DOWN WITH PANTS!

First, go visit my new renter, The Plumbutt Chronicles. Good stuff. I promise more of a plug than this later. But now, onto the "content"...

While rummaging through my picture files I came across yet another picture that I took with the intention of writing a post about it. The above picture comes to us from a Sunday morning farmer's market in Ojai - otherwise known as rich hippyville U.S.A - in February. What you are looking at is the quintessential California girl in winter.

It starts with a general look that I like to call "Undercover Celebrity". You've all seen the pictures of the big Hollywood starlets dressed in their track suits, looking like they came from the gym or went on a quick run to the Coffee Bean and are surprised to see the paparazzi on their tail. Yet they still have their Gucci handbag and are rolling in their brand new Range Rover. It's a cultivated and calculated look with a purpose.

Cali Girl here has embraced "Undercover Celebrity". She understands that purpose. While she probably doesn't necessarily want to be a celebrity (it is a quite a bit of work after all), she is more than happy to think of herself as one. And what would a celebrity wear to a farmer's market? Well, she dressed herself down opting for a simple black hoodie, jeans and twin braids. A simple, common, everyday look that would have been reasonable for a Sunday morning in Ojai.

But to make it celebtastic she has thrown in a cocky little designer hat, a humongous Gucci bag (hard to see, but it definitely is Gucci), a dog to fit in said Gucci handbag, and with a nod to her royal Cali girl (via Louisianna) highness, Britney, Ugg boots, purple Ugg boots. She is laying it on pretty thick, isn't she? Add to the equation the blonder than blonde hair and the bored "I'm better than this" expression and you have a pretty solid characterization of a California girl in winter.

I guess it begs the question. Which came first? The "Undercover Celebrity" or the Califronia girl in winter? Who is copying whom? Either way, it has spiraled into a vortex of snooty that we may never see the end of. God save us all.