Monday, March 1, 2010

Style, or lack there of...

I worked for 11 plus years in the environmental wastewater equipment field when I got out of college (where I was relatively recognizable, albeit for eclectic head wear), As you can imagine from both the waste and equipment in the former job description, there were days when what I wore to work was burnt as soon as I made it home. Clothing myself was an odd mix of being able to call on city managers and supervisors, and then needing to be able to crawl under a piece of heavy equipment to work on it, with these two things often happening within minutes of each other. Luckily, the company gave me a bit of a wardrobe budget for replacement clothing so I did not have too much of an issue with having a wardrobe.

What I did have a problem with is defining a personal style.
Mainly for two reasons:

1) The aforementioned job, of which allowed very little style other than business/ technician professional
2) The fact that I am a male of considerable size. 4 to 5 xl, depending on the cut of what ever it is.

"Where is this going?", you ask.

Well, for one (literally) due to the economy I am no longer working for said company, which is, of course, currently in this case both a blessing and a curse. However, it has left me with a wardrobe consisting of mostly ex-work garments, many of which either have my name and ex company logo on them, or have been used as a work garment, acquiring some minor damage. More importantly, and to get to the point of all this, I still lack a sense of personal style.

Granted, I purchased some of these items, and I like some of them. I just need to to figure out what to do with them...

So here it begins.

I am going to try to finally define and build what I want as a personal style (it only took 40 some years, but I got there). I have some solid pieces of wardrobe that I like and are not in too bad a shape that I can't work with them. I have an idea of where I would like to go with it, and some friends that can help me modify accordingly. More importantly, I don't have someone sitting over my proverbial shoulder telling me yes or no. My judge is me alone. I may fail mightily at some things, but a change must come. I need it. Badly. So...

The first project is going to be putting a rolled hem on my khaki BDUs. I have worn BDUs for years as they are comfortable and cheap (rephrase that to read inexpensive) as far a big wear goes, and at this point I don't think I can live without cargo pockets. I just want them to have a bit more 'formality' to them, and I have always liked rolled hems. Plus, if they look hideous, I can always straight hem them.

It is it a place to start. Small, but a starting point none the less. Attempting this style thing, no, doing this, is surprisingly important to me for some reason. Even if I decide that I have it all wrong.

Those who I don't get to see regularly, I will keep you informed through images.