For my new job, my equally new boss suggested that, over time, I change my look a bit. While I’ll be mostly staying in-house, being trained, for the first couple of months, the idea is that I will eventually (and unavoidably) come in contact with customers. At first, that announcement sent shivers down my spine. Had the time finally arrived when someone was going to tell me to wear tassel shoes, bad ties and a Samsonite briefcase? Luckily no, and I could have known that from looking at my employer’s own penchant for the coloured shirts, the goatee and the funky orange glasses. The way he sees it, my makeover would be aimed more at developing an edgier look – ‘Creative-Aggressive’, as he calls it.
I’m okay with that. My own vestiary history has been eclectic, to say the least. At secondary school I already wore ties and jackets (not as a uniform) and when my friends and I crossed the street, it was like a scene from The Untouchables – including the hats. I then evolved into a more collegiate look (checked shirts, jeans), moved on to more academic attire (v-necked lambswool jumpers), and ended up at plain homely, with the cardigans, the tweeds and the corduroys. After that, I kind of stopped having a style at all and things became what could best be described as a mess.
Last week, I ventured on a first reconnaissance mission, checking out how the shops and the fashion had changed in the last two years since I actually bought anything except replacement socks (in boring RAF blue, at discount prices, in packs of five pairs – you get the idea). It was quite the ordeal. I don’t understand the sizes, the conversions or the labels. And those fitting cubicles: who designs those? Imagine a scene, if you will, being stuck in a small box, hopping on one foot, trying to work out the difference between an ‘inside leg’ and an ‘Italian fit’, while German teenage girls are giggling and chuckling in the cubicle next door and you wonder: is that security camera up there actually legal? So, before I go out there again, I’ll see how things turn out and what effects this job will have on me. Let the change take its course in a more natural way, so to speak.
Obviously, this has become the subject of much hilarity and friendly ridicule. People are curious to see where this will lead to. I can’t stress enough, that I myself am rather curious about this too. But isn’t there something to be said for this? Fine feathers make fine birds, right? Being self-conscious about what you wear, how others perceive you, may be an essential part of how you function. Looking good, means you feel good. And I’m sure that whatever your profession is, you ‘look the part’ yourself. Whether your style is a consequence of your job, or whether it’s the other way round, doesn’t or shouldn’t matter much. Now, of course, I have to find out how ‘Creative-Aggressive’ and the business of online tutorials translate into fashion advice. Maybe a tee that says: Subscribe Now?
Image: Bebeto Matthews / AP / MSNBC
