la vie boheme

"You dress like you're from RENT."

A friend said that to me the other day, kindly referring to the Broadway musical recently turned box office smash hit. I wasn't quite sure what to say in return. It wasn't exactly an insult, being that I've been obsessed with the show since the ninth grade, but what exactly was she trying to say? I dress like I'm dirt broke? Like I can't afford any "real" clothing? Like I'm in constantly in a stage production? Like a transvestite street drummer?

"Like Mark," she smiled (or was it a smirk?). "All you need is the camera."

Slightly relieved that she wasn't calling me an overly made-up drag queen, it took a second for this comment to sink in. But wait...Mark's a guy? Have my fashionista attempts really gone that wrong?

Of course, this comment stayed with me the rest of the day, and I began to overanalyze it to death. With a few explaining comments and a hard look at my own wardrobe, I finally got what she was trying to say. And it really wasn't an insult afterall.

Mark Cohen, a starving artist with a passion for film, is one of the leads in RENT. He narrates the story, standing back and simply observing all the passionate chaos around him (I'll spare you the journalistic comparisons). While usually quiet in his own storyline, his "look" is infamous - the striped blue scarf, oversized jacket and topped off with square-framed glasses. It is plastered across billboards, CD covers, posters, books and pretty much everything else used to promote the musical. They even sell the exact scarf in stores (which, FYI, I do own)!

Looking into my own closet, I'm starting to learn I'm known in my own social circles for more than my wool cabbie hat. What I kindly refer to as my "Superman glasses" (because I feel I look like Clark Kent in them, but that's another story) really are comparable to those of the fictional Mark, and the number of scarves I own is countless. Yes, maybe I actually do base my style upon his- and I'm kind of glad I'm being recognized and associated with something I've loved for so long.

But that doesn't make up for the fact that, in RENT, the characters are even broker than myself. Do I really dress like I'm that poor? The answer, I have discovered, is no.

RENT opened on Broadway in 1996 when, from a fashion point of view, the world was completely different. What was seen back then as the rags from a vintage store have since catapulted themselves onto today's runways, carrying the title "Bohemian." Now, I have never met a Bohemian in my life, but I, as most Americans, mentally shrugged and adopted the name to define my own way of dressing. The bohemian trend, composed of flowing skirts with tattered ends, colorful hippie headbands, ripped jeans, oversized tops that often went down to a woman's thigh and thin-soled sandals, took over the fashion world a little over a year ago, sweeping everyone from Brittany Spears to...well, me. I never questioned where the idea came from.

In retrospect, the designers for RENT were ahead of their time. To re-emphasize the fact that the characters were broke, the ideas for the costumes were taken from findings at the local second-hand store. The designers would even explain that truth to eager fans, wanting to get that "RENT look."

So, which came first, the chicken or the egg? Did RENT help put modern day vintage shopping into effect, or was it already on the rise and the show was just trying to follow suit? It has been raved to define my generation- but did it have an even bigger influence than the critics claim? What would they be wearing if the show was set in today's world? Who knows. Who would have thought that only ten years later the "broke" cast would define today's styles and act as an inspiration for some of the biggest designers.

The way I see it, I was simply ahead of my time back in high school, already getting fashion tips from the characters. It helped me to find my own sense of style back in those scary, tender years. It, in a way, helped to shape me into the person I am today. If a simple muscial can have such an effect on one person's life, who is to say it didn't have a monumental impact on an entire generation?

What I've been wearing all along- those loud, striped scarves and thick glasses- are suddenly the height of style! I just can't see that as a bad thing...

La vie boheme!

mark~><~ me