Couture and Coiffure

Here’s something you probably won’t read about in any other fly fishing travel blog.  This morning on the Today Show, Meredith Vieira was in London covering the royal wedding.  Her segment was about Kate Middleton’s fashion style and the monumental significance of her wedding gown selection.  It was interesting that Meredith’s guest commentator attached profound importance to how Kate dressed and wore her hair.  She repeatedly stressed that Kate is not just a country girl; she is the FUTURE QUEEN OF ENGLAND!  As such, she is the essential embodiment of the British character – a symbol of the nation more than an actual person.  Every element of her appearance is a reflection on the whole of Great Britain.  I wonder if Kate Middleton really knows what she’s in for.

All that talk on Today about the significance of couture and coiffure got me thinking about my own past and my immediate future.  (Soon you’ll see where the fly fishing travel connection comes in.)  Over the past 30 years I spent most of my waking time outfitted in suits and ties and carefully polished shoes.  When my career was newly launched, I was repeatedly admonished to dress like the persons I aspired to be.  Initially I wore bow ties and braces, emulating the CEO of my principal client, who later became President of NBC News.   I shaved my moustache, trimmed my unruly hair, and upgraded my business attire as quickly I was able to afford it.  My dark, traditional suits and French-cuffed, heavily starched shirts were custom made by Thomas James, Brooks Brothers and a couple of tailors based in Hong Kong – it was truly haute couture, within the bounds of business fashion.  Over time I developed into a suitable face of my firm, representing my fellow partners in service to the captains of Wall Street.  As my hair gradually became tinted with gray, documenting my experience and presumed wisdom, I commanded respect from just about everyone who hadn’t actually known me back in the days when I was just another young schlepp.  It was a nice feeling.

All that was well and good in its place and time, but I’ve discovered I had more in common with Kate Middleton than I would like to think.  That is, before I quite knew what happened, my outward appearance became intertwined with my inner persona.  My suits and ties were a costume, and in some respects a disguise, but I became the person I resembled.  Since I retired last October, I’ve reverted.  I’ve let my hair down, literally.  My hair is longer than it’s been since I was in college, and I’m sporting a full beard.  Sometimes I look in the mirror and think of a line in an old David Crosby song about letting my freak flag fly.   I’m rarely seen in anything other than jeans, shorts and casual shirts.  I’m just fine with that and believe that my current appearance accurately reveals my interior self.

Here’s the thing – I’m finding that my new look (a gray version of my old, pre-career look) produces a different set of reactions in people than what I’m accustomed to.  Old acquaintances are visibly startled when they see me for the first time in my new state.  If and when they recognize me, some of them smile and seem genuinely pleased.  Some of them are believable when they say I look better.  Others are obviously not so happy to observe the change.  Strangers often look at me more suspiciously than they used to.  Guys who dress the way I once did sometimes show genuine disdain for my scruffiness.  If anyone is intimidated by me now, he or she is more likely to be motivated by fear than respect.  So I’m finding that this change is a little less innocuous than I envisioned it would be.  It’s turning into something more like a social experiment.

This is where fly fishing travel comes in – at last, you may say.  As I roam around the country in my pickup and camper, and my hair and beard continue to grow, what are people going to think?  I’m mostly beyond caring what they think, in terms of how their judgments may cause me to judge myself, but I am quite curious about it.  If they see me fly fishing, they shouldn’t be surprised by my rough garb or hirsute head.  Comparing myself to other guys in my Trout Unlimited chapter, I find that I resemble a lot of other fly fishers in my age group.  That isn’t by design, but where there’s correlation there is often causation.  There is probably something about fly fishing that appeals to guys who also like to grow beards and buy their clothes from Cabelas.  I can easily imagine that.

Here’s the critical question:  If Kate Middleton’s couture and coiffure are appropriate for a future queen of England, are mine right for a once and future fly fisherman?  Apparently so.  I might seem a little odd when I stroll into a nice restaurant or take my stance on the first tee at a country club.  But then, Kate would look awfully strange wearing one of her milliner’s feathery, tilted creations while standing in the prow of a drift boat in the middle of the Madison River.  I’d like to see that, however.