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clothing rant
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hairyears loaned me his strokey new jacket on the way to the station, because I was cold. It doesn't fit me, on account of my being rather bigger than he is, but it wasn't pulling at the shoulders or anything so I wore it undone. What a beautifully made garment. Even though it doesn't fit it was comfortable and felt balanced and secure and wonderful. I want one. In a deep purple/wine colour, or black, of course; the hunter green really doesn't suit me at all. But something like that - durable, comfortable, reasonably warm without being too hot, not too too smart but beautifully fitted... would be wonderful, really. Just the thing for teaching or any occasion when I want to look a bit professional without resorting to full-scale posh suit (which I don't currently own) or concert dress (which I do, but which isn't always practical). But... there is no way on this earth I can afford a jacket like that at this point in my finances. Instead, I will wait until I have enough money for this jacket from Long Tall Sally and go see if it fits (why don't they have any plain black velvet jackets, or plain black corduroy jackets? GRAH!). And maybe something from their suiting department for when I do actually want to look that posh. And I'm reminded that my purple coat needs extensive repairs (lining replaced, cuffs covered in something, pockets repaired, buttons sewn back on and a good cleaning), and I note that the city coat probably costs less than it would cost to have my lovely purple coat repaired. It doesn't come with a hood, though; hoods are good! I'm not in Canadia so probably don't need it so badly as it doesn't really get anywhere near as cold here and I can make countless winter hats. But having a good winter coat to wear whilst I sort out doing my own mending on the purple one would be quite a good thing. If I don't mend the winter coat this winter it probably won't last much longer than another year, and if I do mend it I might get another ten years out of it yet. Especially if I can wear it in rotation with another one.I really need to learn tailoring, don't I? I mean, it's arguable I don't need much in the way of clothing... but professional presentation is, unfortunately, rather a required thing in my line of work. Buying stuff that doesn't fit (ie stuff from almost any high-street shop and much of what is in second-hand shops as well) is a false economy (things that don't fit wear out faster!) and makes me look horrid. The stuff at Long Tall Sally usually fits reasonably, but... well, there's no denying the quality is still inconsistent at best. I'd love to have a wardrobe that I actually love to wear, clothing that I step into and feel good in, but at the moment I have a strong suspicion that the only way I'm going to get that is to pay vast amounts of money (we're talking triple figures for each piece) for someone else to custom-make several very fine pieces of clothing, or to pay reasonable money for good materials and learn to use them well. And I think it will be many years before my income will stretch to paying someone else that much money for one jacket, no matter how beautiful and well-made it is. Although if the Long Tall Sally stuff fits then maybe I can cut a pattern from that, especially if I also have a tailor's dress form (easy to make with one person to help me). But at the end of the day, can I really compete with people who have several decades experience tailoring and do it for a living? I don't think I could make a garment of the same quality as the jacket I borrowed this evening, certainly not without extensive training. But that's what I want. This evening I borrowed a jacket that doesn't even fit me and still felt way better than anything I've worn from Long Tall Sally; it's enough to put me off high-street shops for good.
On the other hand, I'm not sure my patience will stretch to the fiddly bits of tailoring. At all. And when am I going to do all this stuff? In my Spare Time? Meh.
The other problem is that I want a capsule wardrobe but I don't lead a capsule life. I don't want to wear my teaching clothes for classes or gardening or foraging. I don't want to wear my gardening and foraging clothes for classes, really. My performance clothes vary from casual-bordering-on-tarty (for busking) to really-quite-properly-black (if you aren't standing too close). Let's not get started on the clubbing, which I actually have very little clothing for. Or the Aikido, which has a special costume. Or clothes for running (lighter and more fragile than gardening/foraging clothes, which have tos tand up to prickles and nettles and stuff). Having some stuff that goes anywhere will help, but it's unrealistic for me to ever think I'll wear most/all of my clothes in a typical week, and not have random 'extra' stuff hanging around taking up space, because my life is simply not cut out so that every week is the same.
But enough ranting. I sleep now.
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And the multi-function wardrobe, yeah, it's a pain in the ass! I wish I could find a pair of boots that were suitable for office, hiking, clubbing, etc. I hate having eight pair of shoes for different things.
Oh my, how unladylike of me ;)
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My new strokey jacket was made for me by John Castle (http://www.citikey.com/business/10002581?area=The+City&category=30365&city=London¤t=8&total=11), tailor, Castle Court, Birchin Lane, EC3.
It is rather good, isn't it?
I bought it when the old strokey jacket started getting tatty - all too quickly, with it being an off-the-peg garment from The Officers Club. (In fairness to them, it was smart when new). The fact that I bought it in their factory outlet in Street (near the Ki Federation Dojo (http://www.kifederationofgreatbritain.co.uk/)) is a hint as to why I get my clothes tailor-made: being a rather skinny chap, I've found that none of the high street make any serious effort to distribute and sell clothing outside the median 75% of the population's sizes. What little there is turns out to made for paupers, polyester fetishists and pimply teenagers attending their first job interview.
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I'm not sure they even manage the median 75% - maybe with shoes, but with clothing I doubt it. How many people do you know who can walk into most shops and find something that fits in a style that flatters them? How many people do you know who only wear things that fit perfectly, and don't have to have at least some of those things made?