The Visa Diaries

As my lovely friend Bernadette mentioned, she works at a fantastic company called ASOS (”As Seen on Screen”) Basically, they cull the tabloids and source cheap versions of things that celebs have been photographed wearing. “Celebrity” of course having an elastic definition, and mainly seeming to focus on tabloid princesses like Nicole Richie & co

Now, B. gets a 40% discount on all the clothes the company sells, which include a selection of nice brands in addition to their own label stuff, so she can be forgiven for piles of clothes that spill out of her closet and overstuff her drawers. The funniest purchase, though, was this jumpsuit, which she modeled for me when I was over at her house recently:

This jumpsuit is a mosh up of a varsity jacket with Ronald McDonald’s outfit. It is a backless yet hooded one-piece, maroon and yellow, with fuzzy striped athletic bands at the waist and leg hems (which are cropped). The best part of it is the varsity letter-styled “RW” patch on the left lapel, standing of coarse for its maker, RocaWear. I have never seen anything like it, which shows you just about how cool I am. I love it when I get a window in to “what the kids are up to these days.”

B. explained that last time she had gone to the break-dancing championships in Brixton, she had felt a little out of place. Not because she is a tall, gorgeous Hungarian, but because she was wearing heels instead of trainers. (”Nobody is checking out your outfit – they are just looking down at what trainers you are wearing.”) This year she wanted to wear something more appropriate, to blend in more – hence the Golden Arches majorette ensemble.

Well, cheers to ridiculous jumpsuits – most of us take ourselves far too seriously and could use more furry varsity letters past the age of 18. And cheers to the fact that you can go native in the sub-culture of your choosing with the purchase of a carefully chosen new outfit.