Walking around in the heart of downtown Austin as much as I do, has garnered more than a few comments. I believe my outfits (and obviously my gender) have something to do with the attention I receive, although I never dress with the intention of pleasing other people. In fact, last night I tried to wear an outfit that I thought might attract men (I could use some summer lovin’ Grease style), but instead ended up wearing something I felt comfortable in. This meant wearing a multicolored scarf wrapped around my head and a bright graphic print dress, a look I cheekily dubbed “tropical terrorist.” I never expect to grab the attention from those of the opposite gender, so when something I wear actually does attract their attention, I become puzzled and immediately start thinking about it from a scientific perspective.
Recently I have been wearing some rather large white circular sunglasses that I got from a local vintage store, Ermine Vintage, for $10. They were an impulse buy after I had recently and tragically lost my favorite pair of Prada sunglasses at a pool party. Why I choose to spend $300 on the one accessory that you are most likely to misplace or break, I don’t know (that’s another question that deserves scientific and psychological analysis.) But it turns out that the Italian brand that has been around since 1913 ain’t got nothin’ on my new $10 dollar shades.
The cheap white sunglasses have actually been a huge hit and gained a lot of attention, specifically on Instagram from people wanting to know where to buy them. Besides not realizing how much love these sunglasses would receive from my female followers, the much weirder discovery is that men seem to love them too. However, the compliments I have received from men on my sunglasses have gone like this: “I love how your sunglasses match your dog!” and “I like your dog, and I like your sunglasses.” Thus, the equation seems to be: $10 big white sunglasses + priceless little white dog = attraction.
Admittedly, this is a rather quick analysis and leaves several further questions unanswered such as “If you take away the dog, does the equation still stand?”, “Do the sunglasses have to be perfectly round?” and “What type of man is grabbed by a pair of white sunglasses and a cute little dog?”
Perhaps there is even a third confounding variable which I am overlooking. But, so far all I can conclude is that if you wear a pair of oversized circular white sunglasses while walking a Coton de Tulear, you too could find yourself chatting with a fast-talking boy named Hugo who knows everything you never wanted to know about movies.
Some white sunglasses to help you with the first part of the equation:
Joanna Wilkinson
keep austin stylish