no longer a surfer girl?
When I finished flipping through my latest Athleta and Title Nine catalogs the other night, I showed them to Mr. M with the caveat, “I bet you’d like me to have all the clothes in these stores!” And as he flipped through, he complimented many of the items and agreed they were all clothes that would catch his eye if he were shopping with me. But then, he looked and me and said, “But these aren’t your style. You’re not a surfer chick.”
And I had to think for a moment to realize that I wasn’t. I mean, my time aboard a surf board has been short and sweet, but am I really past that moment in time. Even on weekends, I’m no longer appearing casual but athletic and sun (or fog) kissed? Really?
But I used to be that girl above. Complete with the UGGs and board shorts and sweat-skirt. The pre-yoga casual girl – that was me! And I’m not anymore? So what if I’m now an “inland” resident an no longer living within 10 miles of the beach… I could still have that spirit, right?
In middle school, all my classmates needed 3 things in order to even be considered a viable human being: UGGs (preferably in an exotic color like Navy Blue or Forrest Green) for the winter, Tevas (with SOCKS!) for the fall/spring, and an “On the Beach” surf shop sweatshirt. I tried to be a different kind of cool, insisting on wearing my newest Local Motion shirt from the islands.
I mean, a trip to Hawaii always meant a new surf shop sweatshirt just like a trip to Disneyland equaled a new stuffed animal! I think I still have a Honolua one in my closet, even though I’ve shrunk it down to Miss L size. I can pretend when I’m bundled up in my house on the weekend, can’t I?
And with uniforms in high school, weekends were super casual at home and around town. I mean, we might have really cold water, but we do have a lot of surfers on the Peninsula. And then college… well heck, SoCal surfer lifestyle just sort of invades the wardrobe quite easily, especially when you wake up 10 minutes before class!
Maybe I can’t. Maybe I just have to admit that I’m old and leave my psuedo-surfer chick days behind me. I’ll just relive them when we visit Miss L’s room with the boards on the wall, and Sharka chilling on the shelf.
Anyone else out there a recovering former surfer chick?
5 Comments
Laura
While I never actually got on a surf board, living in a beach town had set up a similar scenario for me. Rusty or Roxy t-shirts, khaki shorts and flip flops. Always shopping at Pacific Sun. When did that all stop? Oh yea, I became land locked, that might have something to do with it :)
talda
i was just telling my boyfriend last night how i wanted to get out to the beach this summer to surf. i’m still very much a newbie but i love it so much. granted, i never really got into the surfer wardrobe but i did buy one shirt at pacsun once. does that count?
Lindsey
I know the feeling well.
I grew up on the gulf coast of Florida and my high school was less than a mile from the beach. For most of the spring it was standard to see guys wearing their board shorts and girls sporting their bikinis under a t-shirt or tank top and khaki shorts so they could walk/drive to the beach immediately after the bell rang. The administration once tried to ban wearing flip-flops (or any sandal that went between the toes, something about safety) but that lasted about 10 minutes before practicality killed it. I shopped at Roxy sample sales, had 10 bathing suits, and a permanent beach bag in my car.
Then I went off to Boston for college and had to learn about coats. And now that I’m back in Florida, I’m landlocked in a college town and the style aesthetic is still very different from my youth.
Charmi
I totally used to dress more Californian and casual but I guess in my transition to the northeast I’ve lost my surfer (even though I’ve never surfed) style. I think its also about just getting older and realizing that 70% of the time you are dressing for work so you can’t exactly be casual.
Jen
California casual was my style for college, even though I lived in Arizona. I certainly dress this way whenever I’m on vacation at the beach, and my summer weekend wardrobe is definitely casual skirts and flip flops. I guess I’ve gone through a lot of style phases in my life. When I got the new athleta catalogue, I really wanted basically all the clothes in there. Does that count?