Tuesday, October 19, 2004
The Cowboy Mystique
The other day I was in the store next to my son's school buying him new sneakers. I noticed that a woman in the store was trying on cowboy boots. It's France's little secret..... they love American cowboys.... usually said like "kuhbo-ee." They love cowboys. My son has been to a few cowboy parties. People smile whenever you mention the US and cowboys in the same sentence. In the kids stores, when they have a book on the US they always mention the cowboys. I was thinking about this today because one French family was telling me how they took a trip to the US this summer to go to Montana. Wow, I thought. I've probably been to 40 of the 50 states, but Montana isn't one of them. If you had one trip to the US, would it be Montana? But they went to a ranch, you know, the kind with cowboys. So I thought I'd share a picture of the cowboy boots at the store.
When I was taking a picture of the boots, a French mother from the school didn't see the camera and asked if the cowboy boots were authentic. Are they like the ones in the US? What to say? The ones in the picture, in my humble NY raised opinion, look pretty fashionable. Not quite the ones I think of when I visit Texas, but I told her they look the same, maybe a little prettier. She was very pleased.
-- said Auntie M in Paris
11:48 PM
For example, I grew up in the southern part of the United States (North Carolina and Tennessee and Alabama). Please don't hold it against me. The guys who drove trucks long distances wore these really ugly hats that had plastic mesh for the back part and a polyster bill with some obnoxious slogan written on the front like "My best friend left with my wife...And I miss him." These same men would wear these industrial coats manufactured by a company called Carhart.
Fast forward to almost 7 years later and I am living in New York City. A place that is known for having particulary trendy people in certain spots. And what do I start to see people wearing??? Those stupid "trucker" caps and Carhart jackets and other clothing. I was horrified. I thought the trend would die quickly, but it actually stuck around for a while and I even saw the hats made it to Paris.
I always thought if any of those people every stepped into a small southern town wearing their best cap and their favorite Carhart jacket, they would probably get their butts kicked out of the door.
Personally, I love cowboy boots, but I have been told that when I wear them I look like an exclamation point, because they make me taller and I am already thin.
Jason
http://jasonstone.typepad.com
# posted by Anonymous : 5:01 PM