Wednesday’s Words of Wisdom (And Whimsy)

Posted on March 6, 2024 under Wednesday’s Words of Wisdom with 2 comments

Fashion Frenzy

 

“You don’t become cooler with age, but you do care progressively less about being cool, which is the only true way of being cool. This is called the Geezer’s Paradox.” Widdershins Smith

“Sometimes nothing can be a real cool hand.”

Cool Hand Luke (The movie)

Where are you on the “cool index”?

Sadly, I don’t think I ever achieved the status of being cool. I wore bell bottoms and a tie-dyed shirt when I was a teenager which was the cool thing to do at the time. I had hoped to attract a young, unsuspecting girl. I’m still waiting but apparently patience is a virtue because a few days ago, I was complimented on my attire.

Now this was both good news and bad news. It was a chilly day, and I wore a sweater to school, the one you see in the photo above. It was actually a backhanded compliment. The sweater was a quarter zipper model. Honestly, I never knew such a thing existed. That shows you how much I know about fashion.

My colleague commented that the sweater I was wearing was “back in style.” That is similar to asking someone wearing an article of clothing if they had any nice ones at the boutique!

Whatever is old is new is old again.

The sweater was manufactured by a company called Chaps. I had to go and look at the tag, something I have never done before. The sweater was a gift and I have been wearing it for over 30 years. Apparently when I acquired it, it must have been fashionable if not downright cool. In order for this style to make a comeback, it must have fallen out of favour. I guess I never got the memo. I kept wearing it over the decades and wonder of wonders, I’m cool again. NOT!

Some clothing never seems to be out of vogue. To wit – blue jeans. We wore blue jeans as kids. They were tough and durable (Like many of my fellow seniors!). Because we spent so much time in the outdoors, climbing trees, building forts and playing games, our clothing needed to be virtually indestructible. Eventually, holes would appear but when you came from a large Catholic family, getting new clothes wasn’t an option so you just wore them and suffered the odd taunt from the rich kids.

Blue jeans survive to this day and when I’m not teaching, I’m wearing denim.

Which brings me to “distressed jeans”. Distressed jeans are a type of jeans that have been purposely damaged or ripped. Distressed jeans are usually made to look like they’ve been worn for a long time. The only thing distressing about this fashion statement is the price. I did a quick Google search and I found a pair of St.Laurent Skinny-Fit jeans for $1,064.54. On two counts, would I never be caught in these. “Skinny-Fit” and the price tag are major impediments. I wonder if Yves sells “Fat-Fit” jeans?! Surely the world has gone completely and utterly mad.

I have never, not even once, been accused of being fashion conscious. I don’t subscribe to GQ. I don’t have “fashion, style or culture”, the hallmarks of this magazine. I am more of a Frenchy’s kind of guy and occasionally, I’ll splurge and go to Moore’s Clothing For Men.

Lest you think that I am possibly the dullest and uncool guy in the world, I admit that I was whistled at… once. When this happens, it is very shocking. For women, catcalls are usually frowned upon but when a guy catches the eye of the fairer sex, it is time to break out the champagne.

This once in a lifetime event happened in 2019 when I was doing the Camino in Spain. It was a beautiful, serene morning and I was walking alone through one of the many small, farming villages in Northern Spain. I passed several well-kept homes along the main thoroughfare. Many were adorned with beautiful flowers and the properties were well maintained. You could tell that there was a lot of civic pride.

At first, I thought I was mistaken. I thought I had heard the classic whistle that might be heard at a construction work site when a shapely woman passes by. Surely I must have been dreaming but then I heard it again. I was startled, slightly embarrassed and then chuffed. Some damsel had seen this rugged Canadian (she could tell because I had a Canadian flag decal on my backpack) trudging along the Camino – battered, bruised and blistered. I wondered if I might get invited in for a hot cup of coffee. The locals in these small villages are very kind.

I was trying to get a bead on where the whistling was coming from. Most of the homes were two story and I did a cursory glance up and down that side of the street but alas, a lass was nowhere to be found. I did a closer inspection and there, in the window of the second floor of this home, was a parrot.

When was the last time that you were humbled by a parrot? I had a great laugh and returned the whistle and was on my way.

I am told that there are people in social media called influencers. They are trend setters and can move the needle when it comes to marketing products. Logan Paul has 25.4 million followers on Instagram. I have 68.

Now that I know my sweater is back in style, maybe I’ll take a stab at being an influencer for seniors.

Rogaine for men?!

The Geezer’s Paradox, indeed.

Have a great weekend and don’t forget to turn your clocks ahead one-hour, early Sunday morning.

P.S. It’s not easy being an influencer!