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September 10, 2005
Ode to...
To find the best fashion, travel to Milan, Paris, Tokyo, Montreal, New York or London. For those that prefer more unique, cheaper bargains, consignment shops do the trick. I have a favorite back in flat, cold Rochester, where winter lasts six dreary months. While many decide to stay at home, I brave the city sidewalks freshly sprinkled with salt. I am able to find the beauty in Rochester, after all, there are unique stores, alleyways, cafés, bookstores and interesting buildings only if one looks hard enough. Needless to say, I love the smell of fashion in the winter.
I am always prepared for a hunt. My well-trained eyes scan the disorganized racks, while my fingers pull and tug at the stiff and starchy fabric. The clothes are used, and lonely. They long for a home, hoping that their personality (fit, color, pattern) strikes me enough to take them home. After endless searching in the musk-doused store, I feel ready to leave. Nothing’s caught my attention. But, a good hunter must know when to go with her gut. Although tired, and ready to brave the roads back home, I felt as if there was something…just waiting to be found.
You’re a worn shade of black, yet soft to the touch due to frequent washings. The taste of experience is embodied in every fiber. You smell wise, because you’ve been places. Even as a children’s shirt, you fit well, seeming to cover my most worrisome areas. The yellow logo, although not as bold as I imagine it once was, is a universal sign, and a welcome to all. The sweet smell lingers in the cotton and always brings me back…
I wore you to a harbor of some sort. The sailboats were beautiful and the taste of the sun and salt water lingered in the air. The breeze from the wind felt nice on my semi-tan back. I remember how my hair was curling up and forming Shirley Temple-like patterns at the top of my forehead. I wondered if the sun lotion I slathered on made me look greasy. But I know it did. The first time I ever wore it, I wasn’t expecting the reaction I got. You were plain and worn, but I know I never loved something so much as I loved you in that moment. The man made me laugh, and I grinned the sheepish smile that I always pull out in times of irony. I spoke an Americanized “thank-you” like never before.
An ode to you, thank you for setting me free. No T-shirt could ever compare.
Posted by lcissearls at September 10, 2005 10:28 AM
Comments
Hey,
I really liked your ode, especially the way you wrote it. It's so easy to read this because everything sort of flows together. I had trouble using all of my senses to describe what I wrote about, but I liked how you went back to a memory you had with the shirt and then described the memory in detail. I didn't think to do that in my ode, but it's a good way to get some more description in there like we were supposed to. I just have a question about the shirt, you said that there's a yellow logo on it and that the logo is a universal sign and a welcome to all. What exactly is the logo? I'm trying to figure it out, but I don't really have any clue...
Posted by: Brenna S. at September 11, 2005 02:59 PM
you may laugh.. but batman.
Posted by: Lauren Searls at September 11, 2005 10:02 PM
yup! I guessed it....that Batman logo! hope you will wear it to class one day
;-)
Posted by: Ellen at September 15, 2005 02:41 PM