ENIGMA

Woman 1/14/09

As I learned from Batman, an enigma is “something that is not what it seems”. And this woman was definitely that, if you actually took the time to look carefully.

She was tall; well taller at 5’11” than me anyway. The height was compounded by the hair. It was a massive coil of dreadlocks. Not fat Rastafarian locks, but smaller though by no means less impressive dreads. And the colors. Her hair was grey and she had decorated her locks with additional strands made out of pink, blue or turquoise string. And her long locks were held by elastic maroon and green hairbands. Just the hair alone made her worth mentioning.

Based on the hair alone, your stereotypes would now start applying themselves to her liberally. But as they say in the movies, “this is where it gets interesting”.

The first inking was the Incase backpack. Black, non-descript and supremely square and functional. Then there were the boots. Not Doc Martens or army boots. They were black, and it looked like synthetic material. Very sleek and futuristic looking flats, with three large Velcro straps, no laces, and reaching to her mid-calf. The top of them was a lycra sleeve that hugged her calves. There was a subtle mark on the outside of the boot, but I couldn’t make out the brand. It wasn’t Chanel, but it certainly looked like Karl Lagerfeld could have designed it for them. I’d say those were boots that belonged on a fashionista.

The rest of her? A Northface winter jacket – actually the Nebula in black. Northface's bomber style winter jacket that has a hood trimmed in faux fur. It was the ribbed cuffs and hem that made the confirmation easy. And tucked into those boots were a pair of khaki colored utility pants. From my distance, I’d guess that the red tag label off the side thigh pocket was for Roxy or similar sport lifestyle brand.

On her ears were a pair of the Band & Olufsen earphones. Same pair I have. Still the most expensive pair of earphones I own.

And by the way, she had no piercings, earrings, or visible tattoos. Her face was clean and free of makeup.

So, you tell me. Is she the free spirit that her hair suggests? Or the label-loving fashionable woman that has about $1000 worth of clothes and accessories on her?