Are you ever tired of explaining why you live or dress the way you do?

[rue]

I'm not quite sure how to ask this, but this was really bugging me today, so I'll give it a try.....

Very rarely, but sometimes, I don't want to go out of the house, because I don't want attention called to me because of the way I dress. God forbid when they realize how I live, because then it turns into even more of an interview. Most of the time, I really don't mind, but on those rare occasions, when I just want to pop in somewhere and grab something from a store (like today when I'm sick), I wish I could hide. Other times when someone I just met comes over and sees the way I live, I feel like I'm under a microscope.

I know it comes with the territory, but holy criminy..... I don't interview people about the way they live or dress.


Sooooo....... For those of us that live the lifestyle or just dress that way, do you ever get tired of answering questions about it?

 

[LocktownDog]

Doesn't happen. This is a very eccentric area, so I pretty much fit right in. Virginia City is within a mile or so of here, and there's an elderly miner who walks around in period gear and walking a mule ... so no questions of my taste, that's for sure.

 

[rue]

Doesn't happen. This is a very eccentric area, so I pretty much fit right in. Virginia City is within a mile or so of here, and there's an elderly miner who walks around in period gear and walking a mule ... so no questions of my taste, that's for sure.

I live in a town with hippies (in period 60s gear), punk rockers with mohawks and people dressed in period 1800s cowboy gear, but they don't bat an eye at them, just me LOL

 

[MikeBravo]

I live in a town with hippies (in period 60s gear), punk rockers with mohawks and people dressed in period 1800s cowboy gear, but they don't bat an eye at them, just me LOL

Maybe you're the "normal" one who catches their attention?

 

[Shangas]

So long as it's a polite inquiry of genuine curiosity, I honestly don't mind what people ask about me.

It's when you get the smart-asses that it ticks me off.

 

[Flicka]

This is why the uptightness of Swedes is useful: no one stares at other people and no one would ever, ever address a stranger unless they were drunk.

 

[Gregg Axley]

I'm not quite sure how to ask this, but this was really bugging me today, so I'll give it a try.....

Very rarely, but sometimes, I don't want to go out of the house, because I don't want attention called to me because of the way I dress. God forbid when they realize how I live, because then it turns into even more of an interview. Most of the time, I really don't mind, but on those rare occasions, when I just want to pop in somewhere and grab something from a store (like today when I'm sick), I wish I could hide. Other times when someone I just met comes over and sees the way I live, I feel like I'm under a microscope.

I know it comes with the territory, but holy criminy..... I don't interview people about the way they live or dress.


Sooooo....... For those of us that live the lifestyle or just dress that way, do you ever get tired of answering questions about it?

For the smarta** questions, just give the following.
Give them a surprised look and say "2013? I made it! The Philidelphia Experiment really works!!! And then refuse to explain yourself because it's "classified."

 

[Big Man]

... they don't bat an eye at them, just me ...

I can understand why.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Most of the questions I get are from patrons at the theatre, always people from away, and they're mostly very superficial -- "Do you dress like this all the time?" And I have a series of stock replies that I use: "Well, not when I'm in the bathtub." "They found me in the attic when they were renovating." "They needed someone who matched the carpet." And so on.

Nobody who actually lives here has ever asked me any kind of a personal question. It's just not done.

 

[Hunter_aka_Scotty]

I tend to be a bit on the unapproachable side, but my wife gets this ALL the time. She says she doesn't even both trying to explain she tells them that it is what it is and it is what she likes end of story.

 

[m0nk]

I don't have to explain anything to anyone.

I'm eccentric and everyone 'round me knows it. I wear fedoras, dress a little more old fashioned than most, and smoke a pipe. I also drink quite a bit and like to have a good time...

 

[BigBoiBrady]

The only person who I really have to answer to regarding my appearances, music I listen to, and lifestyle is my cranky, teenage younger brother. Ironically, he's a Frank Sinatra fan.

 

[LizzieMaine]

What we really need are tracts we can hand out on street corners.

 

[Kento]

I've gotten questions and comments occassionally. Most people don't say anything, but there are a couple people I run into from time to time who seem to find my "old-fashioned" clothing style irritating and always need to make some kind of snide remark. The worst is going downtown on a summer weekend. If even wearing a linen jacket someone will always ask me why I'm dressed so warm or if I have to got to work on the weekend.

 

[rue]

Maybe you're the "normal" one who catches their attention?

Well, of course I am

So long as it's a polite inquiry of genuine curiosity, I honestly don't mind what people ask about me.

It's when you get the smart-asses that it ticks me off.

I don't mind normally either, but yes, the nasty comments do make me mad.

This is why the uptightness of Swedes is useful: no one stares at other people and no one would ever, ever address a stranger unless they were drunk.

You're lucky Flicka

 

[rue]

For the smarta** questions, just give the following.
Give them a surprised look and say "2013? I made it! The Philidelphia Experiment really works!!! And then refuse to explain yourself because it's "classified."

lol

I can understand why.

Aww.... thank you Big Man

Most of the questions I get are from patrons at the theatre, always people from away, and they're mostly very superficial -- "Do you dress like this all the time?" And I have a series of stock replies that I use: "Well, not when I'm in the bathtub." "They found me in the attic when they were renovating." "They needed someone who matched the carpet." And so on.

Nobody who actually lives here has ever asked me any kind of a personal question. It's just not done.

I need to start writing your responses down and pull them out like a cheat sheet Lizzie

 

[rue]

I tend to be a bit on the unapproachable side, but my wife gets this ALL the time. She says she doesn't even both trying to explain she tells them that it is what it is and it is what she likes end of story.

No one ever says a word to me when I'm with my boyfriend either, because he's on the unapproachable side as well, but I can't take him everywhere with me

I don't have to explain anything to anyone.

I'm eccentric and everyone 'round me knows it. I wear fedoras, dress a little more old fashioned than most, and smoke a pipe. I also drink quite a bit and like to have a good time...

The only person who I really have to answer to regarding my appearances, music I listen to, and lifestyle is my cranky, teenage younger brother. Ironically, he's a Frank Sinatra fan.

That is ironic!

 

[rue]

What we really need are tracts we can hand out on street corners.

Oh! Now THAT is a great idea!!

 

[Feraud]

For the most part people in my area don’t comment on dress. The few comments I’ve received have been positive. Those usually come from Latinos and African Americans.

The inquiries I receive have more to do with accessories. People are fascinated by a pocket watch or fountain pen. You would think I use prehistoric flint tools by their inability to understand the idea behind carrying a pocketwatch or shaving with a single/double edge razor. You should see the blanks stares when my wife gets when she mentions knitting. She must appear to them an ancient alchemist.

Somehow I cannot get these technologically advanced humans to understand the idea that if you have one sharp blade on your razor you don’t need four!! Or local driving does not require a GPS in your car. I cannot count the blanks stares when I talk about changing the oil in my car..

Thankfully these days I don’t spend much time in the vicinity of drunks so I have eliminated those grade school conversations.

 

[rue]

I've gotten questions and comments occassionally. Most people don't say anything, but there are a couple people I run into from time to time who seem to find my "old-fashioned" clothing style irritating and always need to make some kind of snide remark. The worst is going downtown on a summer weekend. If even wearing a linen jacket someone will always ask me why I'm dressed so warm or if I have to got to work on the weekend.

Most of the locals, in the places I frequent, are used to me and either don't say anything or pay me a compliment, but the ones that don't know me stare and/or make snarky remarks. Tourists are the worst though.