The way we dress in Utah

I'm no one to give fashion advice.  EVER!  My wife even begs me not to donate my clothes and says, "A lot of these people are homeless.  Don't make them look dorky too".  But as an observer, it still puzzles me when I see what people in Utah wear.

Starting with knit caps.  You almost NEVER see one when it's actually cold but in the summer, I am puzzled by the number of guys I see wearing knit caps.  I tell myself it is "not for me to judge" but I can feel my insides judging them.  "You didn't wash your hair today, did you?"   Oh well.  They don't need my help.  Have at it! Knit cap and all.

The other thing that puzzles me is the way guys dress when they are going on a date.  You KNOW the girl spent several hours getting ready and the guys show up looking like they are dressed to paint the place.  Throw a knit cap on too.  She'll LOVE that.

Lots of people wear camo too.  The funny thing about camouflage is that the people who actually wear it to go hunting out in the wilds of Utah have to wear an orange vest OVER the camo..  I will need help with the logic.  Why do you bother with the camo and then throw an orange vest over it?  Now you see me.  Now you don't.  And now you see me again with the vest on.

I have a friend who is convinced yoga pants are the greatest invention of the last few centuries.  Whether you plan to do yoga or not.  Wildly popular in Utah.

We love to wear our colors too.  Some red, some blue and nothing in the middle.  A few years ago, a co-worker was retiring and we got him a fishing cap that I was having our staff sign.  I just grabbed a couple magic-markers and took the hat around to get signatures.  The number of people that had a fit if I handed them the WRONG marker was stunning but I had only grabbed two markers.  One red and one blue.  It's like they couldn't touch the other color without their skin melting off.

Decades ago, sweat pants were worn by people who had some intention of exercising.  I remember my first pair of sweat pants.  I was on the track team and we were running 800 meters in the Midwest and it was COLD.  So, "I'll try these sweatpants".  Not a good idea.  I was still freezing and didn't understand why people liked them so much.  I later learned they are great indoors.  Outside, not so much.

My dad hated flip flops and I may have picked this up from him.  For some reason, flip flops on girls are cute but dude flip flops are nasty. (I think its funny that girls wear Ugg boots with shorts too.  "I'm going for totally cute and comfortable".  That might not be a Utah thing.  That's universal).  And for some reason, everyone in Utah wears flip flops when they fly.  I swear, you'd think the plane can't take off unless everyone is wearing flip flops. I know that in an emergency, I want to make sure I'm wearing flip flops as I try to exit the burning plane quickly.  And while it's rare to see snow in Southern Utah, it's not rare at all to see people wearing flip flops walking through the snow.  Lots of people here wear shorts every day no matter what kind of weather we're having that day.  When I was in high school, you were a total outcast if you weren't wearing exactly the right thing so I give a tip of that hat to those who wear whatever they want.  You can just say, "Welcome to Utah" and that will shut up any critics that come your way.