You know you're getting old when...
Lisa Thompson
Issue date: 2/7/07 Section: Op-Ed
In a now infamous piece of pop culture indulgence, Bridget Jones diarizes the return of the new-old fashion. She notes that at the precise moment when you see a fashion trend return, you're officially old.
Already as a mid-career, I hear the jokes in the halls and the classrooms: the "end-careers," the "no-careers" and "insufferable know-it-alls"….well the know-it-all part is true, but it's been a shock to be regarded as an old has-been so early in my professional life.
Keep in mind that my no-career status is a voluntary sabbatical initiated to improve future employment options (see KSG recruitment pamphlet). At least when I'm called on in class I don't have to quote the undergraduate textbook I read last year because I have no real world experience.
But what really brings out my reverse ageism is today's fashion. Since starting back at school, I find my eye twitching at the thought of being dragged back into the world of partying like it's 1999. Yes, I realize some of you were still underage in 1999 and don't even know that I'm referencing Prince, the artist formally known as Prince, and then Prince again. Don't even ask me who Prince is or I'll completely flip a nut.
I'm from New Hampshire, which is trapped in its own fashion time warp where people still sport mullets and acid wash jeans. So it's not hard for me to appreciate the fashion-forward Boston - although some of my more posh European pals may beg to differ.
Lately though, people are sporting local styles that I've seen not once, not twice, but three times in my life already. Take, for instance, the lovely fashion of big belts meets big sweaters. Very chic, but I've seen it before. It first appeared in the early 80s, when I was nine and everything was new - and no, I won't tell you how early in the 80s. But the fashion reared its unfortunate head again in the late 80s-days of Madonna and glam-rock, this time as a nightmarish pairing of oversized muu-muu shirts and belts draped over skin-tight leggings.
Already as a mid-career, I hear the jokes in the halls and the classrooms: the "end-careers," the "no-careers" and "insufferable know-it-alls"….well the know-it-all part is true, but it's been a shock to be regarded as an old has-been so early in my professional life.
Keep in mind that my no-career status is a voluntary sabbatical initiated to improve future employment options (see KSG recruitment pamphlet). At least when I'm called on in class I don't have to quote the undergraduate textbook I read last year because I have no real world experience.
But what really brings out my reverse ageism is today's fashion. Since starting back at school, I find my eye twitching at the thought of being dragged back into the world of partying like it's 1999. Yes, I realize some of you were still underage in 1999 and don't even know that I'm referencing Prince, the artist formally known as Prince, and then Prince again. Don't even ask me who Prince is or I'll completely flip a nut.
I'm from New Hampshire, which is trapped in its own fashion time warp where people still sport mullets and acid wash jeans. So it's not hard for me to appreciate the fashion-forward Boston - although some of my more posh European pals may beg to differ.
Lately though, people are sporting local styles that I've seen not once, not twice, but three times in my life already. Take, for instance, the lovely fashion of big belts meets big sweaters. Very chic, but I've seen it before. It first appeared in the early 80s, when I was nine and everything was new - and no, I won't tell you how early in the 80s. But the fashion reared its unfortunate head again in the late 80s-days of Madonna and glam-rock, this time as a nightmarish pairing of oversized muu-muu shirts and belts draped over skin-tight leggings.
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