Clothing
I’ve cared about my clothes for a long time. Although I wasn’t aware of it at first, I was probably the flyest elementary school to hit the playground, thanks mostly to my mom’s stellar taste. I sometimes wonder what it would be like if I could still rock those overalls and corduroys like I used to do back in the day.
As your resident shy guy, I always needed ways to build up my confidence, little things that would make me feel more comfortable in my skin and with other people. Slowly but surely, I learned more and more about clothing and developed my own personal style. It’s everchanging, from the standard button-down and sweater from high school to the hoodie-centric wardrobe I have now. However, for the first time, I’ve started to feel completely and fully confident in what I’m wearing. Throughout my sartorial journey, I’ve always felt a little unsure about my outfits as a whole. For the longest time, this was due to my shoes.
To me, shoes are undoubtedly the most important part of an outfit. Although they don’t need to hold all of the attention of the outfit, a bad pair of shoes can ruin an amazing outfit. I always felt that I was being held back by my issues. Finally, after spending too much money on a variety of shoes, I feel like I’ve reached a temporary clothing nirvana. I doubt it will last, but it makes each day a little more beautiful when you can find beauty in the mirror (other than by staring at your face). A good outfit feels like an accomplishment, a success in bringing pieces from various places together to make a cohesive whole. It’s what I imagine making a car out of five different Lego sets may feel like.
I know that most of my clothing journey is still ahead of me and I’m excited to see what it brings. My next step is to get over my tendency to judge people who don’t care or know about clothes. While I obsess about how to cuff my jeans with different pairs of shoes, there are millions of people who couldn’t care less that they’re wearing a black suit jacket with blue pants. There’s nothing wrong with that, even if there’s everything wrong with that. All of our clothing conventions are rather arbitrary, and if people decide that they don’t care enough to learn more, that’s up to them. But honestly, they’re missing out.
Drops of the Week
where I *drop* recommendations of cool things this week
Playlist
january 18 - another month comes and goes. I feel like I listened to a greater variety of music than usual, ranging from the Migos to the Old 97’s
Photo Series
Knitting - zesty photo series with beautiful patterns and fun models.
Longread
“The Many Acts of Keith Gordon” by David Obuchowski - this may be one of my favorite longreads I’ve read. I love all things film and learning about an actor-director is fascinating, but what’s striking about it is that Gordon seems to a genuinely wonderful person, who is passionate about the art and about making other people feel good. To me, that’s someone to idolize, even if he isn’t a super famous or super rich guy. The last few paragraphs nearly made me cry - I definitely recommend this piece.
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:~)
Love,
Nikhil