Saturday 13 September 2003

Clothed

Some rather satisfying retail therapy has been happening around these parts of late.  Tuxedo arrived in Australia with a grand total of one suitcase of clothes (vacuum packed, so storage capability much increased, but still) and his wardrobe really needed some padding out.  He's got one good suit, work suit and shirts (corporate uniform from his old work, so not particularly versatile), one pair jeans, one pair tracksuit bottoms, a couple of t-shirts, and a collection of very nice knickers (no grey-from-washing Y-fronts for my guy).  The basics, yeah, but really ...

First task was making the list.  Now I am a serious fucking genius at making lists; totally comprehensive and concise.  I keep an ongoing "Wish List" which I'll discuss in a bit, which covers the entire spectrum from dream items to basic needs.  Tuxedo's basic needs include: cargo/combat-type pants, a few new t-shirts, a couple of long sleeved t-shirts and dressier but not business shirts, nice black wool trousers, sports jacket, maybe another suit, and shoes, because he has one pair of sneakers and cycling shoes and that's it.  While he needs all this stuff we decided not to get it all at once because (a) too exhausting and (b) financial embarrassment.

We started off at Target and picked up a few rather nice plainish t-shirts without too much fuss. Fortunately the boy and I have fairly similar tastes so all the short sleeve checked shirts and dad-like wear was bypassed without need for discussion; ditto the surf/skate tribal wear et al.  We also have the same "search and destroy" shopping style, whereby we don't fuss or dither.  We're more Chuck Norris meets Madeleine Albright.  Okay, weird image, moving on ...

Next up, the more difficult task of finding some good quality, good fitting cotton pants.  That Tux might deign to wear.  That weren't fiddly or too trendy or too strait-laced or a gross colour.  That turned out to be a challenge worthy of an Amazing Race episode or maybe something gladiatorial, complete with tigers.  My man is fucking fussy; yes he has excellent, amazing, spectacularly good taste (to my benefit, see; various items of jewellery), but sometimes he just cannot or will not explain what exactly is wrong with a particular item; it just gets coldly rejected, wham! like that. 

However after multiple rejections and expressions of disgust, we found a gorgeous pair of the right kind of trousers, by Hugo Boss (because we're all about The Brand.  Actually, I do love Hugo Boss' stuff and would go straight for those racks in the future because the range is Very Tuxedo) in a weird colour - I couldn't really tell if it was a chocolate brown or murky green, and I'm pretty sure "chocolate green" isn't in any colour wheel outside of a superb acid trip.  Anyway, they looked damn fine when Tux tried them on, and met requirements.  Well, maybe a bit pricier than I'd have liked but I don't mind paying when I'm getting quality and the precisely right item.

We did look for shoes (smart casual brown shoes; not deck shoes or moccasins/slip-ons; very difficult to quantify!) but had zero luck.  Except for the pair of Eccos at $280.00.  Maybe some other time ...

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I've also done a little shopping; mostly the boring toiletries/skin care/make-up kind, but I also bought three nice cheap t-shirts at Sussan (I always get all my t-shirts and pj's there, for some reason) - a white, a pale leafy green and a dark tealy blue.  Very satisfactory, and pretty, and makes a change from the usual All Black rule that totally dominates my wardrobe.

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As for The Wish List, all I can say is it runs eight pages long and includes white-goods, small electrical, computing and technology, cookware and dining, furniture, personal stuff like clothes, jewellery and gadgetry, and CDs, DVDs and books galore.  Some items are most prosaic, eg, bras for me and socks for him, juxtaposed with an Apple G5 for Tuxedo and a white gold and diamond bracelet for me. You can dree-eee-eeam ... 

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