The "Cool" Hunt - The Coastie Culture

I really didn't have to sit in one place for my hunt to realize what I was going to write about. All one has to do is walk down the street here in Madison to see there is "cool" all around us.

We've all had that one clothing fad at one point. The Starter Jacket comes to mind. Where I grew up in northern Wisconsin, they were all the rage. If you were someone, you had the Green Bay Packers Starter Jacket in about 1995 or 1996. Akin to my previous post, I'm going to talk about things that make me shake my head in saddness. This would in deed be the Coastie. Coastie Culture is creating a war in our midst. While I am not the first person to appreciate the sense of "style" they bring, some locals have endorsed this trend. Personally, the Coastie look is a stereotype that will go the way of the Starter Jacket soon enough.

I specifically remember this all started with some celebrtiy. Exactly who I do not know, but they were wearing the Ugg boots. Those forsaken pieces of sheepskin or whatever they are made of (souls of lost children) were on the feet of this celebrity. As we were talking about in class tuesday, this was the hub of the Ugg boot frenzy to begin. Of course, acting like any fad that has come before, if one person that is cool begins wearing it, then of course, you have to have it if you want to be cool. This is no doubt how the huge sunglasses thing took off too. I think it may have been Paris Hilton that did that one. (Of course, this is speculation, and a lot of disgruntled tendencies towards Coasties are not because of their clothes but only add to the loathing I have for them.) My point is, fads, like viral videos, act in the same way. The fickle nature of man never rests on something that is purely functional, but adds to your status in society. I am not immune, I've taken part in a bandwagon or two.

All I'm saying is that the Midwest seems to be years behind the fads. The Coasties brought this fad with them. This is just like a virus. Once people get sick of the clothing, the new fad will begin. It happened with bell bottoms, it happened with parachute pants, it happened with Starter Jackets, and it will happen with the boots and the glasses. People will eventually realize they look like a moron wearing those boots with strech pants. People will realize that those sunglasses only cover most of your face. If you keep going with the fad as a virus gimmick, it's like an immunity will build for the virus. The virus will have anti-bodies built up against it. But remember, viruses mutate against the anti-bodies and become something new, just like a new fad will eventually come along. There will always be fads like there will always be new viruses.

In the frame of "cool," the Coastie look is rebellious for the Midwest. Like I said before, the Midwest gets fads 10 years too late. The Coastie look was new and different. But, at the same time, like all other fads, it's not "cool" because you begin to look like everyone else. Everyone else gets infected with the virus. So, a fad is only as cool as less than the majority follows it.