 | the centrepiece of my week-off television-inspired vacation was to be a "what not to wear" inspired revamp of my wardrobe and overall presentment. while i didn't have any fabulous personal fashion consultants, nor did i have $5,000 to spend on a new wardrobe, i did have a will to pare down my closet and get a bit of a makeover, and it took over two weeks to bring it all together. the first step involved whittling down the redundant and useless elements of my wardrobe. i've been living in t-shirts and baggy dress shirts too long and it was definitely time for them to go. all the fashion tragedies that i've been carrying with me since the 80s had been purged a couple of years ago, so the emotional trauma of parting with favourite patterned shirts or too-many-pleated slacks was dealt with long ago. now, the simple rule was if i hadn't worn something for a year, and didn't foresee myself wearing in the next year - out it went. and so, i amassed a considerable pile of shirts and t-shirts and a few pants that would never again be close to my skin. on a really positive note - none of those clothes were in terribly bad shape, so rather than having to throw out a lot of clothes, all of them made their way to clothing donations in support of cerebral palsy, which, i think, is a pretty decent outcome for some once-loved clothes. the next step was to get some new clothes. as i said, i didn't spend two days and five grand scoping out clothes that would transform me as a man. i did go to mississauga though to get to some outlet stores. mexx was the most successful of these and i got a few shirts and some stylish shorts that made me look less like a college student and more like a guy with shoulders and a waist. good colours, sharp lines and a close fit keep me going back to mexx, and as i never seem to see anyone at clubs wearing the same thing that i am - so i think that it's a good fit for me - fashion-wise. the final part of any good "what not to wear" episode is the hair and make-up. i was planning to do a spa day on my week off and maybe get a facial or something, but that didn't happen. after my vacation was over, i decided to crop the hair that i'd been trying to grow out since last winter. i thought the extra length would be counter-fashion and cool, but it hasn't been terribly successful for me, so i gave my hot stylist license to make me look good again, which she did, to my great joy. sigh. i'm glad that i've finally finished reporting on my five tv-based vacation adventures and can move on to more pressing matters like live as a mac in a pc-world, or the love of cats for all things cardboard. i need to shift the focus of my entries away from myself for my own personal well-being!!! - g |