Just to pedal around the park, the weekend bicyclist dresses as if for the Tour de France in streamlined spandex, Lycra and aerodynamic helmet. The average office softball team is a symphony in artificial fabric, and its members wouldn't be caught dead in the uniforms of the 1927 Yankees, even if baggy flannels made them play as well. The interesting twist on the stock car fashions is that they are aimed at big city black and Hispanic kids, members of the hip-hop culture, who are not the first demographic group that springs to mind when you think of good ol' boys. By some mysterious and irrational process, the style will percolate from the boutiques to the better shops to mass retailers and on to the bodies of people who should know better. By contrast, a neon orange outfit advertising de-gunker, toys, crankshafts, meat snacks, investment advice, headache powder, batteries, panty hose, brake linings and soap will be a scenic improvement.
Fashion is so unfair.
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