I don't know what got into me. I didn't get to the gym in time to really pull this off at a leisurely retirement pace but, nonetheless, I cut my workout short and got ready and raced to the convention center parking garage in time to be in my seat for an acclaimed documentary about illegal Mexican labor. [Ed. note: I plan to write a full 'review' of all the movies I saw, but I haven't done it. I've been too busy sitting in the dark, watching.]

The breaks between the films wasn't all that generous save the break between three and four. I grabbed candy before the first, soda before the second, a sandwich and beer before the third and a half dozen assorted raw oysters and a Manhattan before the fourth. This is the reason that famous movie goers like Harry Knowles are portly and a bit pasty-faced. (Sorry, Harry, I'm both myself and I don't see as many movies.)

Some of the movies had their moments. I didn't really doze off or anything. But, in between the movies, wandering the convention center and the Hilton, I made a fashion observation.

To be cool at SXSW you need to be different. You can follow everyone else's lead with shoes (very high heels or Converse-style tennies or shoes that look like you might bowl when, of course, as close as you get is seeing A League of Ordinary Gentlemen and commenting on the photography. [An aside: I wondered a little about the title...being unaware of the recent sci-fi flick that they were making reference to with the title. In spite of attending three film fests and trying to scour the newspapers and movie channels, I guess I'm not a film maven yet.]

But I digress. You take your shoe cues from others, that's OK. You can wear denim (preferably vintage or made to look it) or cargo pants (short, medium or long) but the one fashion rule is this: you must have a unique shirt. This is the attraction of vintage. Your vintage Western is pretty much guaranteed to be unique. Ditto antique rock concert T-Shirt. No one bought the merchandise from the SXSW store and wore them right away it seemed. You have to wait a few years. You may wear a black top, of course, but preferably you look a little bit different than everyone else because of your shirt. Your tattoos and piercings may seem trite, but your vintage bowling or softball shirt (can be worn under a white shirt so it shows through) sets you apart.

I concluded that I could be setting up a new fashion trend. First, I wore black jeans (Men's 560's) first off. This is a slacks alternative that the kids might call 'old school.' (How tired are we of that?) Second, my shirt was a secondhand gray button down shirt, pressed by Shamrock cleaners and tucked into the jeans with a simple black belt completing the look. My shirt was unique, starting an arch back to tucking (this untucking thing has gone from the kids to the Westwood set, time for a change). Even among the suits (this isn't really about them), a gray button down isn't what they are doing. They are doing stripes or white. If they are casual, dress pants and patterns. Third, I had on hiking boots (a pair of older grayish blue New Balance...no Ninja Turtle bow biters but I would have if I'd thought of it). I could see the kids going to this look, too, usurping it from urban gays with shorts, muscular legs and tallish rugged socks.

Yep, you never know. I might have started a little ripple of fashion influence, flowing out to influence people who are, after all, creators but also followers.

More likely, the (mostly younger) crowd saw a dowdy middle-aged woman in oddly androgynous clothes with unkempt hair and a black backpack. They might have been more influenced by my snack choice in the Hilton bar...the oyster sampler looked as delicious as it tasted and several people (with accents that placed them as coming from all over the glove) commented on it as they passed by. (In their unique shirts and shoes that looked liked bowling shoes.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I got a little blurry before a day of four movies was over. Good thing I had some kind of workout. Physically feel good...no digestive difficulties.