Unique-esh

Birmingham is not a bustling metropolis, but we manage to keep up with the world. We have help from magazines (fashion, pop-culture, news, etc.), television, and a firm belief that we are hip and cool with various "trends" on the market. So, it never ceases to amaze me when the latest style on the cover of Vogue will somehow make its way to the ol' ham. I have never been one to keep up. This stemmed from childhood when my mom decided that the cool thing for me was to wear homemade hairbows that resembled small helicopter propellors and a mixture of stripes and polka dots as a means for self-expression. Thumbing through old photo albums, stirrup leggings and jelly shoes were my essentials, and the trendiest part of my wardrobe were some Little Mermaid bubble pants. They were awesome. It didn't seem to matter if Mary-Kate or Ashley Olsen was wearing it on (the fashion influence of my day), I knew I was cool and it didn't matter what anyone else thought.

Fast Forward.
I am now about to enter my 23rd year of life, and find it annoying when I see people in a "cookie cutter" mold. These types of people (yes, I am stereotyping) travel through life with little to no originality and spend their days waiting to see what will be the next best thing to copy. I can't lie and say that I do not own things that are part of a trend. Currently I have an i-pod, laptop, cell-phone, and issues of Vogue and Glamour lining the crevices of my bookshelves. I no longer write letters, text messaging is a way I communicate, and I check Facebook almost hourly. So, to say I don't follow trends is not entirely accurate although I do desperately try to avoid the flow and maintain a level of experience swimming upstream. I peruse anything vintage in hopes to bring back certain aspects of the beloved 40's and 50's in which I feel I would have been adequately suited. I miss the concept of a lady wearing white gloves to go grocery shopping, or the purchase of a new hat signifying a day's greatest shopping finds, and the overall feeling of elegance through day to day activities. Why don't we dress up when we merely leave the house? Why are pearls considered something dressy?
Stories of my grandmother and her generation consist of her never leaving the house without her gloves, thinking mixed bathing (swimming with guys) was a horrific concept, and pin curls being an every night custom. I sometimes imagine what her expression might be at seeing a girl swimming in something resembling petite lingerie, an evening dinner wearing a pair of athletic shorts (cough cough, the swoosh we all know and love), or the lack of a good hat to make all the worries of the world go away. Here are just a few ideas of sheer loveliness:

-I love this.


- The hat is beautiful.



- I would wear this!

- Little Miss Audrey.










What has happened with the trendiness of society? Is it not refreshing to feel elegant and ladylike? Does the concept of leaving home with what you might sleep in suddenly take precedence over feeling glamourous?

This is what I see when I leave the house these days:








Although my budget does now allow me to purchase the most classic vintage concepts from various indie websites created to lovely icons such as Audrey (my favorite) or Grace, this summer I am in pursuit of discovering my outward elegance. Sure, I might be caught once in a while in the season's latest trend of Nike shorts and a white v-neck, but who cares if no one wears pearls with a pair of blue jeans, or a cardigan to add flavor to a sundress? I mean, I was the girl with a propellor atop my head many years ago, I doubt the feeling of being "unique" will come as a shock, and perhaps next year, the cookie cutter theme will be a pair of white gloves. I wouldn't be opposed and might find myself flowing, er, downstream.