Saturday, May 3, 2008

Dodos and peacocks


Looking at the wonderful Sartorialist blog got me thinking about - surprise! - clothes. A few years ago, an Emporio Armani outlet opened in Glasgow. Then, and now I think, the only one in Scotland. Of all designers, I find Armani's work the most consistently beautiful, and have for a long time yearned for an Armani suit...dark blue, fluid, no embellishments, trousers not skirt. To be worn with sleek hair and minimal make-up. I vowed not to enter the Glasgow shop until I had enough money to buy one. I still haven't been in the shop, although I've probably been in a position once or twice since I began working to fulfil my dream. It's not that I've given up on the dream; more that my life didn't turn out in a way that would allow an Armani suit space to shine...or glow subtly and beautifully. I do a job that means that it would simply look odd to gad about the place in an expensive suit...I manage no one, I'm at the bottom of the ladder. The only meetings I go to I'm merely a silent participant at the table. There's a sort of unwritten rule that I must remain semi-invisible. You might think a dark blue Armani suit would blend in well - it's hardly a garish Versace number - but I know the way people dress at my work, and it's for the most part dowdy and low key. And at the moment, I'm too self-conscious about my body shape to shine.