3 Lessons Learned from Skaters
I'm Not a Skater.
I’m not a skater.
I don’t have the guts it takes to fall on hard concrete countless times just to land a trick once. But I learned a lot from my time rolling around the local skatepark padded from head to toe looking like Ralphie from ‘A Christmas Story.’
Skateboarding (‘skating’ as the cool kids call it) is a world all its own. From the outside, it looks like strung out bums terrorizing the classier members of society - it looks a lot like that from the inside too, actually…
But there’s more to it. It’s rugged individuality mixed with meaningful social connection - It’s getting away from something by pursuing something else - And it’s personal expression within confined boundaries.
Through all of its complexity and paradox, skate culture gives us one more thing - a lesson on style.
Here are 3 style lessons I learned from Skaters:
1. Black is the new black.
Skaters wear black for everything. Black Carhartts - black t-shirt - black Vans. And you know what? It looks freaking great because black is a great color for 98% of the general population. (I haven’t figured out who the 2% are that don’t look good in black, but I don’t want to risk sounding over-confident by saying 100%.)
2. Personal presentation matters.
There was a guy that would ride into the skatepark wearing one pair of Vans (his nice pair), then sit on a bench and pull a trashed pair of the same shoes out of his backpack that were his ‘skate’ shoes. He cared enough about his presentation that he wore his “Sunday Best” to the skatepark even though he knew he was going to be changing out of them as soon as he got there. When you value your personal presentation, you put that little extra effort into the small things and it ends up making a big difference.
3. If you say you’re stylish - you’re not.
Can you imagine any self-respecting skater saying that she is fashionable? I can’t. It’s one of those things where if you have to say it, then it’s probably not true. This isn’t just a skate culture thing either - it applies to you and me too. Your style will speak for itself, and I hope that it speaks quietly and confidently.
If you need a little extra inspiration to be a badass today OR encouragement that maybe your day wasn’t as bad as you thought, check out the definition of what it means to be a ‘skater’ - Alex Midler in 'You Good?'
