Socks

Last Friday morning I was waiting for a train at High Street Kensington to take me the final leg of my journey to Notting Hill. Across the tracks, sitting in a bench casually reading the newspaper with legs crossed, was a man perhaps around 40, wearing a black suit, white shirt, bright pink tie and coordinated bright pink socks. I was at first shocked by the sight of such bright pink socks on a man otherwise dressed quite formally and obviously heading in to work. After this thought subsided I realized that such a fashion statement was not, in context, much of a statement at all. It sort of dawned on me that the English often rebel against the conformity of the uniform of dark suits and ironed shirts by adding odd little touches to help them stand out in the crowd, often in the form of socks (for men) and their hosiery (for women). I liken this to people in Japan dying their hair crazy colors so they can be more easily picked out a crowd.

These little signs of individuality can in some respects be chalked up to what we stereotypically think of as English eccentricity. However, I do not agree with this analysis. Like with hair in Japan, you see these sorts of things everywhere you go. Like in Seattle people seem to think it's a socially acceptable statement to walk into a) Starbucks or b) their place of business wearing nothing but a slightly too tight spandex onesy that is apparently essential for bike riding. To be honest I would much rather be sitting at a table somewhere and look up to see someone in turquoise tights than a complexly decorated spandex ensemble. And unless I'm totally unaware of the leggings phenomenon going on in the northwest these days, you're likely to turn more heads wearing the tights than the onesy, while here the complete opposite would be true. Of course maybe people in Seattle in Portland have just trained themselves to look away upon spying such a onesy in the corner of their eye.

The wearing of intriguing accessories, however, seems to be limited to the lower half. There does not seem to be a trend towards really crazy ties, for example, and people aren't sitting there with completely bizarre necklaces and dangly earrings. While women tend to have slightly funkier shoes than their NW counterparts, the men still generally stick with very staid black oxfords and loafers. Anyways, while I'm still not sure exactly how to classify the man with the bright pink coordinated final outfit touches, I certainly wouldn't call him eccentric.