A Pile of Steaming Style
After I married my husband, I visited my in-laws in LA for the first time and thought it was the coolest place on earth. We’d head over to Beverly Hills or West Hollywood to shop and take in all the latest trends. I’d splurge on an overpriced skirt or a hip pair of sunglasses, eager to be the first wearing the look in Nashville.
Four years later, I’m so over it.
We shopped on Melrose yesterday and I couldn’t help but notice that everyone strutting down the sidewalks in all their fashion-forward glory looked, well… Stupid.
You know how we see pictures of Lindsay Lohan wearing something like this and we make fun of her?
Now imagine your mother wearing this, along with a pair of denim short shorts and a bustier. You get my drift?
“Have you noticed how awful everyone looks?” I whispered to my husband after we’d been window shopping for about an hour.
“Yeah,” he said, then stopped. “Yeah. Everyone looks like they’re trying so hard to be cool, they’ve forgotten what looks good on them.”
It didn’t help matters that I was pushing a stroller. The glares from salespeople were undeniable as I wheeled into their boutiques with what apparently was the uncoolest apparatus on four wheels ever to grace the sidewalks of Melrose. One store even had a sign that proclaimed NO PANHANDLERS. NO SOLICITORS. NO STROLLERS.
Damn.
Oh, and one more thing. If you are pregnant and needing to pee every thirty minutes, prepare for certain misery. Restrooms are so zealously barred from the public that I’ve decided they must all be equipped with 24-carat toilet seats. We have taken to making special trips to Whole Foods or Rite Aid so that our entire family can leap out of the car and run for the public toilets. And that’s just wrong.
Can you tell I’m ready to come home?
>I lived in California for about two months, and realized I hated it. I’ve often told people that the fact that I returned to Rolla says enough about how it was.
>22 days and I will be experiencing the stupid again for myself.I can’t wait I love to VISIT but would never relocate LOL.
>One of the best things my parents ever did for my sister and me was move to Nashville when I was a baby. I’m very grateful.
>aaawwwww…. I’m sorry! I luv CA, but NOT LA. North of LA, coastal & small towns… beachy & so NOT cool, more hippie. But its funny to hear your thoughts b/c while living there, I thought I was the only one to think “they” looked so damn dumb.
>I can imagine. A company I used to work for was very involved in charity. I used to get invited to society-award luncheons (she was the most fantastic volunteer this year!) and the plastic surgery! When you’re 80 and you can’t turn your head anymore because your shoulder skin has been pulled up to your ears…that’s not good.
>i’ve never been. when i was younger, i used to think it would be a great place to visit, but the older i get the more i read about it, the less i want to visit.
>Ok wait, why is it that I didn’t know you were here in my city???? Did I miss something? How long before you go home girl? And by the way…the toilets are only 18-carat 😉
>Come on back to TN! The heat index was 100 degrees today! But, hey we have AC right?
>Yep, head on down to OC and look at the high-skoolers wearing their gangsta’ outfits as they stroll into the million+ residence. The world is turned upside down. Pretty soon it’ll be penny loafers and Dockers in the hood.
>From a fellow midwest mommy–and I have in-laws living very close to Rodeo–{{hugs}}! Try to have fun (content search for Mamarazzi!!) and return safely to TheLandofKeithUrban. :-)Cps: I embarrassed my teenager on my blog and I thought, “I bet ‘Lucinda’ would be so proud of me!”
>Oh I wish I had known you were here!!! I could meet you and vica versa! Maybe it’s not too late…Would you email me at myrtillo1984 at yahoo dot com.It would be fun to at least talk on the phone. Sorry Melrose has dissappointed you this trip…
>I hated LA the one time I visited there. Gimme San Diego, Cambria, Santa Cruz, or San Fran any day.Come on home, honey. It’ll be alright. 🙂
>Yeah…too bad you’re stuck in LA.Seriously, SF (and the coast on down) is so easy going and NICE…I’d wind up shooting someone in LA, it sounds like.
>I don’t get their style either. I’ve never been to LA, but I’m a pretty snarky person and I have a feeling I’d be making fun of people the whole time I was there.
>OKay, I thought I was the only one who thought these high fashions were crazy. Whew, I feel better now. When I see photo layouts of new clothes in Glamour or Cosmo I always wonder who in the heck wears this crap?! Now I know! 🙂
>When did Melrose get so icky? I remember having such a great time- ah, how things do change…
>I’ve never been to LA, and I’ve always wanted to make it out there, but your post makes me think it’s not quite as cool as I imagine it to be. I guess I’m not missing much. ;)BTW, congratulations!!!
>This is why I prefer central, or nothern California. I loved living there, and besides the overprimped teenage girls, things are pretty relaxed there.Italy, on the other hand, well, they don’t even wear flip-flops!
>People look pretty dumb in Ohio, too. But I don’t think they’re trying.That was mean. But I’m feeling snarky today. 😉
>In a fancy schmanzty, I once asked if I could use a dressing room to nurse my then 3 month old and they flipped out.If I had asked for a private room to lay a fwe lines in, they would have rolled out the red carpet.I would HATE living SoCal. My aunt lived in OC for decades and left her property to me. I sold it as quick as possible because I knew I would never live there..
>I dunno. Lindsay Lohan is what, 20? I remember pairing some pretty strange articles of clothing at that age. Anyone remember those terrible wool sweaters from South America? Or putting one on over a babydoll dress and combat boots? LA does not sound like my kind of town for many reasons, but I think that LLs outfit, while odd, is age appropriate.
>All I have to say is THANK YOU for not putting a picture of me up to illustrate your point.Vacations are good for making you realize what you love about home.
>Mary, I’ve seen pictures of you and I can assure you that you would not make it into the steaming pile of style. I actually gnashed my teeth a little over your obvious coolness in the BlogHer photos.
>no strollers? are you serious? So basically they want you to let the toddler run free in the fancy schmancy store with sticky fingers and touch all the pretty (GAG!) expensive clothes…
>Funny. When my wife was pregnant, I swear that she had to pee every 10 minutes. It got so bad that we used to map out the nearest Starbucks or Barnes & Noble wherever we were going!
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