onfocus

I know next to nothing about clothing or style, but I'm learning. I have lived my entire life blissfully unaware that a conversation has been taking place around me that involves clothes. I don't mean conversations about clothes, but with clothes. People have been telling me things about themselves through their clothes and I've been completely oblivious. Through a series of odd events I'm finally starting to pay attention to this conversation.

I'm not a very social person and that's probably why I gravitated to computers. For my work I'm always hunched over a keyboard and monitor at home or in some back room far, far away from the normals. I didn't ever need to learn the difference between business and casual dress because I didn't need anything more than casual. Any time I was required to dress up I felt uncomfortably self conscious. If my own clothing choices even entered my mind they didn't rise above the level of thinking, "I like things from REI." In fact, my personal pinnacle of style has always been a shirt with buttons from REI.

Sometime last May there was a question at Ask MetaFilter (where I work, hunched) that resonated with me: I'd like to learn to dress well and look sharp... but I've got no natural talent for it. Can anybody help me figure out how/where to start? I felt like I could have written that question, or a variation of it, and I enjoyed all of the answers from the more fashion-literate members of the hive mind. I filed that conversation away in the back of my mind and didn't think much more about it.

Around that time I got serious about dropping weight and managed to lose 20 pounds by August. One day I was hunched over my keyboard coding away when Matt said, "You need new clothes." As usual, I hadn't even thought about my clothes or how they were fitting. He was right.

I was all set for a trip to REI when I remembered that Ask MeFi thread and went back to reread. In it, someone recommended a book called Men's Style so I figured it was as good a place as any to start. I picked up a copy thinking it would go directly in the trash. I found myself on a plane with the book in hand but like dressing up, I was embarrassed to read it. I needed a fake Mastering Emacs dust jacket so I could read it without feeling out of place. Men's Style was not perfectly aimed at me, but at least it gave me a sense of how much I don't know. I was fascinated by the history of standard clothing detail that I hadn't noticed before. That's when I got the sense that clothing is an ancient, continuous conversation that I have been missing.

In October, as if tapped into my consciousness, podcast personalities Jesse Thorn and Adam Lisagor started their project Put This On—A Web Series About Dressing Like a Grownup. I finally entered the target market for something style-related. Since then, following their lead, I started tuning into other daily style reads such as A Continuous Lean, Urban Weeds, The Sartorialist, Nerd Boyfriend, Sartorially Inclined, and the impossible cool.

I started 2010 with a new respect for style and I'm starting to make conscious decisions about what to wear. There's nothing wrong with my REI safe-zone, but now I realize there's a world beyond casual hiking clothes. I'm not taking part in the style conversation yet, but at least I'm slowly learning the grammar.

If you're like me you have a toddler in the house. And like me you have come to tolerate at least a few of the big names in children's media such as your Mickey Mice and your Curious Georges. TV is a rare treat in our house, but last week Eddie was sick and we were in survival mode. So we drove to the local media dispensary to purchase a distracting video disc.

I don't know about you, but when I make DVD purchasing decisions I rely on specialists to find quality: the critics. I don't have to watch hundreds of hours of children's programming when the voice of critics can be distilled down to their essence on the DVD packaging itself. And what better review is there than, "A Roller Coaster Ride of a Movie!" Faced with all possible choices, we picked up what the critics lead us to believe was an action packed adventure with Thomas the Tank Engine called The Great Discovery, containing that very blurb at the bottom:



I was looking forward to sharing an afternoon of singing British children and roller coaster-like adventure with my son until I got a closer look at that packaging at home:



You might be thinking, "Oh! I wonder what well-respected children's magazine this critic Topham Hatt writes for?" Let me burst your media bubble: "SIR" TOPHAM HATT IS A CHARACTER IN THE SHOW! It's like quoting Yoda to sell The Phantom Menace: "Like this movie, you will!"

We haven't watched The Great Discovery yet, but I'm sure it'll be just fine. Maybe Sir Topham Hatt keeps his acting hat walled off from his editorial hat. Seems like a fairly blatant conflict of interest to me though.

This site has a new look! I had some rare free time last Sunday morning so I changed the colors and made up a new header image. I haven't been posting much here beyond my delicious bookmarks, but I'm hoping this new look will help motivate me to post more.

Here's roughly how it worked. I started with the Sea of Japan palette at Color Lovers:



Then I flipped through a couple design books and stock art for inspiration. Here are a few that were sources for the new look:




I also stumbled on an antique compass image I liked in a Google Image search. Then I threw all of these into a blender, added Futura, and pow—new header. So thanks to those sites, books, and designers for inspiration. I'm not sure how this will get me blogging again but at least this is a non-automated post.