No Irony in Leather

In my post on women fashionably or not so fashionably dressed in gyms, I really ought to have added the fact that I also see a lot of unironic wearing of leather pants here. And there's no correlation between the wearer and any identifiable group or subgroup of the general population, unless I'm so much on the cultural-social periphery here that I can't identify the subgroup.

In the states, I think people who choose to wear leather fall into a few groups. Correct me if I'm wrong.

1. Women, generally fit & hale, who likely live in or come from the Midwest and have a thing for horse-owning culture. My neighbors across the street in Nebraska, for instance. Generally in this category leather belongs with hairspray and 4X4s. Also possible: WWF-related weekends, husbands who hunt and (in Nebraska) own leaf blowers.

2. Women who may or may not be trophies but in any case fall into a select tax bracket that allows for shopping time at fine shoppes in technically metropolitan centers. None of these shoppes contains anything with a "Harley Davidson" label (see above).

3. Men who drive motorcycles cross-country and can braid hair.

In Germany, you don't have to be a skinhead to wear leather. You can be a mother of four.


This morning at the Deutsche Oper, we watched a handful of extras practice a timed wheeling-onstage of two 22-foot high, plastic, larger-than-life plant arrangements. Like, Honey I Blew Up the Kids big, intentionally tacky plantlife. I'm not actually sure why they're there, but they're pretty hysterical. One leaf is the size of 2 men. There's also an absolutely enormous freight train backstage. I think it's for another production, but I'm not sure. And there's a monster-sized deer. I think the deer is for Aida. Since I miss half of each rehearsal day being at classes, I've gotten a bit lost about the production process. But the main look that's emerging is the oversized, tacky green marble fountain with fake rock and fake animal arrangements you would find built into a Marriott foyer conference center in Vegas, complete with plastic chandeliers. Christopher expects half the audience to walk out. After hearing the audience complaining two weeks ago at what I thought was the most brilliant thing I'd ever seen (Neuenfels' Nabucco) I'm ready for anything. We go up March 2nd.