So I’m sitting here watching Nirvana Live at the Paramount on the music
channel Palladia. Standing with little movement other than a hand strumming a
guitar, is Kurt in his green sweater. I noticed his jeans are dirty.
A question I have always held is whether these “performers”
(be it rock stars in most cases) dress themselves or does someone else dress
them? And how much thought do they put into it? I wonder if the morning of the
show, Kurt woke up and put on the same pair of jeans he used to tend his garden. A secret admission here to you now is that I do put thought into
what I am about to wear. I’ve done book signings in the past and I thought
about what I wanted to wear. So maybe he did reach for his dirty jeans and say “Tomorrow
at the show I’m wearing those.” Maybe not.
I'm not calling Kurt a fake. I'm sure what started as dirty jeans because he played a show straight from work carried over to a time when he no longer had a day job. I remember once going into a prominent clothing store and having a clerk tell me $80.00 oil stained jeans were on sale. The best part was they were stained with "real" oil. I said, "I have a pair just like that. Last weekend I changed my oil pan gasket." The clerk walked away. I never bought jeans there again.
As the Sci-fi Con season begins and I hit the road to promote my
book, The Five, I will be sure to back my bag carefully. I have a pair of dirty
jeans I wear when working on my truck, but I doubt I will be signing books in
them.
