Anyway, there are other negative side effects to the eighties trend, although none nearly as devastating as the haircut situation. Fanny packs, for instance. Fanny packs are trendy. And my students who dress like skaters look like they walked out of a Bugle Boy ad. But chiefly, just try dancing to Flock of Seagull's "I Ran." It can't be done. It just cannot be succesfully accomplished. However, all the clubs that I have been to insist on playing that song, and others like it, multiple times per evening. Now, Chile does not live up to the South American stereotype regarding dancing skills. Chileans keep telling me that Norteamericanos are terrible dancers--so stiff! Like robots! Well, I am here to publicly state that I have been to plenty of clubs In Santiago and here in Valpo, and on the whole, Chileans aren't any better off than the Norteamericanos. So, you take a club full of people who can't dance, and give them an undanceable song. Great. Thanks for the extra embarassment, DJ.
However, there are also a few upsides to this acceptance of all things eighties. For instance, at this very moment, the sala de profes is bumping to The Cure: Love Song. I get to hear Madonna at least once a day. Yesterday I did my grocery shopping to the sounds of Unchained Melody. And for every unadulterated non-danceable 80s song at the clubs, there is another dance remix that makes up for it: Stand by Me, Girls Just Wanna Have Fun.....to a beat! And a few weeks ago I was able to publicly sing along to Time After Time in the middle of a club. Ah, it's the little moments.....So yes. All those songs you thought were dead...that you might never put in the effort to seek out....well, in Chile they come to you. And they make you very happy. If you are several Pisco Sours into the night, they make you extremely happy.
Finally, there is one other gift from the eighties that I have welcomed back into my life with open arms. I could tell you, but I'd rather show you. This is what I wore to work yesterday:
I can hear you now: "But Meredith! They can't be! Are they tights...? Are they pants...? They couldn't possibly be....." Oh, but they are. They are leggings. Magenta leggings. Now, before you have a heart attack, I rush to assure you that I have seen very very few people who have made the mistake of using leggings as the sole covering for their lower half. I think we all remember the trauma of leggings-as-pants, and very few seem willing to go back to that phase, thank god. But leggings under skirts, now this is very popular. So I decided to jump on board, and let me tell you, it felt wonderful. Now I admit, all day I was half expecting someone to come up to me and say, "You aren't seriously wearing those in public, are you?! And to work!" But no one even raised an eyebrow. It was an excellent experience: "I am wearing hot pink leggings while teaching a class, and no one finds this strange in the least."
And so I did it again today. I'm giving oral exams today, so I opted for black leggings--more austere, you know. It's true.....I love the leggings. Welcome back, friends.
5 comments:
Now you see, you haven't been here long enough to differentiate between the mullet mullet and the fashion mullet. Two very different kettles of fish.
The mullet mullet (which i prefer to call the 'Adelaide mullet' after the city in which I saw the worst examples ever) denotes low class and flaite-ness.
The fashion mullet, on the other hand, denotes 'coolness' and, more importantly, having lots of cash. Both kinds of mullet are popular in Argentina as well but only the fashion mullet is popular in Spain.
Don't worry, you'll get the hang of it soon. The tell-tale sign is that fashion mulleters wear bigger sunglasses.
Of course, at the end of the day, a mullet is a mullet and the person sporting such a travesty should have his head sliced off.
As a man, you can go into any hairdressers, explain exactly what you want and possibly even show a picture of how you want your hair. But you'll still come out with a mullet. It's the only haircut that they know here.
Fortunately, I cut my own hair. It's a bit tricky doing the back bit on my own, though, so I'm thinking of growing it long there and just cutting the back and sides.
As for the 80s music...it's better than it used to be. 90s Britpop has started to make a comeback in the last couple of years (or is possibly just arriving). This is a good thing.
I will have to start refining my eye! I feel like I've come more in contact with the fashion-mullet, or at least that's the one that draws my attention. I have lived in a couple places where the mullet was popular, but it was never accompanied by trendy clothes and sky-high attitude.
I think there's a fair risk for women as well in terms of being forcibly mullet-ed. I've heard stories. Thankfully I've met a hairdresser in Santiago that seems trustworthy, so I'll be paying her a visit when the time comes. When I had very short hair, I was once given a mullet due to a language barrier, so I know from personal experience the trauma that can result (those things take ages to grow out).
When you do become a big enough bitch to take photos, I will singlehandedly quadruple your hit count per day. Mullets give me endless joy.
I found a rare mullet in a friend's Korean yearbook recently, that was my most major find. Can you imagine a 10 year old Korean boy with a fluffy mullet? Glorious.
Before Chile I would say I couldn't imagine a ten year old Korean boy with a fluffy mullet....now I feel that anything is possible.
I don't know if you can call it a mullet if the hair has so much body it poofs an inch outward before traveling down. I don't know what you call that- besides fabulous.
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