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Saturday, May 1, 2010

The Right Shoes for the Job


I worked most of the day today. I work at a Fred Meyer, and for those of you who don't know what that is, it's basically a high end Target with groceries, a glorified Wal-Mart SuperCenter if you will. It follows the philosophy of one-stop-shopping, effectively meaning that if you're looking for it, we probably don't have it. I've worked there for a little over 2 months now and I think I've figured out what I like least about it. The uniform. The uniform always seems to make my job worse. As a dapper fellow I like to look the part. I cannot do that in a ratty polo shirt. Seriously. Not only is it a polo shirt, but it's worse than old navy quality. If i didn't know better I'd say it actually was made of rat fur. Or nutria.
When it gets right down to it, because it's a job that requires me to spend a lot of time up and about, the only choice I get in my attire are my shoes. So I wear my black converse with red laces to show my individuality. Because no one wears converse... But that brought a thought to my head. And that is about shoes. This is not a full-fledged post about the kinds of shoes you should keep an eye out for. But I realized that the right pair of shoes can make the difference between looking dapper and dashing. To clarify: dashing is business-like, professional, James Bond. Dapper is pleasant, dapper is Doctor Who, dapper is
a person whom you would like to get to know. Because when I wear converse with my suit, I am no longer the unapproachable gentleman who makes too much money (believe me I don't), I am quirky. That is something to consider when selecting your ensemble, your shoes can completely set the mood. So while your leather wingtips are fantastic and should be worn as often as possible, remember that you're going to look rather dashing in those and your nice suit, whereas you'll look fun in your tennis shoes and Dolce & Gabbana cashmere affair. Oh, lord if only. Oh um, dapper as hell. (I've been saying that at the end of every post, why stop now?)


7 comments:

  1. Ugh that's one thing I always hated about some retail stores is the uniform.Dress codes in general...given you have to have dress codes sometimes because there are those horrid people that just don't care and would show up to work in pajamas if given the chance but for us that do care about our appearance its insulting.I remember one place I worked at we had to wear all black which wasn't too bad but then they also made me cover my forearm tattoo,on hot days I'd have to wear a bandage...so bandage and all black,yep looked like I was depressed and suicidal!Haha!

    Apparently my tattoo is more offensive then people thinking I tried to kill myself.Which is exactly what customers would ask me all the time when I wore it.

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  2. Oh I know how that goes. My old job you couldn't have forearm tattoos so this guy put a bunch of ace bandage wrap around his arms and told everyone he was in a car accident. After about 4 months management asked him to take the bandages off and he was fired. It was a really dumb thing to get fired for.

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  3. I've worked retail before and I hated the dress code too. :( It really wears on the soul to have to wear the same boring, bad quality clothing day after day. I always wear skirts anyway, so I took to wearing crazy mismatched knee socks to work every day. It was fun and I got a lot of comments from co-workers and customers. Although I did have one customer complain to management about it...lucky for me my managers just thought it was funny. My sisters both wore converse with crazy laces too at their retail jobs. It's the little details that can help. :)

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  4. My husband is a fashion nut. He loves the fashion on Doctor Who (classic and new Dr. Who - because we're old fans and Dr. Who nerds, both raised on it since the 80s). Have you seen the new episodes that came out in the UK for Doctor Who with matt smith? His outfits are also very "dapper".

    Keep up with the great blogs. I read all of them. It also saddens me when men become mainly a bit slobbish after they marry. haha. My husband is actually in a suit as I type this (making himself coffee) which is how he dresses pretty much every day.
    I posted a blog entry from Easter time of how he dresses normally. He has a blog he plans on restarting too, perhaps you could get along with him. anyway, for now. .
    http://tiedemanntribe.blogspot.com/2010/04/easter-outfit.html is the entry.

    +Victoria+

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  5. Oh yes Matt Smith is fantastic, I love the bow tie. I am very impressed with him so far.

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  6. Victoria your husband is such a dapper dresser!

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  7. The only problem with converse is the complete lack of support. For people like Sam, that is ok, as he weighs as much as one of my feet. I, however, am a bit larger (buff as hell, I think!) and have found that adding gel inserts can make cons livable for at least 4 or 5 hours.
    At least you dont wear a filthy, orange apron as your uniform...

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