In honor of New York's Fashion week which occurred last week (#NYFW), I thought it would be appropriate to share some thoughts and history about my take on fashion.
First, a background:
I was a wal-mart clothing shopper until the summer of 8th grade. What can I say? When your parents pay for your clothes, you go where they take you. My dad loves the old jeans and free-company polo, so that was about as much fashion as I'd ever know until I was 15.
My friends and I made a daring escape to the mall to purchase clothes that we thought were cool. For the first time in my life, I was able to purchase clothes that I actually liked. During that time until the beginning of high school, I bought clothes that I thought looked good on other people.
Pretty soon I began to buy dress shirts and ties and other such articles of clothing (at age 16!). The things I bought looked so nice, I didn't take any of them with me on the mission (two years in the hot sun of the equator would demolish them). I'd keep up with the stores and find screaming deals everywhere. It's probably the most feminine that I'd ever be.
One of the sad moments from growing up was watching a friend of mine win the "best dressed" category in the senior yearbook. He liked to wear sweats to high school....almost all the time. I was a bit indignant about this, since I 'carefully' (I use this in the male sense...carefully means 'gave 1-2 minutes of consideration') chose most of the outfits that I purchased and wore.
Fast forward to today, and back to that feminine thing: When I started to date the woman that would become my wife, I started to find clothes for her. We'd go shopping constantly on my invitation. I know this is rare, because I see all the other men at the store whose wives dragged them there to replace the clothes they bought years before. I introduced her to Banana, Nordstrom, J. Crew, Kate Spade (more on this brand later), Saks, Bloomingdales, Calvin Klein, and all the outlet stores and brands that go with them.
Nowadays, I get more excited to find more clothes for her than myself. This is due to the fact that women have much more of a diverse style than men. I enjoy finding new outfits and unique looks in women's clothing. There is more to explore in the women's fashion than men, and since my wife is so nice, I am allowed to see the different outfits on an actual being and not just a model (actual beings are much prettier than models).
We've moved on from brands like american eagle, levis, and aeropostale (no offense to the brands) and now we dream of Burberry, Vera Wang, Badgley Mischka, and other designers. We wonder, "If we had the money, would we honestly have the guts to buy some of this stuff?" Sometimes yes.
This brings me to Kate Spade. As a man, I love this brand. I think it has an awesome style for women. I follow them on twitter and send things to my wife about new styles they create. If I could get her anything, it'd probably be a bag or heels from this designer.
Even as I describe this, it sounds very strange to me. But what the heck, I enjoy fashion. Consider it a guilty pleasure; in this case, the guilty part being when I feel like less of a man looking at designer dresses.
Tuesday, February 19, 2013
New place in P.G.
This last week I went to a new ward (for those of who you aren't familiar with the mormon church, a ward is a congregation of people who attend church, usually contained within a certain geographic location). Hopefully, no one in that ward follows me yet... because one of the funnest things about a new wards is the opportunity to meet (and profile) some of the personalities one meets in the first couple weeks. For example:
Bone-crusher: You meet him with a handshake. However, his vice-grip gives you the impression that: his life really depends on the power of his grip, or he works with crabs and lobsters. Within 1-2 minutes, you already know his calling in the ward, and you can't help but notice the Christmas ties still being worn at the end of January.
Up at the front of the congregation, you meet Squidfingers. He directs the music with as much enthusiasm as the conductor of the Boston Pops. Usually, the conductor uses his/her right hand, doing a small triangular motion in front of their body. But not squidfinger: He keeps two arms above his head and shoulders, creating complete circular motions with his hands while directing every beat and subbeat to every hymn. Even though you might sing with as much energy as squidfinger gives, you notice everyone around you with their nose in the hymnal, already accustomed to the arm-waving and finger-flailing.
Then, with greeting in the hall, you meet cardboard-tote lady. She carries a handle which is connected to something that resembles a cardboard briefcase. This caught me by surprise, because I had not seen a cardboard tote since the early nineties (when I was in the kid-section of the church called Primary). Her personality is very frivolous, jumpy, and social, rather like the person in line at the grocery store that shows you the wallet-size pictures of their kids or the girl you never want to meet at parties. I immediately predicted that she worked with the Primary kids. Yup- hole in one. She is in charge of the primary.
I started this blog last month. Now I've been fully integrated in the new ward and teaching the youngest class in primary (more formally known as "sunbeams"). I've met more people, played basketball with the guys, and helped create strawberry shortcake for over 200 single members of the church who are ages 30-80; that's another story in of itself.
My favorite part about premature profiling comes when you get to know the people you profile. They are always so much cooler when you get to know them for real! It's a fun way to remember names, hobbies, personalities, and situations. This also makes journals and memories way more enticing to read over again!
Bone-crusher: You meet him with a handshake. However, his vice-grip gives you the impression that: his life really depends on the power of his grip, or he works with crabs and lobsters. Within 1-2 minutes, you already know his calling in the ward, and you can't help but notice the Christmas ties still being worn at the end of January.
Up at the front of the congregation, you meet Squidfingers. He directs the music with as much enthusiasm as the conductor of the Boston Pops. Usually, the conductor uses his/her right hand, doing a small triangular motion in front of their body. But not squidfinger: He keeps two arms above his head and shoulders, creating complete circular motions with his hands while directing every beat and subbeat to every hymn. Even though you might sing with as much energy as squidfinger gives, you notice everyone around you with their nose in the hymnal, already accustomed to the arm-waving and finger-flailing.
Then, with greeting in the hall, you meet cardboard-tote lady. She carries a handle which is connected to something that resembles a cardboard briefcase. This caught me by surprise, because I had not seen a cardboard tote since the early nineties (when I was in the kid-section of the church called Primary). Her personality is very frivolous, jumpy, and social, rather like the person in line at the grocery store that shows you the wallet-size pictures of their kids or the girl you never want to meet at parties. I immediately predicted that she worked with the Primary kids. Yup- hole in one. She is in charge of the primary.
I started this blog last month. Now I've been fully integrated in the new ward and teaching the youngest class in primary (more formally known as "sunbeams"). I've met more people, played basketball with the guys, and helped create strawberry shortcake for over 200 single members of the church who are ages 30-80; that's another story in of itself.
My favorite part about premature profiling comes when you get to know the people you profile. They are always so much cooler when you get to know them for real! It's a fun way to remember names, hobbies, personalities, and situations. This also makes journals and memories way more enticing to read over again!
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