A couple of weekends ago I needed a nice plain leather work belt to put my Rush belt buckle on. I went to a western wear store. Cavender’s Boot City, in Plano. That is totally not my style, but damn it was nice to be in a really nice clothing store, with quality clothing and knowledgeable employees. The enshittification of everything makes such experiences a real pleasure. I found a nice leather belt that actually smells like leather.
I actually wrote that last paragraph a couple of weeks ago. Since then I’ve been thinking about this even more. Apparently I don’t have enough important things to think about, so the little man in my brain comes up with stuff like this.
Before that trip to Cavender’s I ordered a leather belt off Amazon. When it arrived one of the little snaps where you change the buckle was already broken. ENSHITTIFICATION. I returned it for a refund. Cavender’s was 95% stuff I would never wear. The whole country/western/cowboy aesthetic doesn’t appeal to me. For one thing it would be so fake on me. It would be like cosplay. For another thing, and this is not fair at all (but may be accurate), I associate that whole shit-kicker look and culture with characteristics like ignorance, religious bigotry and stupidity, bigotry in general, and anti-intellectualism in the grandest of anti-intellectual American style.
BUT – the merchandise was super nice! My style or not, man, being in a store full of quality clothing and intelligent employees made me feel like I was in the right place! At least for a plain leather work belt.
Yes, I know perfectly intelligent good folks who dress like that sometimes. But it’s just – not – me. So indulge me please in my rantings.
One of my nieces works for a very nice men’s clothing retailer. A few months ago, after talking with her about her work, I had a dream that I was shopping for clothes in a nice men’s clothing store (note: all great blog posts mention a dream). The kind of place where knowledgeable professionals work and help customer find clothing, that carries nice stuff, and is kept up well (not a mess). Weirdly I am developing a desire to own some higher quality clothing, especially during my upcoming retirement years. These days, cheap and shitty clothes aren’t inexpensive any more.
Now, inside I am still a dirty old skateboarder. I’ll always sit around the house in old shorts and tshirts, but in the future I want to present myself to the world in a well-dressed but not “old guy” style. Example: My wife got me a nice Ben Sherman shirt. That’s an English brand. I am not really a “brand” guy, but I like these shirts a lot. It is of course not made in England, but the quality is nice. It fits well. When we go out to a show or somewhere nice now I like to wear that, some nice Dockers pants, and my black with green tint Doc Marten shoes (made in China these days, but whatever). We recently went to the Addition Improv to see comedian Kevin James Thornton, and I wore that. My wife wore a nice casual outfit. A lot of the men in the crowd looked like shit. I would be ashamed to take my wife out looking like that. You see this all over the place, adult men, at places nicer than Taco Bell, dressed like adult babies. Yeah, I’m leaning a bit elitest here I guess, but I also have this idea that our culture has slidden way too far down Low-Brow Hill, and I just don’t want to participate.
So I started looking at dedicated brick and mortar men’s clothing stores in the area. There are a few. Looking at their websites I see that most of them cater to what I’d call the Young Douchebag Demographic. You’ve seen this look. A suit with pants that are way too tight and a jacket with weirdly small or strangely-placed lapels. Add to that wearing no socks and some fucked-up looking shoes with that abomination in the form of a suit. Oh, I almost forgot the comically oversized wrist watch. I understand this is a style, but it’s a douchebag style, and one that in my nearly 62-year old but fit body I can’t pull off. I’d feel like an idiot.
There are a few stores that are possibilities. Sooner or later I will check them out. During retirement I want to have about 3 nice knit shirts – probably Ben Shermans, and a couple of nice pairs of trousers, and maybe another slightly different pair of Doc Martens. I feel like this look kinda honors my cool skateboarder history and persona (heh heh) while being presentable as an adult human being. I’ll make sure I have a proper, nice, classic suit and whatnot as well and a nice sport coat. I’m not talking about buying a lot of clothing. Just a few things that are nice, high-quality, and will last a while.
So I guess my point here is that finding nice clothes that feel authentic to me is what I’m wanting to do. I’m not a shit-kicker and I’m not a skinny young influencer. I’m a fit but slightly overweight skateboarder in the early senior years.