update my wardrobe

new sox. Need moar alwayz.

I was about to walk to my usual hunting ground when I decided “hey why not walk in one of those nearby stores I’m prejudiced against for a change rather than waste 2 hours hiking ? It’s sales season after all, you never know”. So in one of those shops I’m usually prejudiced against I found a kickass and surprisingly affordabe officerish jacket with cool buttons with lions, crowns and stuff, which is the sort of thing I’ve been looking for lately. So I bought that.

Then on the same sidewalk, a few steps further, I found the sort of kickass boots I’ve been looking for all over the internet… in a decoration store (they had a couple of shoe models) ! I must say they hurt the livng hell out of me but they just look too nice so I’m taking my chances with the leather-relaxes-with-time theory, they have heraldry designed on the sides which makes them in the same spirit as the jacket. Here’s a photo of them (found later on the internet) for Molliemoonlight, for I know she shares my boot fetish ;).

Last, in yet another store still on the same sidewalk, I found a pimping winter coat with fluffy shoulders that makes me look like some film villain (and everyone knows villains always dress the best). The end of sales season is approaching so the price was pretty nice, and for some reason it also features heraldry on the buttons, which I interpreted as a sign that was the one (and it’s gotten so cold this week breath gets as cloudy as a film noir detective’s cigarette smoke so I didn’t want to dawdle anymore regarding the coat issue).

Funny that I found things in the same spirit in such different places : a small, rather conservative suits shop, a big usually tasteless clothing retailer, and a decoration shop.

I also got a new perfume (they stopped making the old one) and it’s growing on me. It has an even gayer name than the old one, which is quite an accomplishment in itself.

So, overall, I feel pretty proud about my shopping frenzy and the fact that I just selected a street and went for it instead of being so complicated. ^{I just wish my shoes stopped hurting ! I’ll ask a shoe repair guy to stretch them a bit maybe, they’re just the right length but they’re pretty hard and narrow.}

I own a fluffy fluffy (faux) fur cap that’s warm as hell and looks cool to me. I once saw a guy walking down the street with boots in the same spirit. I wanted to ask him where he got them but he crossed the street too fast (probably thanks to his magical boots).

I don’t know where to get boots/shoes, seriously, although I like shopping for clothes, I tend to keep the same shoes for years because no shoes ever strike me as worth-buying. I googled adjectives that pop in my mind when it comes to my ideal fantasy shoes that I’ll never find in a store and it turns out there are some pretty cool things. Now I’m not fond of the principle of buying from the internet shoes you haven’t tried on. I also have trouble visualing shoes on a person (= me) as opposed to on a white background. And everything seems ridiculously expensive. The styles are either super bland or super extreme too, few designers seem to know about nuance.

I’ll post some pictures of things that piqued my interest (I hate that expression) so I can have your valuable opinions on them.

except for the one thing I did need as usual (warmer shoes that don’t let water in). Credit card went ouch ! But I hadn’t been shopping in a long time. Got a new sweater (that’s the last one), some other thing which I hesitate to call a sweater, 3 pairs of cool socks (those I had at home were getting all holey), a T-shirt and two waist-coats (those too are the last for a while).

So many people in the stores despite the awful weather, I think there were about as many humans at New Look today as there were in all of Europe during the Middle Ages. Still need to find some damned boots (my feet were wet all day), why is everything so ugly or expensive ?

...long disfigured from excessive washing/drying, that I’ve been keeping around all these years out of sentimentality.

I just can’t describe the pinching of my heart when I see a shirt greet me with the classic malformation : shorter than before yet larger. I always feel like melting down on my mother/the maid when that happens but I won’t cause they shouldn’t have to wash my clothes in the first place :s (I do it myself now that I’m on my own and get to have my own separate laundry !). Still I don’t know where that belief that anything above 30° is necessary to get your clothes clean comes from ; unless you’ve vomited all over yourself, which you haven’t, there’s hardly ever any stain to wash, just the occasional smell to get rid of and soap and water at low temperature do that just fine. Years ago I was so frustrated by this that I would wash my own clothes manually but it drove everyone crazy ^^. I also have that awesome white shirt that turned pink… Loose collars that become tight are a bummer too. These things annoy me because
a- I don’t shop a lot
b- I’m short and skinny so if I want to look athletic I really need clothes that are just my size
c- my size isn’t easy to find
d- I like the clothes I get and I know I won’t find the same years after.

Anyway, farewell, once lovely clothes turned hobbit size. By the way, I’m giving them away, not throwing them out. I’ve been doing quite a few deliveries to the giveaway place lately and I intend to keep doing so. You never know if there’s a hobbit out there in need of fancy pimping clothes.

The last ones had so many holes they were starting to look like sandals. Also a nice neutral sweater. I have too many fancy clothes and not enough stuff I can wear on a job interview.

Moving on here…

Since I’m not out there getting new clothes, I might as well get rid of all those I don’t wear anymore. I’m sure once the closet feels more empty, I’ll feel more motivated about shopping.

Believe it or not, except for a few pairs that didn’t last, I had been wearing the same shoes for six years before that ! I’ve been trying to find my dream shoes without success for so long, I thought this time I’d just get comfortable ones no matter how they look, just for a change. So I got myself some pretty unnoticeable shoes for less than 35 euros and they feel so great my whole body melts inside them every time I put them on. I also put the laces from my older shoes on them, so that they look more original and not too new !

PS : I’m immensely proud of that image.

I used to shop for clothes all the time and loved it. I’ve got tired of it, for several reasons :
- I’m now single. Shopping became less natural.
- Now that I have an ear problem, the music at H&M gets on my nerves even more than it used to.
- Now that I don’t have long hair anymore, I don’t feel the need to look like a rockstar (= utterly ridiculous) quite as much.
- It’s very hard when you’re a skinny guy to find any clothes your size, especially trousers. I used to get a lot of women’s tops, especially jackets, cause they’re usually less expensive than their masculine equivalents, so I would end up dressing a bit like Charlie Chaplin : pants too big and top too tight.
- Since I rarely find what I’m looking for, I sometimes get something just to make up for the frustration of having to deal with the subway and the crowd, so I basically have a shit tone of cool T-shirts and no appropriate pants/coats/shoes etc. Most of those shirts became too short and wide at the same time because of the dryer. There’s still a couple of ones which are miraculously fit so I try to wash them myself all the time but every now and then, someone will stumble on one of them, assume it’s not clean just because it’s a bit crumpled and throw it into the hot machine with the rest of them, ruining it forever.
- I’m lazy.

I still get some surprisingly positive feedback about how I dress but that’s because I don’t go out too much ; I actually have to fight with the closet every morning to find something decent nowadays, otherwise, it’s just me and my Jeff Lebowski outfit. Plus I have the feeling that people think I’m trying to look cool all the time like that annoying Johnny Depp while the truth is I’ve got few possibilities left apart from weird combinations of hippie, new romantic and everyday clothes.