I went to a free concert last night at UC Berkeley with some of my college friends from UC Santa Cruz. The mission was to see "Appleseed Cast," who was the third opening band on the lineup for "Minus the Bear" (I haven't heard of any of the bands before, but that's not saying much).
It was supposed to be at either the Bear's Lair Pub or Lower Sproul; instead, it was inside the food court area next to the pub, with the tables moved out of the way. Not the best acoustics, but there were only about 250 people, so it worked out ok. It was also supposed to start at 5pm, but was moved to 8pm, which actually meant 9pm. As I stood there listening to the first band, doing the math in my head of how little sleep I would get that night, I was amused by the people around me. One girl in front of me was standing there with her reader and highlighter doing some studying during the first act. Two guys to our left were trying to shake up the crowd by enthusiastically dancing together, despite the otherwise mellow, indie-ish vibe of the first band, which by the way was called Crystal Skulls. Not the name I would associate with the type music they were playing, but as one person commented, all the good band names are taken.
I amusingly observed the clothing and style of these college kids around me, and despite that fact that I went to a similarly hippie-ish school, after being out of that environment for 5 years, I was surprised by what some people were wearing, thinking in my head, "I could never wear that to work." I'm not talking about anything inappropriate but more along the lines of "trendy" and "grungy" that I wouldn't even have the imagination to put together or the guts to wear. I still can't remember when or why it became fashionable to not match. Thankfully, I had changed before leaving the office from my pinstripe Express pants and Ann Taylor work shirt into jeans, a North Face fleece, and my North Face shell and yet I still felt like I was dressed like a Noe Valley mom, with my diamond studs, layered and highlighted haircut, and practical leather shoes. I never have been trendy, but I'm prematurely slipping into yuppy soccer mom before my time!
Appleseed Cast was actually quite good, and don't get me wrong, I had a good time at the show and hanging out with my friends. I also really enjoyed the opportunity to do some used book shopping on Telegraph (at Shakespeare & Co.) before hand, where I bought two vegetarian cookbooks and a wine book on the Languedoc-Rousillon region of France.
By 11pm though, I was happy to crawl back into the bucket seat of my BMW and drive over the bridge back into my world in San Francisco. Funny how we notice certain things about ourselves when juxtaposed with different contexts. And I'm definitely not in college anymore.
Tuesday, March 07, 2006
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4 comments:
I have the opposite reaction when I'm around the Georgetown undergrads. I'm not dressed up enough to be a college student. That was true when I was in grad school: I remember driving to campus one spring evening for class, and when I got out of my car wearing jeans, sandals, and a sweatshirt, my hair in an ponytail, I felt so out of place, as some dolled-up undergrads walked by. Even now when I'm on campus during my work day I feel that the students look more pulled together than I do.
I looked around a restaurant in Santa Cruz over the holidays, taking in the people of all ages in their jeans or cords and sweatshirts or fleece and thought, "My people!"
Dude. It's ALWAYS fashionable to not match. You're just too caught up in your Ann Taylor world. ;) And yes, I know I own several Ann Taylor pieces, but I try to funk them up. Anyhow, I regularly go to these shows, so maybe I'm not the best person from whom to elicit sympathy in this case. heee. Tho I must say at the ripe age of 25, I've started to beg off Hollywood concerts on a school night b/c of the hourlong drive home. Gee whiz I'm old!
Liz - "My people"? That's hilarious. I know what you mean though. I'm not saying I like being all dressed up all the time, but I felt that my name brand fleece and jacket (which although not the same color, coordinated quite nicely) was too conservative. I do think I'm falling quite comfortably into the SF comfort zone of clothing, whatever that might be stereotyped as.
And why do you always gotta make it an East Coast/West Coast thing? ;) Preppy Georgetowners vs. Hippy NorCals; it's on!
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