It’s been ages since I got new clothes. I think I’ve probably got as much as I want in my wardrobe now. Maybe I’ve found my ‘look’ and I’m happy with it? Or maybe I’m not going out as much as I used to, and now I can just re-use my old favourites? (It’s always a huge relief to find I can still fit into a dress I bought four or five years ago…)
When I first started building up my wardrobe (after deciding what clothes and footwear to go for), I just went with my girlfriend and built up a modest stock of cheap underwear and basic skirts and tops from local shops. For solo shopping trips, I’d go to shops on the other side of town where there was no chance of bumping into anyone I knew. (The easiest trips were to fancy dress shops – it’s not like you have to explain yourself…)
One of my earliest and favourite purchases.
I’ve always been determined to work within a strict budget – so a large part of Twist’s wardrobe comes from second-hand charity shops. These tend to be slightly opportunistic or impulsive purchases – I’ll see something on a mannequin and think “Hell, yes!” and (assuming it’s about the right size) buy it because if it doesn’t work out, at least I haven’t blown vast amounts of money on it. More often than not, I have a ‘look’ in mind and scout around seeing if there’s anything that comes vaguely close to it.
You never know quite who’s going to be behind the till. On an early venture, I spied a slinky dress in a window that was perfect, and went inside. It was packed with little old ladies rummaging through winter coats, but I apologised my way through the crowd to the cashier and told her I wanted to buy That Dress in the window. She had a mischievous look in her eye.
She opened up the display and shouted back to me, “IS THIS THE DRESS YOU WANT, SIR?”
I was damned if I was going to let her try to out-sass me or try to make me feel foolish, even in guy mode. So I shouted back with a cheery smile and a thumbs-up.
“YEP! THAT’S THE ONE! IT’S JUST MY SIZE!”
I don’t think anyone else in the shop was paying the slightest attention to either of us.
The zipper on this dress was… eh, ‘flying low’…
On another occasion I was looking for a vintage 60’s-style dress for a photoshoot (the one in the old fashioned airliner; apart from having to avoid a children’s party, that shoot passed without incident and the photos can be seen sprinkled throughout the gallery).
I found exactly what I was after in a charity shop in a very genteel, prim, proper part of town. The sweet little old lady (Edinburgh’s second-hand shops contain no other sort) behind the till struck me as the kind of woman who was probably schooled by Miss Jean Brodie.
She rung it up and said, “There you are sir, one ladies’ dress.”
And I got to use the Eddie Izzard line, “It’s not a ladies’ dress – it’s mine!”
I thanked her and packed it into my bag. She just blinked, speechless. I think I was a bit too modern for her tastes.
(It turned out the dress was too small, so I had to figure out how to pose without showing the gaping zipper at the side.)
When it comes to charity shops, I go for the secular ones – health, animal welfare, and social support. The only shop I refuse to donate to or buy from on principle is the Salvation Army (because it’s just not a very nice organisation).
Splashing out…
I have splashed out occasionally. On a trip to Orlando five years back, we got an idea of the political divide between two stores.
The first was an upmarket dress shop; lots of stuff I’d love to have tried out, but the sales assistant was a middle-aged woman with big hair who struck me as the type who was Afraid Of Change and would vote accordingly.
She asked my girlfriend if she was interested in anything.
“Nah, we’re here for him.”
The saleslady laughed politely.
“No, seriously, it’s for me. I like to rock a dress from time to time,” I told her.
“Well, you don’t seem the type!”
“Don’t I? Damn. I’ll have to try harder.”
Uncertainty crossed her eyes.
“Let me know if you see anything you like,” she told my girlfriend, and left us alone. We departed about five seconds afterwards.
Instead, I found a couple of slinky purple dresses – one sparkly, one not – in American Apparel. I’m guessing it was a couple of college kids running the shop, and they were totally fine with me buying dresses. Kids today, huh?
Got milk?
Personally, I try not to buy stuff online – I like to actually see what the hell I’m getting first – but last year I succumbed to the temptations of a sale at Black Milk. Their range is of the tight’n’stretchy variety, so It takes a bit of dietary punishment to wear them confidently. I could go nuts clicking on purchases, but then a little voice has to restrain me: just when, precisely, do intend to wear a PVC skater dress?
Sometimes, the idea of wearing something is far better than the reality of it.
Miss Twist speaks her brains 