“Huvitav, kas mul sobiks sellistega käia?” küsis ema mult eile ise samal ajal mu karvase tutiga Kriss Soonikuid jalga. “Miks ei peaks sobima?” küsisin ma vastu, sest need tõesti sobisid ta jalga, tema stiili ja tema olekuga. “Ei no ma ei tea, minu vanuses…” vastas ema. Ma puhkesin naerma. Mitte et tema vastus oleks naljakas olnud, aga viimasel ajal on blogides olnud juttu just eakohasest riietumisest, stiilist ja kuuluvustundest läbi riietuse, et see oli lihtsalt nii naljakas kokkusattumus. Ja pani mind mõtlema.

Mu ema on varsti 60 (täpselt sama palju “varsti” kui mina “varsti 40”), ometi on ta kaugel mutist. Tema jalas võiksid vabalt olla karvase tutiga roosad kingad. Minu ema kannaks need välja. Nii et oleks cool. Mitte nagu mõni meeleheitel koduperenaine. Samas mõne teise 50-60-aastase jalas võiksid need tõepoolest mõjuda naeruväärselt. Ja asi ei olegi isegi mitte vanuses ega moeteadlikuses – asi on inimese olekus ja tema stiilis. Näiteks olen ma ise netist küllalt vaadanud neid Irregular Choice “klounikingi” – jumalast vahvad kingad ju tegelikult, mulle pigem meeldivad kui ei meeldi, aga enda jalas ma neid ette ei kujutaks. Ma lihtsalt ei kannaks neid välja. Ma mõjuksin koomiliselt. Aga mõne teise jalas vaataks, et vau kui ägedad.

Sama on inimeste stiilide ja nö stiilsusega. Kui mina ütlen, et olen kampsun-tennis-stiili- kaltsakas ja peangi end keskmisest nabapluus-teksad-ülepõlvesaabas-tibist ausalt stiilsemaks (stiiliteadlikumaks?), siis ma ei arva, et ainult kamspun-tennised-kaltsakad on stiilsed ja kõik muu on nõme. On asju ja stiile, mida ma tõesti pean maitselagedaks, kuid on stiile, mis pole minu stiil, ent on ikka stiilsed. Appikene, kas veel keerulisemalt annaks seletada?

Näiteks meeldivad mulle naiselikud naised. Ja naiselik ei ole minu jaoks liibvuv minikleit ja dekoltee, sest keha on nii paganama kaunis, et lausa vajab näitamist. Mulle meeldib naiselik salapära või lihtsalt ülim naiselikkus oma väljapeetuses. Merle Palmiste. Mad Men´i Joan.  Cambridge´i hertsoginna Catherine. Mulle võiks nende riided selga panna ja juuksedki kenasti ära kammida, aga lillelises kostüümis või figuuri rõhutavas kleidis oleksin mina mitte stiilne, vaid mammi.

Liiga palju dekolteed ja kintsu ei ole mu meelest kunagi seksikas. Kuigi ma pean ühe erandi tegema. Ma jälgin Jana Hallase instakontot. Tema fotod on teinekord sellised hea maitse piiripealsed mu jaoks, ent ometi pean ma tunnistama, et ta on kaunis, kuradima seksikas ja igal juhul mitte labane.

Isver, ma vist kaldusin oma point´ist täiega eemale. Vist. Sest ega ma enam ei teagi, mida ma täpselt öelda tahtsin.

Mulle meeldib täiega “hipsterville-kaltsakas” stiil. Laiad, kõrge pihaga, robustse rihmaga kinni tõmmatud vanakooli Levi´sed, tennised/tossud/krõpsuga Soome tossud/Kommunaari kotad, kootud kampsun, oversized mantel… Vaatan neid inimesi ja mõtlen, et nii cool´id. Riietuvad nad siis kuuluvustunde, piirkonna või jumal teab mille järgi, aga nad on vabad ja lahedad. Kui ma paneks endale sellised riided selga, näeks ma tõenäoliselt välja kõike muud kui vaba ja lahe. Pigem mõtteu wannabe, kes ei tea, kes ta on.

Ja “hipsterville-kaltsakas” ei tähenda vaid suvalist väljaveninud ja putsude ning aukudega kampsunit ja suvalist särki. “Hipsterville-kaltsakas” miksib vana ja uut, kallist disaini ja second hand´i. Kui tal oleks seljas vaid suvaline Humanast skooritud üheeurone väljaveninud trikotaažkleit, siis see ei oleks lahe, vaid lihtsalt maitsetu. Saate vahest aru?

Kuigi ma saan aru, et maailmas ei muutu sellest, kas keegi on stiilne või maitselage, mitte midagi, võiksin ma sellel teemal heietama jäädagi. Ei, mu maailm ei keerle ümber riiete ja ei ole kõige olulisem teema mu jaoks. Mulle lihtsalt meeldib mood. Võib olla keskmisest rohkem. Ma ei ütle selle viimase lausega jällegi, et mina olen sellepärast moodne, vaid lihtsalt et mulle meeldib mood. Minu viimaste aastate täielik lemmik on näiteks Studio August. Ma ostaks võimalusel kõik tema kollektsioonid ära. Kõik. See on nii minu teetassike. Ja tehke või tina, mina pean neid riideid stiilseteks. Ergo…?

Mulle meeldib ka suur osa Bastioni viimasest kollektsioonist, aga ma ei kujutaks suurt osa sealt enda seljas ette. Ometi peaks ma ka punaseid slim fit pükse kandvat naist stiilseks. Mari-Liis Helviku seljas on stiilne. Naabri- Lea seljas võib olla ka mutilik. Täna nägin üht “Bastion-kostüümi-tüüpi” naist. Pikad siredad jalad, tikk-kontsad, lühike must kleit, valge pitsak. Ilus oli. Isegi must Michael Korsi kott sobis ta käevangu. Komplekt oli kena.

