Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Well, speaking from my own area of the country, there is a lot of emphasis put on appearance. In SoCal, if you aren't a size 2,4, or 6, there's some with a mentality that you are fat. They call it "California obese." In Santa Monica, West LA, Bev. Hills, etc., there are trendy boutiques that don't even sell clothes over size 8. This whole culture stems from the entertainment business which is so entrenched in the local collective psyche.
Also, the weather allows people to dress more casually; the weather kind of gives you that constant vacation mentality of wearing what you want, what's cute, and whats comfortable. But it isn't a sloppy casual. People are very into looking good, showing off the body they've worked so hard to get in the gym, etc. It's more of an upscale casual, if that makes sense. And the weather also allows people to have more time to keep up appearances. If you don't have to shovel your walkway every day, you have more free time on your hands to go workout or get your hair done.
I'm sure it sounds very superficial and some of it is. However, people here are more than that. They can be deep and real and very caring and friendly. It's just that the "attractiveness" part of the culture is a given, so you take care of that part of your life at the same time you take care of your child's failing a class in school or your husband losing his job. And if you don't keep yourself up, to some, you become kind of invisible and get ignored.
I grew up in North Texas and one of the first things I notice when I visit Northern California is how differently people dress. For example, here in Texas, it's really common to get dressed up before you go out to ANYTHING. I'm talking all out dress and heels. When I would go out like that in certain parts of San Francisco, I would always look insanely overdressed and people would look at me funny. Also, what some people in Northern California may describe as "laid back hippie", some in Texas would describe as "um,you look like a hobo."
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
