Fashion At The State Fair

A New York fashion writer visits the Iowa State Fair:

I’ve been going around the United States researching a new book, doing fashion reports on the “belt” regions (corn, gun, Bible, rust, etc.)—trying to see ways in which the regional economy and culture—politics, religion, industry, landscapes, etc.—have influenced the local closets. Fashion is a language; regions have style dialects just like they have weird food specialties.

Iowa is in the corn belt, so to see as many tractors, towheads, farm animals, and 4H Club agricultural things as possible, I went to the Iowa State Fair, which has been happening annually for more than 100 years, replete with a cow carved out of butter and a veritable apocalypse of deep-fried things on sticks—including sticks of butter.

There’s a pervasive kindness and wholesomeness to Iowans that makes it difficult to take a picture of a couple or a family and have it not look like a corporate stock photo. Literally every senior couple I spoke to had been married more than 40 years. On the unphotogenic side, there are way too many people driving Rascals and surly women around 30 who had been savaged by love and taken to expressing their rage through softball and tattoos. But even these chicks seemed to get nice after singing a few pro-redneck karaoke anthems.

Clothingwise, Iowans seem to be a largely modest, fancy-averse people, not unlike Canadians. Clothing is often representative of a subservience to land and beasts of the field and punctuated by cowboy accouterments. There are, however, many group activities and contests that involve wildly spangled garments and tiaras. The point seems to be that if you want to draw attention to yourself, you don’t want to be caught doing it alone.

I like the comparison of Iowans and Canadians.  I think New Yorkers are just taken aback by polite, friendly, warm people, and the example they are most familiar with are Canadians.  It's always entertaining to hear city folk come and make anthropological studies of their rural countrymen.  My sister is very fond of taking back a few hick stories so she can entertain her sophisticated friends.  I'm glad we can entertain our urban relatives with our friendly people and simple ways.  It is good that the politicians flock to the Iowa State Fair, so the reporters can come and report on deep-fried butter all the time.