We all have a uniform (even if we don’t know it).
On Tuesday I went to see Rina Sawayama at Rock City.
I knew nothing about her, but Alison had booked the tickets because she is a bright young thing who is causing a storm both in pop music and in other areas of culture.
Rina has a distinct following of people who feel safe when they come to see her because they’re able to be themselves.
She identifies as pansexual and bisexual although Wikipedia tells me that those two are interchangeable terms.
She is a model for Versace and an actress with Keanu Reeves in John Wick 4.
She’s an artist who has produced art for various different causes and collaborators and she is a singer and song writer and music publisher.
As a side-line, she also gained a BA in political science from Cambridge University after her family immigrated to the UK from Japan.
Many of the people there on Tuesday were wearing her uniform to show that they were part of Rina’s tribe.
Sadly, I was not and stand out like a sore thumb at these things but then I am old and generally don’t give a sh*t anymore.
Previously we went to see Charli XCX and Pale Waves and those guys were wearing the same uniform but interestingly there was a different uniform at Frank Turner and on Friday night when we see The Snuts there will be a different one and then perhaps a slightly varied one again when we see Sam Smith on Saturday.
At the City Ground this weekend the Forest fans will have a uniform and the next time I go to a dental meeting there will be multiple types of uniforms there.
Sometimes people wear them unconsciously, sometimes blatantly but we do that because we want to belong, and we want to be with a group of people who understand what we think and speak like we speak.
To this end we should perhaps pay attention, at least sometimes, to what we wear and when.
People like us do things like this.
Blog Post Number - 3242
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