The Hawaiian Shirt Fellas

People watching is the best, isn’t it?  Saturday night, my family and I went to a local festival in Des Moines.  We had a blast!  We listened to music, we ate, we saw friends. . . and we saw other stuff too.  We saw people.  I’m often amazed at what people choose to wear. . . in public.  Below is a brief description of what I saw.

I started looking around and found myself recognizing all of these different groups of people.  It wasn’t that I actually knew these people, but I kept recognizing “the same people” everywhere.  These Fashion Forward people had imagination.  They had creativity.  They had . . . style.

I saw the Hawaiian Shirt Fellas.  Who knew that Hawaiian shirts were so popular?  I’ve never seen this many Hawaiian shirts in one place. . . not even in Hawaii.  There was one moment in which I realized that from my little vantage point - I could see 7 guys wearing Hawaiian shirts.  Sure I felt nauseous, but I looked anyway.  There’s certainly nothing wrong with wearing a Hawaiian shirt, but when you’ve got this massive display around you . . . its deafening.  And, just in case you’re wondering. . . No - you can’t hear the ocean when surrounded by 7 Hawaiian shirts.

I saw the Fanny Pack Crew.  These guys and gals came prepared.  I’m not sure what could have been in these bags, but I bet they were prepared for anything.  I also noticed that there are several different ways to wear such an accessory.  Some wore these packs in the front (traditional theme park position), some wore them in the back (this would be your weekend hiker position) and some . . . rocked ‘em to the side.  Those who wore them to the side are rockin’ it new school.  I’m down, people.

Then there was a element that shocked me, it was the Beer Shirt Boys.  I didn’t even know there was such a large market for Beer shirts.  I don’t mean a shirt that promotes a certain brand of beer, just beer.  There were shirts announcing that it was Beer:30 - there were shirts announcing an all out assault on one’s liver.  There was one that said something about beer and a horse.  ??  Everywhere I looked, I saw these shirts.  My conclusion is this:  You may not have to be drunk to buy one of these shirts, but you certainly have to be to wear one.  If I was pushed into a corner . . . I’d go fanny pack before a Beer:30 shirt.  Just sayin’.

Other things were seen.  I saw people wearing extra high heels.  You’d think they’d practice walking in such shoes before breaking them out in such a public setting.  I saw people wearing knit caps, even though it wasn’t cold.  I saw a host of “this t-shirt fit in 1993” guys.  I even saw some people wearing “Lawyer Casual”.  These are guys who were wearing khaki shorts and flip flops while wearing a $200 oxford with the sleeves rolled up.  Do your thing counselor.

But the most memorable fashion forward image of the night was . . . Kilts!  That’s right, Kilts!  Apparently, there is a Scottish element in Des Moines.  There were a couple of guys running sound for a band, “The Faculty Lounge”, that were sportin’ the kilts.  These guys were good and the band was even better.  Way to go guys - It’s better than the fanny pack.

What is funny to me is this:  While I’m looking around at what other people were wearing - someone was probably looking at me and saying, “Really?  What’s that dude thinking?”

Do your thing people. . . and I’ll try to do mine.

JJ