530r8728 S3 O Letter to the editor well-writte- x. horrified citybound friends and family when they commented on the fact I was wearing the same thing last time I saw them - five years ago. Theres no where to shop. Of course, it was all a cover for the fact that there are more worthy objects of my finances like gear and beer. Besides, shopping is what trips to the city are for. Every so often, when Ive been wearing the same pair of jeans for so long they stand up on their own, I make the pilgrimage to the land of malls and department stores. And like a compulsive stand, I gambler in Vegas for a one-nigstorm the overabundant aisles. I get swept away by the blaring house music, the billboard-size- d posters of pouting, and the head-sette- d anorexic Gen salespeople who could very well be all controllers in those striking their new chosen field, And then, as quickly as the frenzy began, its over. In a car loaded down with n bags, boxes and paper, I retreat to the ty of the mountains - far, far away from the closest thing to a rave party I'll ever get. But now, all of this is going to change, The Gap is coming to Farmington, Soon to be follow'ed by Baby Gap and Old Navy, Thats right Four Cornerites. The ome of trendy young America is setting up camp in your back yard, complete with reversible s, cargo pants and flannel-line- d khakis. It may sound like Cabellas but its not. Its the end of innocence. All it takes is one pair of capris or a pastel twinset and youll be on the train to Stylcville. Before you know it, you'll be riding first class, toting Prada handbags slung over pash-th- c n mina wraps. And while these may be marks of good taste, they are not the fashion-heinou- s wardrobe of phobes eager to keep their reign as the people ever to inhabit one code. zip So, while we may not be able to fight the American fashion regime, we can exercise a little restraint. If you cant resist the siren call of row upon row of neatly stacked jeans and baby tees, the least you can do is buy from the sales rack. Its wfiere they keep the stuff no one else would be caught dead in like one-pieorange jumpsuits and paisley sweater dresses. It may be called fashion, but it lists. wont land you on any - ht Y-er- s, air-traff- ic safe-did- epit-deni- m tech-vest- hall-bee- self-respecti- worst-dress- ng ed - ce best-dress- ed d Missy Votel is Currents magazine. the editor of Cross |