I made up a new word: Nashion.

It’s Nashville+Fashion=Nashion.

It even rhymes. Nice, eh?

I grew up in a non-fashion conscious town. Well, some girls/boys started to care about “looking cool” in high school. But that was just about name brand clothes that anybody with a decent amount of money could get. FUBU, Mossimo, Nike, Adidas, Lucky, Silver, Tommy Hilfiger…stuff like that.

Even in college, I didn’t know any overly fashion conscious people.

I’d say I haven’t encountered trendy, wannabe fashion fit-ins up until I moved to Nashville.

Now I work in the Christian music industry. I see rock stars and their posses in person and in pictures. Most, if not all of them, care about fashion, even if they claim not to. I’m referring to those punk rock people, by the way.
My belief is that everyone has a fashion. Even those who choose not to have one, still have one. Their fashion is wearing stuff that says they don’t care about fashion.

It’s like people who claim not to have a religion. There religion is no religion.

This week, I attended an upscale press conference in downtown Nashville. It marked the beginning of the big part of the Gospel Music Association (GMA) season here. Nashion was in full exposure.

Hip-looking dresses and boots. Spiffy suits and sports coats. Ties. Vests. Long blouses with jeans underneath.

Nashion, Nashion, Nashion. Considering my not-so-trendy upbringing and perennial lack of care for looking fashionable, I felt a little bit out of place among all those people.

Nobody ever really told me how to look cool. Well, my mom tried. But I was resistant to what she said was cool. I didn’t agree with her coolness opinion.

So I took on the attitude of not trying to be fashionable. I started wearing lots of t-shirts, hoodies and jeans. I wore what was comfortable, no matter how bad it looked. Through all that, I didn’t ever develop a keen, trendy wardrobe.

Now, here I am, without a fashion (or Nashion) sense. I shop at Wal*Mart most of the time because it’s cheap and I don’t have much money. I feel very uncool when I go to Wal*Mart too.

Who in history decided that Target would be cooler than Wal*Mart? Who made all the hot stores in the mall so hot? Who said Wal*Mart was sub-par? Where did that come from?

I know that my self worth doesn’t come from how I look or what I wear. God cares about the inside of me. He cares about the fashion of my heart.

I’m not feeling bad about myself. I’m not depressed. I’m just trying to find my way in the Nashion world. Maybe a snappy-dressing friend will take me on a shopping trip someday and make me Nashionable.