uniform"．

You may be surprised that I am including "innovative street fashion" in the category of the uniform. Surely the parrot­haired punks( 朋克摇滚乐迷)or the Victorian vampire goths are being original，not following rules? It's true that they all look different and eccentric (古怪的) but in fact they all look eccentric exactly in the same way. They are wearing a uniform. The only truly eccentric dresser in this country is the Queen，who pays no attention to fashion and continues to wear what she likes，a kind of 1950s fashion，with no regard for anyone else's opinion. However，it is true that the styles invented by young English people are much more eccentric than any other nation's street fashion. We may not be individually eccentric，apart from the Queen，but we have a sort of collective eccentricity，and we appreciate originality in dress even if we do not individually have it.

Another "rule" of behavior I had discovered was that it is very important for the English not to take themselves too seriously，to be able to laugh at themselves. However，it is well known that most teenagers tend to take themselves a bit too seriously.

The Goths，in their scary black costumes，certainly look as if they are taking themselves seriously. But when I got into conversation with them，I discovered that they too had a sense of humor. I was once chatting to a Goth in the full vampire costume-with a white face，deep purple