vokuhila - mullet
vokuhila is short for vorne kurz hinten lang, which translates to short in the front, long in the back. i have seen very few mullets in berlin, but i like the fact that it has such a long name. dan learned this term at work. i'm not really sure how it came up.
let's take a moment to talk about german style.
while germany is known for churning out some beautiful people (heidi klum, claudia schiffer) it is not known for having great style. in berlin, fashion seems to be less of a concern than in most big cities. it is not unusual for me to pass 6 people in a row, men and women, wearing the exact same pair of shoes. black, lace up ankle boots with pointyish round toes and a little heel. these are usually topped with non-descript pleated brown pants that are too short, and faded black socks with shot elastic. i hardly ever see what kinds of shirts people are wearing since it's so cold here, but usually the coat, a lumpy muted canvas button up contraption with many unflattering pockets, clues me in to what lies beneath.
now, i am no fashion icon, and often dan has to tell me that i don't really match. but i try to keep up. here in berlin i have completely let my guard down, wearing whatever i feel like wearing, matching or not. i don't really worry about being picked out, like i did in london, for wearing sweats and sneakers because, frankly, who are berliners to judge? but there is one thing i just can't seem to get right. the scarf.
scarves are all the rage here and are the only part of their outfit with flair. they are worn 24/7 indoors and out. there is a very particular way to wear it as well. one must never wrap the scarf around one's neck but fold it in half, pulling the ends through the loop so that it comes to a v in front and the ends hang down outside of your threadbare coat. i've hardly ever seen the same color scarf twice. this is their one accessory. my scarf is too short to truly be worn fashionably, so i still wrap. it's warmer anyway. but i digress.
so why is fashion so bad here? the major stores in germany carry all of the top designers, and down on the ku'damm (kufurstendammstrasse = big fancy shopping street) you can find cartier, gucci, versace, you name it. my theory is that everyone buying items from these stores is a tourist who immediately returns home without wearing their fashionable items on the streets of berlin.
but i think the real reason is this: locals don't care about fashion because they've been through so much in the recent past that they really don't have room in their lives to care about it. while the western world was trying bell bottoms and peasant shirts on for size, berliners were wondering what was happening on the other side of the wall. when i was wearing neon spandex stirrup pants and drop waisted dresses, they were planning a revolution. when brown became the new black, and then black was the new black, and for a brief moment, hunter green was the new black, people in east berlin were putting together a new life for themselves within capitalist society. who cares what the new black is when you suddenly find yourself jobless and with very little devalued currency?
a few of my friends in the states, you know who you are, have been overheard playing a game they like to call "gay or german". this is not meant to imply anything about the person as an individual, simply whether or not his pants are a little too tight. before my time here i might have laughed and said ha! tight pants are tragic! now i say, so what if his pants are too tight? it just means his priorities are better than mine.
let's take a moment to talk about german style.
while germany is known for churning out some beautiful people (heidi klum, claudia schiffer) it is not known for having great style. in berlin, fashion seems to be less of a concern than in most big cities. it is not unusual for me to pass 6 people in a row, men and women, wearing the exact same pair of shoes. black, lace up ankle boots with pointyish round toes and a little heel. these are usually topped with non-descript pleated brown pants that are too short, and faded black socks with shot elastic. i hardly ever see what kinds of shirts people are wearing since it's so cold here, but usually the coat, a lumpy muted canvas button up contraption with many unflattering pockets, clues me in to what lies beneath.
now, i am no fashion icon, and often dan has to tell me that i don't really match. but i try to keep up. here in berlin i have completely let my guard down, wearing whatever i feel like wearing, matching or not. i don't really worry about being picked out, like i did in london, for wearing sweats and sneakers because, frankly, who are berliners to judge? but there is one thing i just can't seem to get right. the scarf.
scarves are all the rage here and are the only part of their outfit with flair. they are worn 24/7 indoors and out. there is a very particular way to wear it as well. one must never wrap the scarf around one's neck but fold it in half, pulling the ends through the loop so that it comes to a v in front and the ends hang down outside of your threadbare coat. i've hardly ever seen the same color scarf twice. this is their one accessory. my scarf is too short to truly be worn fashionably, so i still wrap. it's warmer anyway. but i digress.
so why is fashion so bad here? the major stores in germany carry all of the top designers, and down on the ku'damm (kufurstendammstrasse = big fancy shopping street) you can find cartier, gucci, versace, you name it. my theory is that everyone buying items from these stores is a tourist who immediately returns home without wearing their fashionable items on the streets of berlin.
but i think the real reason is this: locals don't care about fashion because they've been through so much in the recent past that they really don't have room in their lives to care about it. while the western world was trying bell bottoms and peasant shirts on for size, berliners were wondering what was happening on the other side of the wall. when i was wearing neon spandex stirrup pants and drop waisted dresses, they were planning a revolution. when brown became the new black, and then black was the new black, and for a brief moment, hunter green was the new black, people in east berlin were putting together a new life for themselves within capitalist society. who cares what the new black is when you suddenly find yourself jobless and with very little devalued currency?
a few of my friends in the states, you know who you are, have been overheard playing a game they like to call "gay or german". this is not meant to imply anything about the person as an individual, simply whether or not his pants are a little too tight. before my time here i might have laughed and said ha! tight pants are tragic! now i say, so what if his pants are too tight? it just means his priorities are better than mine.
posted by jordan at
11:45 AM
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