Sometimes the clothes do not make the man

posted by Jeff | Monday, August 27, 2012, 11:52 PM | comments: 0

Yeah, I went there. I'm not afraid to admit that George Michael's "Freedom '90" is pretty much one of the best songs ever.

My friend Beth recently posted about buying new clothes, to express your style. She said she was in a rut, and tends to hold on to things for a long time. I can totally relate to that. I'm not even sure just how long I've had some of my clothes. The T-shirts, in particular, seem to go a long way, and Facebook now preserves photos from five years ago where I have the same shirts.

Only two things ever really motivate me to buy new clothes. Well, three things if you count just wearing holes in jeans after four or five years. The other two things are weight loss and boredom.

I lost a bunch of weight in 2005, from a combination of a failing marriage, coaching volleyball nearly full-time and a photo of myself from a year or two before that made me unhappy about my profile. Oddly enough, it was a few photos that friends snapped that fall, on a trip to Holiday World, where I noticed that my clothes were all way too big for the guy weighing about 26 pounds less. In the following months, I'd replace a lot of clothes. I even bought the first coat ever that wasn't a letterman-style jacket with the leather sleeves, even though they were classically warm and comfortable. I got a $20 wool coat that Old Navy was trying to get rid of (and I still have it).

The boredom thing comes less frequently. In fact, being bored with my appearance has mostly led to body piercing on several occasions. The truth is that my style is pretty simple. I tend to be a T-shirt and jeans kind of guy. In the winter, I'm a T-shirt with a sweater and jeans kind of guy. I don't deviate much from that. I am kind of known for being novelty T-shirt guy, however, and as such I have to refresh that collection now and then. In fact, I declared this week new novelty T-shirt week.

I have a feeling I'll have to buy at least some clothes this winter, even though I'm a remote worker who could theoretically work naked. (Sidebar: My car that I don't commute with has 9,000 miles in eight months.) I'm actually back to that 2005 weight again, and I'm sure I've got plenty more to go.


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