Editors' Blog Blogger Bio
Bad Taste vs. No Taste
I have a confession to make: I love people with bad taste. The kind of person who breaks all the rules, mixing big obnoxious stripes with over-the-top floral patterns. Anyone who wears too much makeup, whose hair is too big and coiffed. These are the people who get my attention on and off the course. I love their attempts, even if they appear to fail.
For me, true failure rests with the countless number sporting a safe pair of pleated khakis and nondescript polos trying to hide, not get noticed, in the crowd. Or worse, the type of person who tries to re-create Tiger or Annika's latest get-up in hopes of improving his or her game; that could make for a fun instruction story: Want to break 90? Wear a tight fitting flaming red mock neck top and billowing khakis...
I applaud the effort of anyone who makes a choice to stand out. To pick a hat that's inappropriate and wear it with a sense of ease and comfort. That's why I have a fondness for misfits. I loved Christina Kim pre-weight loss, when she flaunted her ample figure in flamboyant prints that would be deemed inappropriate for a girl of her stature. I loved that she never caved in to the criticism and had fun with her look. Isn't that what golf is all about, having fun?
does Bjork golf? "Bjork" and "Golf" seem like words that need to be together.
I feel like I'm the oddball most of the time but i'm glad I have a fan out there...Thanks Argy! By the way, I love Christina Kim too.
Yes to standing out on the links! In tennis, we've seen the standouts and oddballs of the past become the trend-setters. Once the women break sartorial ranks on the golf course, maybe the men will follow . . . with more unusual colors and styles. "Different strokes for different folks!" "Power to the people!"
You're right, Argy, those with so-called "bad" taste are often actually the tastemakers in an ironic way. They're even often the ones who bring golf to the attention of audiences who might not have otherwise noticed golf before (much like Andre Agassi did for tennis back in the '80s and 90's. At one time he was as known for his wild hair and clothes as he was for his excellent tennis skills, but one never took away from the other. In fact, I think they complemented each other because he was at ease, as you say, and when he felt comfortable, he performed better.) While I only have had a passing interest in it before, I have actually started to give golf a closer look in part because of some of the eye-catching images put forth by some of the players. It kind of demystifies the game/sport a bit and does make it seem more fun and somewhat approachable for a novice.
I agree that a fashion train wreck is much more inspiring and entertaining to look at than someone who "plays it safe". Getting dressed in the real world is tough enough for some people. I appluad anyone who has the gutts to truly be themselves on the golf course where being "proper" and "fitting in" is the "easy" way out.
well, it's hard for me to have much to say about golf, but it's good that you're there to validate a person's sense of adventure. I think it's kind of a strange thing that golf as an activity seems to be the most sober, blue blood sport, favored heavily by people eager to conform, and yet the fashion historically has been loud outrageous plaids, and outrageously matched things (maybe to stand out on the greens, so you don't get hit by a ball?). Now that golf is becoming less the province of fat rich old white people, and becoming more mainstreamed (especially among rap people) , the golf fashion is more conservative. maybe that's because fat rich old white people have that "the hell with you" attitude, and younger folks are a little more conscious of what other people think. I blame Dr. Phil for criticizing that dude's pants in the eharmony commercial. Dr. Phil probably singlehandedly made the sales of golf knickers tank!