Azorian Fashion

Olá peeps! Yes, sadly I have returned from my lovely vacation in the Açores. It was a glorious 2 weeks spent sunbathing, sight seeing, and octopus eating. For those of you who may not know, the Açores are a group of 9 islands, belonging to Portugal, literally in the MIDDLE of the Atlantic ocean. My boyfriend was raised on the largest island, Sao Miguel, so that's where we spent our entire vacation. More details on that to come later. I wanted to devote this post to quickly inform you all of what the inhabitants of the Açores find to be fashionable. 

I know Ferg will agree with me when I say that although Europe is seen as a mecca of fashion labels and designers, a good chunk of the population's fashion taste is well...a bit odd. I am in NO way judging anybody over in Europe. Heck I know over here we've got our fair share of weirdos as well. But what  I found to be fashionable in the Açores was pretty entertaining.

The first trend I noticed? Fanny packs.

Oh boy, where do I even begin? My boyfriend warned me of this trend before we even got to the island. I didn't believe him. But as soon as we stepped off that plane, he gave me a nudge and pointed his finger and I saw it...a girl, probably my age, sporting this strange bag. I couldn't believe my own eyes! And it's not like this girl didn't care what she looked like, because the rest of her outfit was flawless. Yet there was this one tiny blemish around her hips. Okay okay, I'm not here to judge. Hey if you enjoy carrying your personal belongings around your hips then go for it! I can definitely see the convenience in a fanny pack, but I just don't ever see myself adding an extra 6 inch bulge around my middle.

Next up? Merrell shoes. 

I would classify these shoes as hiking shoes. I don't see anything really wrong with them for the purpose of hiking. In fact, if I was an avid hiker or camper I might even buy a pair. But the young and hip Azorian population wore these shoes. All. The. Time. Skinny jeans and Merrell shoes. A cute summer-y dress and Merrell shoes. I just didn't understand!! It was like the top of your body said "I'm going out in the city to go dancing with my girlfriends" and then your feet said "I'm going on a 23 mile mountain climb." So contradicting! Supposedly they are super comfortable but that doesn't mean you'll find me wearing these outdoorsmen shoes any time soon.

Lastly...onesies!!

Or maybe you refer to them as rompers, jumpsuits, etc. Now THIS trend, I liked. The few girlfriends I made while on vacation wore these one-piece outfits 75% of the time! They admitted to me that although they were super comfortable, they made peeing quite the task. Maybe it's just me but I love this look. I've always gravitated towards rompers in the summer, and now it seems that jumpsuits will allow me to transition this look into the fall!

How do you feel about these trends? Would you wear any of them?