One Way to Easily Look 1,000 X Cooler (and also catch up on Harry Potter)

At any given time, 

I have no less than 4 pairs of headphones in my purse.

Some call it OCD.

Others call it OCD.

And others yet, call it OCD. 

I think it's OCD, guys. It's probably OCD. 

But guess what?? 

I fit in here!!

There have, assuredly, been countless articles published about the psychological phenomenon that is the inability to do anything without headphones social quirk of our generation.

And it's true- in a place with so much going on always and everywhere, a lil' music/podcast/Harry Potter on "tape" can create for you this instant little bubble that saves you from your surroundings. 

What I find fascinating about headphones, however, is their ability to affect an outfit. 

Hear me out: 

Picture a well-dressed (*s'all relative) girl walking down the street, without headphones, focusing on others around her and on what she's doing is . . . 

kinda lame, right?

I mean, she's probably aware that she looks good, 

she's probably aware that others think she looks good... and honestly, she's just too . . . aware. 

But there's a certain air of I-don't-give-a-F-ness that comes ready-made with the simple insertion of a pair of headphones into the equation. 

sweater: Madewell, dress (into skirt): Rebecca Taylor, shoes: Shoemint

Immediately, I see the subject as unaffected, in their own world, and thinking of things other than their appearance - which, if we're judging "cool" by that trendy semi-mythical idea of "effortless", is kind of ideal. 

So basically, aside from the fact that strange little noises annoy me to the point of hair-tearing, I now wear headphones so that I can look cool for seeming like I'm too cool to think that I look cool. 

In sum,

I'm not cool. 

Cheers.

Photos by Mia Alexander