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I went out shopping yesterday. I'm not a particularly comfortable shopper. I'm out of date with my fashion, have been wearing inexpensive clothing for a number of years, have compromised my own sense of self in the process, and just feel blah most of the time about the clothes I have to wear. This makes getting dressed in the morning kind of difficult. Today, that is all different.

Being color blind, out-of-date with fashion, being broke too often, makes shopping for new clothes a challenge. I've gone out shopping with women and been dressed up terribly and I've asked and asked around if anyone knows someone who is really good with fashion and knows what they're doing. This weekend, I learned of a woman who owns a store just a few blocks from where I live. She's astounding!! The caveat, don't go in to browse, she won't tolerate it. You walk in her store, hand yourself over to her like a newborn baby needing to be fed.

I walked in, told her I was referred by a friend and she asked who. When I told her who, she was ready to tackle the job. She saw how frumpy I looked with my average Joe wear and started talking a mile a minute about fashion, teaching me fashion, don't worry, and on and on and on. It was quite energizing. Not only that, but she even acknowledges how important it is to value oneself enough to take care of our appearance, to treat ourselves to good clothes, etc. Too often, as a guy, I would sacrifice my wardrobe to meet my so-called sense of obligations to others in my life - and guys - you know what I mean - how often do you say NO for yourself just to buy something for a gal, hoping to earn more brownie points. As I heard yesterday and recognize after 2 divorces where I gave, gave, gave, it is important to value and give to oneself. Essentially, we're talking about self-respect and it's amazing that difference has on the person in the clothes and the audience that see's you. Wow!

I hadn't even taken my jacket off and she's telling me all about the styles, my body type, the challenge that means I have, etc. I wasn't sure I would absorb any of this new information. But I was in good hands. She already knew my size just from a glance - amazing talent - she pulled a pair of jeans down - and which brand, style, cut, is very important for your body-type. She got shirts, taught me how to dress and undress even - so the clothes last longer and stay on the body the way they are meant to - who knew!? Cool shirt, how to tuck it a certain way that created a whole new look. My conservatism was challenged but she nailed it when she said, "It's like the U2 look." and I could own it completely. Before she said that, I was looking at it from the perspective of how I had been taught to dress - shirts tucked in properly all the way around and so on. HAHAHA 

I walked out of the store with 2 jeans, 2 t-shirts, 2 shirts, a belt, and a new jacket. That evening, I headed out for a bite of dinner with my new clothes on and noticed how I felt different. Additionally, I noticed that I no longer felt invisible. I was being appraised occasionally. Where I had dinner, a beautiful young lady that I am friends with was working that evening, as I walked in the door, she started to look up casually and did a fast double-take - expression on her face was priceless. How important are clothes now?