Gray Flannel

When it comes to wrapping a flannel shirt around my waist, I’m an OG. I lived the era of ripped jeans, tees, flannels, vintage jackets, doc martens, motorcycle boots and beanies. In fact, it was all I wore in art school while listening to Alice in Chains in our smokey graffiti covered cafeteria (looking at you 1992 SVA). When I saw the revival of this style (and the revival of the term “grunge”, yuck), I couldn’t deal with it. Pop culture certainly has a way of ruining everything.

Related: Long vest and denim

I went to art school in NYC in the 90s so dressing in tees, denim and flannel was more about comfort, convenience and staying warm. I won’t lie, I wore my fair share of platform boots along with my lumber jack wears but those were the times. My social life consisted of angst music at CBGB and a bit of Deee-Groovy(ness) at the Limelight. The scene was indie, artsy … Not contrived at all. That is, until alternative rock became pop and “they” put Eddie Vedder on the cover of Time magazine. Shortly after, Cindy Crawford started strutting the runways in her designer flannel tops. That’s when it all went down the tubes along with great music.

Over the years, we Gen-Xers aka the “lost” generation have drastically changed the way we approach adversity but the core of what we were all about remains the same. Apparently, we’re the best educated generation, and are known for being over the top (in a good way) when it comes to not creating a new generation of latch key kids. Hence, why I work from home. My tastes have changed (well, I’m still a die hard PJ fan) and my style has matured. However, much of it is still rooted in that culture and mind-set. I play around with many different looks, but this look right here is actually where I feel the most comfort – ripped jeans, tee, heels … and a shirt or jacket wrapped around my waist. Even with all that mainstream has done to commercialize this artistically progressively artistic time in our culture, I can totally understand why there would be an interest in it. I guess for OGs like me, there’s a bigger story behind the flannel shirt.