When I was in 8th grade, they had a "career day" at my middle school, where students were invited to come dressed up as the profession that they aspired to. At North Sanpete Middle School, this meant there were a lot of people dressed in overalls (farmers or mechanics) or in belt buckles (bull riders) or in scrubs, which was by far the coolest thing to come dressed in. There were a few teachers and a mightly number of ambitious 6th Spice Girls or solo country singers.
Enter me, wearing knee boots, breeches, a hunt coat and a number pinned to my back. It might as well have been a target on my back at that school, but I was not, nor would I ever be a victim of Ophelia Syndrome, and never resorted to anyone making me a sheep (real sheep in sanpete=good thing, 7th graders as sheep= bad thing) and wore my abhorrently tight grey pants with pride. For about an hour. Then I sort of wished that career day would become "moroni turkey plant blew the town circuit again, go home early" day.
All day long I seemed to confuse my schoolmates about what I was, fully outed myself as a prissy horse geek, and most importantly to a 13 year old, disgraced fashion by abandoning the only 2 brand of pants accepted in 1999 at my school, Wranglers and JNCOs.
It may have been the memories of that day which led me to closet my equine passions for a mighty eight years until my college job at A.A. Callisters. You had to know a girl like my boss, Sam-- who made Fatbaby Cowboy Boots and studded lime green belt buckles look like high fashion and who could tell you the difference between every liniment and supplement Callisters sold-- to remember that loving horses is COOL.
Fast forward to 2011, and the invention of Jeggings. Suddenly, my tight pants with pockets, tucked into tall boots is totally the thing to do. Vogue is covered in these painfully funny ads of skinny models with stuffed horses trying to look "equestrian" but actually looking uncomfortable. But their discomfort is my vindication.
My mother recently bought me these pants for riding in, but I have no doubt I could wear these to the office on Casual Fridays with a pair of tall boots and make a real running in "Casual Friday Fashion Queen of the Day." PLEASE LET THIS FAD LAST FOR FOREVER AND NOT BE A FAD!!!!
The only question remaining is, do I need to scrape the mud and manure off my boots and jeggings for it to count as fashionable?
Happy Monday, Y'all.
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