High-Vis Stigma

I have a friend who runs a fashion blog with his girl. rustyredbicycle. I’m sure it’s all good stuff, but I don’t really get in to that side of wearing clothes too much. Nevertheless, the other day I caught myself pondering a particular piece of clothing at its social implications. Here’s my take on the stigma surrounding high-vis clothing.

For a few years I’ve been doing work, on-and-off, that involves the wearing of high-visibility, fluoro-coloured clothing. You know the stuff; orange or yellow vests, jumpers etc, worn by people on construction sites and roadsides, places like that.  Well, when I first donned a bright orange vest I was pretty embarrassed about the whole thing. I didn’t want people to see me wearing such attire. I would’ve been in high school at the time; destined for a life of academia (in my own mind at least) and not the sort of person to be doing the lowly manual work associated with my orange vest. Two days ago I wasn’t so concerned. I strutted along the Great Ocean Road like a common council worker with my head held high and a rubbish bin in tow. So what has changed? Well, I have a few ideas;

1.1)      I’ve grown up. Simple as that. If three years at uni and several international ventures funded by working shitty jobs has taught me anything it’s that a job is a job. Seriously, work to live, don’t live to work. There are precious few people are lucky enough to have a job that they absolutely love. The rest of us just plug away and save our pennies for the things that make us happy. There are varying degrees of this, of course. People’s attitude towards their jobs vary from ‘hate it’ to ‘don’t mind it’ to ‘it’s pretty good’ and beyond, and I don’t mind walking around in the Otways while a constant succession of office-working cronies drive by and look down on me and my pretty orange vest.

2.2)      Rich people wear high-vis. You know those people that get paid sixty bucks an hour in Western Australia?  The ones with accommodation and food paid for and two weeks off in every six? The ones that, despite their age, are known as miners? You know what they all wear? High-vis. Perhaps when I don the high-vis my social status jumps a few pegs.

3.3)      Authority. Ever seen someone in a fluoro yellow get-up cruising around a construction site and thought to yourself ‘I don’t think he’s allowed to be there’? Me either. High-vis is your ticket to doing any number of things without being questioned. When people see me in my orange vest they know I’m allowed to be doing what I’m doing and I’m obviously doing it the right way. Look at how safe I’m being, all orange and bright.

So there you have it. Fashion, Pat O’Shea style. The social benefits of wearing a high vis vest. Get one from your local.. I don’t know where to buy them actually. Whatever.

Pat