Rambling about fashionable clothes

I've heard of a lot of things that money can buy but the one thing I didn't think it could buy was being poor. For several years now a way to look chic has been to wear "brand new" faded, torn and frazzled clothes. Right along with it is the unshaven, dishevelled hair look for guys. Women walk around with their hair in a mess too but thank heaven most of them shave. I don't quite understand the purpose behind looking poor but maybe its got something to do with the strength required to live without a lot of everyday amenities. Maybe shredded clothes and looking like you live on the street without running water makes up for the feeling of having more than you deserve or something like that. When I buy clothes I'd rather get something all in one piece to show for all the work I put in to get the money to buy it in the first place. I don't like to waste my efforts on trash. The hair thing is no longer one of my problems the past few years though.

Getting all dressed up to go somewhere is really something to look forward to when you don't have enough money to dress up every day. Its one of the privileges of being poor: Having something special. Next time you go out to someplace special take a look around you. I think you will find that the people that don't have much dress better than those that have enough. Maybe its because the poor realize the effort required to actually earn something with their own blood, sweat and tears. Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe poor people just don't have any taste when they save money for a long time just to buy something nice. Maybe poor people are dressing "out of their place" when they buy nice clothes or comb their hair or shave. But on the other hand, are people of means actually buying themselves "out of their place" when they buy ratty clothes and don't shave or comb their hair. Hmmm?

So, we have a quandary don't we. Poor guys dress sloppy with their pants down around their knees so they can look like the people they see on TV and listen to on the radio. The guys on TV, in sports or singing on the radio dress sloppy with their pants down around their knees so they appear to be in touch with the poor and downtrodden. If you talk to someone with lots of knowledge they will tell you that "the clothes don't make the person." I wonder if sometimes people with lots of money that buy torn, faded and frazzled clothes are making fun of those people that can't afford much. In other words: You can't buy designer clothes but I can buy beat up rags any time I want! I can actually pay somebody to ruin my clothes for me. I don't have to go through the trials, tribulations or embarrassment of being poor.

Its definitely food for thought isn't it? In my experience I don't think you can buy "being poor." In my opinion a person can just about dress any way they want. But for the life of me I can't think of any reason why some people want to look like they just came from sleeping the night under an overpass. But that's just me I guess. I still don't get why guys compete on the TV show Jackass either. I guess I'm just clueless............Joe