Ranch Fashion

Ranch fashion is an interesting concept and I am constantly surprised at the different types of clothing and accessories that I see wandering around the ranch. The children here are very isolated from the rest of the city and as a result really don’t know what the outside world is wearing. Also, they only have a limited amount of clothing to work with. However, they are very proud of what they have and have developed their very own fashion statements and strut around the ranch like they are the coolest thing around. Here are some of the more amusing trends:

1. The most prevalent and, in my opinion, the most odd trend is the wearing of one glove. Not a leather glove, but those cotton one size fits all gloves that we all wore in high school. Both girls and boys alike don the one glove for every special occasion. During the activity, the glove always travels because there are not enough to go around and sharing is common.
2. Another trend that has made its rounds throughout the world, but seems to be permanently stuck on the ranch is the popped shirt collar. Only the “coolest” boys can pull it off and pop it every chance they get.
3. Usually it is those boys that pop their collars that also have a mountain of hair gel to get that perfectly spiked hair. Sometimes, they even use baby oil because they haven’t been able to secure some real gel.
4. The next fashion is more common with the younger boys on the ranch. As in every country, these young boys follow everything the older boys do, and this fashion statement is based on that concept. The older boys, who have been able to go to the city with the little money they have, typically carry a central american style messenger bag. Because the younger boys don’t have the opportunity to go to the city to purchase these bags, they mimic the style the best they can with bags they find on the ranch. This usually involves a little girl’s purse. It is so amusing to see a 7 year old boy proudly sporting a little pink Barbie purse slung across his body.
5. As everyone knows, a style that has made a recent comeback in the US and Europe is the skinny jean. Many of the kids here have skinny jeans (probably originating from the first time they were popular) but they are not allowed to wear them to school because they have uniforms. In an attempt to make their uniform pants “skinny” the older kids tuck them into their white tube socks.
6. The next fashion isn’t something that the kids do intentionally, but by default because they don’t have many nice clothes. Clothing is a very important part of special occasions in Honduras and the ranch is no different. Whenever there is a celebration on the ranch the kids bring out their best clothing. So, they iron their best shirt, put on their nicest pants and shine their nicest shoes. The catch is that the “best” of everything doesn’t necessarily match, but that isn’t important.