Clothes

For a gay guy, I really do not care much what I wear. I try to dress like an ordinary guy my age: Levi jeans, T-shirts (half of which I got for cheap or free while I was in college living in the dorms), etc. Living in the state of Georgia, many guys wear sandals, but I can't stand thong-style sandals; besides that, my feet get cold, so usually I'm in socks and sneakers or occasionally strappy sandals (maybe some people would call these river shoes?).

I've actually been working on changing this some, though. For one, T-shirts are fine when you're a college freshman, but I'm past that part in my life and I feel like I should dress like I care a bit more. So I've been working on getting more polo shirts.

I also got a makeover on television (long story) and they gave me a pair of expensive designer jeans, a funny dress shirt, and some kind of velvet jacket. It looked really cool while I was going to see shows in Hollywood (I told you, it's a long story), but the jacket look is not really good everyday wear.

But, I did learn that nice jeans can look good, and that low-rise jeans are my favorite! I always liked sagging, so wearing low-rise jeans is, like, perfect. Don't get me wrong, a good pair of loose Levis that you've broken in by wearing them for a week are still super comfortable, but low-rise jeans are awesome.

I also did some shopping while I was in Japan last time. I studied abroad there and I really like their style, so I picked up some nice shirts and a bad-ass pair of jeans that you can't find in the U.S. I got a couple T-shirts because they say wacky things, and they're guaranteed to stand out as well as looking more interesting than a plain solid-color American T-shirt. I also got some button-up shirts, which are great because they're tailored for Japanese people, so they fit snugly on me.

That was kind of a surprise, when I realized that small sizes and tight-fitting clothes look better for me. I guess I got used to buying oversized clothes as a teenager when I was still growing and never got out of it. Now I love wearing T-shirts that are on the small side (not too small, otherwise they'll emphasize my growing belly...) and are short enough to reveal things when I stretch.

I still hate clothes shopping, but I'm learning that if I don't want to spend hundreds of dollars changing out my wardrobe, I need to go to stores periodically to shop around for sales.

I'm still never sure how I feel about dressing up. A friend told me that the reason you should dress up is not to impress others, but because if you feel you look good, it increases your confidence, which is really what makes you appealing. Interesting thought. I haven't really spent the time to figure out my own reasoning for when to dress up and when to go casual.