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25.05.08
Just another day at the office.
24.05.08
Way to leave you on a cliffhanger eh? So the old site is no longer hosting personal web accounts, so Liz informs me. Still, two and a half years of free web hosting with no problems and never going evil counts for something. So now we’re here, which I’m slightly leery about because of how closely it’s tied to work. Ah well, can’t complain, many thanks to Sean, the botany systems manager, for setting this up for me. Let me know if something didn't survive the move.
17.05.08
Warning: self-involved entry follows including minor complaints about being skinny. If this is offensive to you, skip it.
There comes a time in a man’s life when he needs a suit. High school graduation is one of these times. In my case, my Dad sprung a surprise visit to a local men’s clothier on me. I ended up being shanghaied (it’s a pun, you’ll get it later) into a navy blue pinstripe number at least a size too big with pleated, tapered pants, which were cuffed when I was wearing the wrong shoes.
Since then, suit shopping has carried the bitter tang of parental pressure combined with the feeling of wearing someone else’s clothes. In my case, that someone was a short, overweight grunt of a man likely stuck in middle management in the bowels of a beige and bloated office.
Fast forward to the present day; now is the time when some of my friends and colleagues are taking that long plunge known as marriage. This summer, my family is also celebrating my paternal Grandmother’s 90th birthday. Formal attire is required and I’d rather be wearing something I actually like.
A few months ago, I grabbed a friend and headed downtown to find a basic black suit. Now, I’m not an easy person to fit (at least in North America); I’m reasonably tall and if I gained 20 pounds, I’d still have a low BMI. Department stores don’t even carry my size. Some places will have pants with my waist size, but they assume my legs end several inches before they actually do. Nevertheless, we hit the more forward looking retailers and scoured the racks for the smallest sizes available. In the case of one store, the smallest size was a 38. We met a very nice saleswoman who helped me try it on and agreed that they really couldn’t help me.
We proceeded to the next venue, and again, the smallest size was a 38. For kicks, I tried on the jacket; the result was laughable, I was a shapeless black box with a tiny head. “It fits you perfectly” enthused the saleswoman. We left pretty quickly.
Eventually we made it to a store where I had previously found a dress shirt that fit. Hoping that lightning could strike twice, we managed to turn up a lone 36 with pants that were only one size too large (grasping at straws, I know). I tried everything on and it didn’t look horrible. The salesman was very diplomatic; his comment was that “the sleeve length is perfect”. It was the best we had found so far, and after reviewing their return policy I ended up buying it just in case nothing better came along; mid $300s for a wool/poly blend.
The next weekend I planned a trip into deep suburbia to hit that international clothing giant that has just fledged into our fair city. It’s a novel experience for me to be in a store where the clothes actually fit. I found a few size 34 jackets, and one with matching pants in my size. Seeing as how I’d have to line up to try them on (gee, think there’s demand for more stores?), I grabbed a few other things and awaited my turn. I got into my white cube eventually, and everything fit well. The only catch was that all the suits in the store were pure polyester. In the battle of fit vs. quality, I’d say fit wins: a badly fitting suit is never going to look good on you, no matter where you are or how well it’s made, but cheap suits are the reason for low lighting levels in restaurants everywhere. If nothing else, that 36 I had at home was going to be returned. I, however, still had an ace up my (not-as-of-yet-existent) sleeve. I did not buy the polyester suit, though I did drop some cash on stuff I didn’t need but suddenly couldn’t live without.
To be continued… Will I find a suit? Will I pay retail? Is anyone still reading?
05.05.08
Microsoft keeps sending stuff to my hotmail account. I keep marking it as spam, thinking they'll get the hint, but they never do.
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