There’s no W in Skiing

While my girliness has grown exponentially in the past few years, I still hate overtly girly design . Frills and ruffles and pastel anything are simply not my bag.

Which is why I like my new skis – Head Sweet Ones – so much. They’re orange. Not pink. Not baby blue. Orange.

I can pretend they’re not peppered with weird crayon-scribble daisies and irrationally swoopy grasses that look like they came from the default Photoshop brush library. Because they’re orange and they ride wonderfully.

But there’s one problem. This thing.

These are not bird or airplane themed skis. Nothing about the art or the name belies any relationship to wings or the letter W.

The only possible explanation for this Wonderful addition is that the W stands for Woman and the wings stand for WTF WERE YOU THINKING.

It looks ridiculous, but really wouldn’t be very noticeable if it weren’t so freaking shiny. It’s difficult to tell in the photo, but it’s shiny to the point of distracting. It’s a tiny vanity mirror. I could clean my teeth in it if the W wasn’t in the way.

Really, the wonderful wacky winged W isn’t a big deal. I’ll just cut some vinyl or buy a Ski The East sticker big enough to show Mrs Shiny who’s boss. But it’s the principle of the thing that bugs me the most. Random, tacky tack-ons are really common in women’s gear. (You don’t see great big ol’ winged Ms on men’s skis, do you?)

Everyone on the mountain knows I’m a chick – especially the bro I just smoked. I don’t need a shiny medallion to broadcast my femininity. Ugh.

So – if you happen to be a designer… stop putting ditzy kitsch on my gear. It’s a waste of your time and seriously pisses me off.