Tommy Cashi “post soviet rapper ” stiil on ka äge. Aga tema seljas. Mitte suvalisel Lasnamäe tüübil, kes vabal ajal bussipeatuses õlut kulistab koos sõpradega. Te ju ei kujutaks ette, et lasekite oma mehel panna selga kolm triipu vaid sellepärast, et tahate, et ta oleks ka äge. Aga sisimas on polosärk-slim-teksad-mokassiinid-vend. Ka tavaline mainstream võib olla stiilne. Kui see just ei ole midagi sellist, mida pakuvad kümned, kui mitte sajad, “butiigid” internetis. Või need sigrimigrimustritega trikotaažist suvekleidid, millega iga endast lugupidav keskealine Eesti naine soojamaareisile läheb.

Pikk ja tõenäoliselt segane jutt kokkuvõtvalt? Stiil ei ole vaid riided. Stiil on inimene kogu oma hoiakuga. 50-aastane Pipi vs Jana Hallas.

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“I wonder if these were suitable for me to wear” my mum asked while trying my fluffy Kriss Soonik shoes on. “Why shouldn’t they” I replied, because they really suited her, with her style and her being. “Oh well … I don’t know … in my age” was her answer. I burst into laughter. Not that her reply was funny, but recently I have read quite a few blog posts about how to dress according to your age, people’s style and the sense of belonging through clothing, and the coincidence itself was funny. Which made me think.

My mum will turn 60 soon, as soon as I turn 40 and she is anything but a crone. She could easily put on fluffy pink shoes and they would suit her perfectly. And of course she would look cool and not like a desperate housewife. And then somebody else in her age would put the same shoes on and look ridiculous. It is not about your appearance or fashion awareness – it is about your style your nature. For example, I have peeked couple of times those so called Irregular Choice “clown shoes” from the internet – they look cool and I rather like them not dislike, but I cannot imagine myself wearing them. It would just be too weird and I would look too awkward. But if somebody else was wearing them, I would be amazed.

The same goes with people’s style and stylishness. If I say I am a sweater-sneaker-style-tatterdemalion and think to be a bit more stylish (have more sense of style?) than your average shorttop-jeans-frenchheels-babe, I am not saying that ONLY sweater-sneaker-tatterdemalion is stylish and everyone else is not. There are things and styles I don’t understand at all, but there are also styles that are not for me, but still stylish. OMG, can it be explained harder?  

For example, I like ladylike women. Ladylike for me is not about wearing skin tight miniskirt and deep décolleté, because your body is so beautiful and needs showing off. I like feminine mystery or the ultimate femininity in its glory. Joan from Mad Men or The Duchess of Cambridge. I could put on their outfit and do my hair properly, but wearing a flowery costume or tight dress would make me look like a fatty and not stylish at all.

Showing too much skin has never been sexy in my eyes. Though, I must make one exception. I follow Jana Hallas (local celebrity) in Instagram. Sometimes her photos are just about crossing the borderline between good taste and looking sloppy, but I must admit, that she is beautiful, so sexy and not cheap at all.

Oh dear, I have gone totally of topic here. I think. I don’t even know anymore what I wanted to say.

I really really like the “hipsterville- tatterdemalion” style. Extensive, high waste, old-school Levi jeans that are tighten robustly up, sneakers/velcro shoes from Finland/clogs, knitted sweater, oversized coat … I look at these people and admire how cool they are. Doesn’t matter if they dress like this because of sense of belonging or because of the area they are or god knows why, but they look happy and free. If I was wearing something like that, I would most likely look anything but happy and free. More like “yet another wannabe” looking for her identity.

Hipsterville- tatterdemalion in this content does not mean a randomly stretched out and holey sweater or shirt. Hipsterville- tatterdemalion is mixing old with new, expensive designer clothes with second hand items. If she was wearing a cheap, 1-euro dress from second hand, this would not be cool, but just bland. Do you see the difference?

Though I understand, that nothing in this world would change just because somebody is stylish or not, I could talk abut this for hours. No, my world does not revolve around clothing and that is not the most important subject of conversation for me. I just like fashion. Maybe more than an average person. I am not saying that I am more fashionable, but I like fashion. My absolute favorite over the past couple of years has been Studio August. If I had the chance, I would buy all collections available. EVERYTHING. That is so my cup of tea. And I don’t care what you think, for me this is an example of very stylish clothing.

I like the vast majority of Bastion’s last collection, but I cannot see myself wearing it. And I would think that a woman wearing red slim fit pants is stylish. Mari-Liis Helvik would look stylish. The girl next door might not. Today I saw your typical “Bastion-type” woman – long lithe legs, French heels, short black dress, white jacket. It was pretty. Even wearing the black Michael Kors’ handbag suited her. It was beautiful match to watch.

The “post-soviet-rapper” style by Tommy Cash is also cool. But it wouldn’t be cool on your average John when he is drinking beer at a bus stop with his friends. You would not imagine letting your husband put on three stripes just because you want him to look cool when deep inside he is more of a poloshirt-slimjeans-espadrilles guy. Everyday mainstream can also look stylish. If it’s not something that hundreds of “boutiques” in the Internet sell. Or those multi-coloured and multi-pattern summer dresses, that every respectable woman would take with her on a beach holiday.

Long and messy story short? Style is not only about clothes. Style is the person in whole with his/her nature. 50-years old Pipi Longstocking vs. Jana Hallas.