My Latest Obsession

It haunts my every waking moment...sorta.

I am obsessed with my new shirt.

First, it's not new - it's vintage. And it's not vintage from a Vintage Store - it's thrifted from the Value Village up on Watson Road. Three dollars. And it had a green stain when I bought it, but I didn't care. Thanks to Martha Stewart’s stain chart, it's stain free....for the moment. I'm hell on clothes.

So...the thought of this new shirt has entered my mind at least once a day since I bought it two weeks ago when I went junkin' with Mike. I love my new shirt. I have worn it three times this week and I'm not ashamed to admit it, either.

I am washing it in the sink immediately after wearing it. So there's no need to fear Grade-A Funk just in case you see me toodling down the street wearing it, which you probably will. This shirt is magic -- it dries in 5 minutes on the clothesline outside my house.

I haven't been this passionate about a piece of clothing in, like, forever. I do have moments of absolute devotion to new shoes....I got some Diesel flip-flops for $15 when I visited Bloomington with Dietrich - and I wear them at least once every day. But shoes are different.

I've always had this thing about wearing a shirt more than once a week, even if it's laundered. Maybe it goes back to my modest days on the farm in Kentucky, where we had at least 5 good outfits for school each week. There wasn't a sequence, per se, Monday this...Tuesday that...but I don't recall ever wearing something more than once a week.

And as for drag - hell...I probably didn't repeat an outfit in the same city for over five years. Going out to the gay bars (or any kind of bar, I imagine) is kinda like that, huh? Every outing is an opportuity to meet someone shiny and new....so look your best and wear something you've never worn out before? Do you repeat outfits when you go out? Write to me and let me know.

I don't know why I love my new shirt so much (it's no longer new...but it is the newest shirt I own...and perhaps it will retain that moniker – The New Shirt). It's sheer - which on me could be frightening - but with a crisp white tee underneath, I feel all snazzy. It's not too big and it's not too small. It's a funny cream color - I am an Autumn, after all.

Looking at it makes me happy. New things are like that. I keep thinking about the first time I'll wear my new shirt to Duffs, to the bar, on a date, out dancing, to the store, on a walk, out to dinner, out to a movie (maybe not - movies are always so chilly - and this is a shirt for when it is warm.) New things, new people, new places always hold the promise of being some sort of life-changing event. What will happen? Will it be magical and special? Will I remember this forever?

I do worry about getting stains on it - I almost had a tragic hot sauce accident at Culpeppers last night - and last week, the sleeve got snagged on a bit of metal in the door jamb at work (woker's comp for emotional distress?) But as I mentioned, I am hell on clothes. Even if something horrible (knock on wood) happens to me new shirt – I know I’ll always love it.

Maybe it's just the time of year. School is starting. There is a part of me that misses school. Buying new clothes, new shoes, new underwear and socks. The bags and bags of stuff in the back of my mom's car as we drove home and I wondered and sometimes worried about what the new school year would bring. I'd dash in the house and fill my brand new Trapper Keeper with college ruled notebook paper (more lines...more words...) while I summoned my energies for a new year of academic achievement.

Real life isn't like that. There's no grade. I think we're maybe kinda cruel to kids in that regard. There's not this finite period between now and mid-December in which I can scamper down the hall to my boss' office and say "Evaluate me! Evaluate me!" Granted, I do a crappy job, I get fired, get kicked out of my house, wind up in the gutter....that’s an evaluation….but there's no real opportunity to earn extra credit....

But my shirt is good!

My shirt is forever - it is spun plastic, after all. My shirt may be my legacy. Here is Rob's shirt. It made him happy and content.

I think that's pretty remarkable for a three dollar investment.