Gym Culture and Developing One’s Own Sense of Style

In the gym today, a realization: Whenever I go to the gym—doesn’t matter what gym…any gym I’ve ever been a member of—I always feel like an outsider. I think of the insiders as all those big, buff, tan guys with fresh haircuts, and complicated facial hair walking around with a protein shake of some kind, and their female counterparts. They all seem to be great friends with all the gym trainers, and great friends with each other. They are always the most vocal people at the gym, and you tend to overhear some of their conversations, but care so little about their lifestyle and opinions that you tune out. This is all going on while the semi-fitness people (like me), and the people just trying to keep their heads (and bodies) above water go about their business mostly in silence (except for the occasional: “are you still using this?” or “can I work in with you?”). Below: an "insider" takes time to say hi to the camera between sets

The above observation got me thinking that there’s really this whole “gym” culture: the tanning beds, the style of dress (well-fitting, but kinda cheesy clothes), short, perfect haircuts (possible “frosted tips” on guys’ hair), the feeling that they’re headed to a dance club later, maybe a seashell necklace, the techno music, and—in all likelihood—the American sports cars parked outside. Once I thought about that whole little subculture, it led me ask myself when in life do most people first start trending toward their own style? For example, have the nerds you see on the street dressed nerdy since childhood? Did their parents dress nerdy? When did the guy who you can tell gets his hair cut every two weeks start cutting his hair every two weeks? When did the guy with all the piercings and tattoos start going down that road? High school? Is it safe to say the guy or girl you see with a great sense of fashion has always had an eye for what looks good, or is it something that one develops gradually?

To take a not-so-confident crack at the question in bold, I’m going to say 11 years old. This is because I noticed a distinct difference between my classmates sense of style between 5th and 6th grade. In elementary school, it seemed like most kids, like me, wore whatever the hell their parents, grandparents, whoever bought them for birthdays and holidays, and let the chips fall where they may. I remember wearing a solid green sweatshirt (no hood) and a matching pair of sweatpants (no pockets) to Friday Night Skating as a 5th grader. A completely ridiculous outfit. At the time, I neither thought “these clothes are cool,” nor did I think “these clothes are ugly.” I just thought: “These are clothes. They are in my drawer, and—to my knowledge—they are clean.” I think most of my classmates did the same. (disclaimer: Either Richie Swedberg or his parents must have had an amazing sense of fashion, because he had a sweet pair of parachute pants in 5th grade)

Then came Junior High.

At this point, I definitely recall some trending starting to occur: Pat Schmidt grew some long bangs and did the “skateboarder” look….Corey Ford starting rocking the “bowl cut”….most guys started wearing baseball hats way up on their heads, so their bangs would hang out in the front. Bottom line: kids, for the first time, seemed to start caring and making conscious fashion decisions. A few years later Jeff Lyman showed up to high school with a long dark coat (or should I say ‘cloak’?) and a ponytail. Andrew Hard, donning a Bulls Championship 1991 T-shirt with an Orlando Magic hat turned to me and whispered, “Hey Lyman, what happened to the sweat pants and crew cut?”

Anyway, I’m going with 11.