The last time anyone exclaimed about my clothing I was clad in yellow tights and matching codpiece. That was decades ago when I’d been cast as Ferdinand in a college production of Shakespeare’s “The Tempest.” Think banana man.
People occasionally notice my Kermit the Frog necktie, but they don’t exclaim. They utter nice words – in tones that suggest “On a grown man?!”
My fashion palette trends toward dull and slightly worn. Never actually trendy and certainly seldom remarked upon.
So I wasn’t prepared this week to get a fashion compliment. I initially missed it because it was couched in words as trendy as I am dowdy.
“Nice look. Dripping!”
A student at the college where I teach had spoken. Other students shouted affirmation. (My “outfit,” which I’d donned with less forethought than when brushing my teeth, was jeans and a jeans jacket.)
“What?” I said. “What’d you say?”
“Dripping.”
“Huh?”
“It’s a compliment!”
I texted a Gen Z language expert, Daughter No. 1. Was it really a compliment? I asked.
“Yes haha,” she replied.
So, world. Meet your Fashion Man.
Fabulous, laugh-out-loud video! ” . . . Always knew what the men were thinking!”