On Saturday I found myself in a large department store in Glasgow. I was there to purchase a shirt, possibly two, to get me through the endless round of Christmas nights out, lunches and whatnot that will inevitably start to pile up towards the end of the year.
So I was looking for the smart/casual combination and as I wandered round I started to realise that I’m not style and, frankly dear reader, I never have been.
Don’t get me wrong, growing up I succumbed to the fashion senses of the day, I had a plastic, neon orange belt, neon pink and yellow socks (always worn with one colour on one foot, the other on the other), and the tartan effect jeans to go with them. I had a hypercolour t-shirt, a brightly coloured ski-jacket. Hell I even had a shellsuit at one point.
However even within the strict confines of school age fashion, I always tried to steer away from the norm and I guess it was back then that I discovered my own style.
Which is to say that I don’t really have one, other than that I won’t blindly follow what other people think look good, instead I’ll wear what I think looks good.
However, not having your own style leads to problems if, like me, you take cues from a variety of sources. This approach finds me in Converse skate shoes, jeans and an “independent” t-shirt one moment, and the next in brown leather slip-ons, dark jeans and a John Rocha shirt.
And it’s not that I mind this so much, I’m not style icon but I’m comfortable in what I wear, but I do look on at others with a distinct style with some envy. Walking around the West End of Glasgow (firmly in student land) confirmed just that, so many people with a strong sense of their own style, and there I sat feeling quite the middle-class corporate whore.
Perhaps it’s not envy of their style from which I suffer, but more the desire to make sure I’m not just another middle of the road person, that I too can make my mark.
I dunno.
Regardless I found myself circling the various departments and trying to make sure I bought things because I like them, and to hell with what anyone else things.
After all, I may not be stylish, but I do have style.