FROM G TO GENT?

Blame it on disinterest, ignorance or a nonexistent sense of style, but I’ve never been huge on fashion. Let me rephrase that – I’m rather simple when it comes to my outward appearance. Give me a couple of pairs of jeans, a few pairs of sneakers and a gazillion T-shirts and I’m happy. And that’s pretty much what my wardrobe consists of.

[The few that have been to my room find it amusing that I have a rather strange quirk – my T-shirts have to be hung by color: the blacks first, then the blues, then the grays, and the rest after. Don’t know where this Monk-like anomaly came from.]

Growing up, I never wore any fancy stuff. Most of what I wore were hand-me-downs from my elder brothers. I never minded it. After all, there were kids I went to school with that didn’t even have any shoes. That made me feel rotten and over-privileged so I devised this plan to leave my shoes in the bushes by the gate when I left for school, and slipped them back on before I got to the house.
When I got to high school my sister got me my first pair of sneakers, and it caused quite a stir in my household. My Dad, especially, was incredulous that the pair had cost KSH800. He said, and I quote, that he’d never worn anything that cost that much and never would. [This statement was deemed untrue some years later, when he started doing better. But that’s another story]

Fast forward some years later. I loved baggy clothes. I mean, it was ridiculous – I had this one pair of shorts so long they went down mid-shin, I kid you not. The Ts I wore on the regular went down almost to the knees, and I had an obsession with hats, the NFL/NBA fitted kind. I also had a fetish for sweat-bands, wrist bands and socks, all emblazoned with sportswear logos. In short, I was a walking advertisement for Nike and Reebok. But then again, I was obsessed with anything basketball so hey, it was quite OK.

Then everything changed. My stint with overpriced sportswear vanished; I suddenly became disinterested in all that. I pulled a Luda, an A.I., and effectively extended the weekly visits to the barbershop to tri-weekly. The oversize clothes were eventually replaced by ones that actually fit. I couldn't anymore justify spending $180 for a pair of Jordans when a comparable pair of Reeboks [my favorite shoe brand, by far] went for half as much. Why buy a $30 T-shirt just because Nike has its logo on it? Maybe it was the growing up, or maybe it was financial constraints that forced me to trim the pork off my budget, but that's how it all started. Now I look at my myself in the mirror and the reflection is uncomfortably [not] reminiscent of Lupe Fiasco's or a watered-down version of Kanyeazy.

I didn't realize how different it was until last year when my girl Jo, whom I hadn't seen in like 5 years, couldn't help but wonder what my evil twin had done with me coz she couldn't believe it was I, much to my amusement. She was like: >D with jeans that actually fit? I can't get over it! [In retrospect, maybe that wasn't a compliment - lol!]

More to the point, I'm not mandated to dress up for work since I work behind the scenes and rarely meet up with customers but today, I'm [voluntarily] wearing a collared shirt here at work! Hot damn, what's happening to me?!


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Hip-hop quote of the day:

His man called, said "Your time might be now
They played your freestyle over Wipe Me Down
They played it two times, said it might be crowned
As the best thing out the H-Town in a while"
He picked up his son with a great big smile
Rapped every single word to the newborn child...

Lupe Fiasco in Hip Hop Saved My Life