Middle steps in with some sartorial advice
With Youngest Child at Other Parent’s I’m at a loss for sartorial advice. It doesn’t really matter what I wear on my night out but it’s someone’s birthday and my usual putting-the-bins-out “athleisure” wear (Youngest’s perished gym leggings and a boys’ comfy hoodie) won’t cut it.
Eldest is at work and as he tends to the flamboyant/stagewear end of the spectrum – someone’s mum’s sparkly jacket, western shirts with fringing – maybe that’s just as well since I’m not Studio 54-bound.
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Hide AdMiddle is home though, and he has a good eye, even if his own style favours faded boardies and much loved T-shirts so peppered with holes he looks like he spends the weekends beating for well-oiled grouse shooters.
“Does this look OK?” I ask him as he passes my room.
“Yep.”
“Jeans, top, jacket, boots... simple, but smart-ish enough?”
“Yes, it’s fine, cool in fact. But…”
“What? Aw no, is it “too prison” as Youngest says, along with ”too black” and “bleugh, shapeless”, what is it?”
“No, no, looks good, just needs something to finish it off,” he says and races off to his room before reappearing with...
“This.” He rams a black knitted beanie on my head, pulls it down over my ears and out, lets it snap back snugly, then turns up a very deep, ribbed rim.
“Cool,” he says.
“Compo,” I say.
I should have known. Middle’s clothes may be more practical than peacock but when it comes to hats he’s the tops – baseball, beanies, bakerboys and that’s just the Bs, in a collection that ranges from practical to performance, akubra to fez
“That’s The Look,” he says. “It’s a now look. It’s a kind of… what is it... what’s the word... you know those guys that… hmmm. It’s a look I really like... I think it’s very cool... Practical, smart, it’s what I think I look like when I wear that hat.”
“I have no idea,” I say, but am intrigued by the workings of Middle’s mind.
“Lighthouse keepers! It’s lighthouse keeper cool. It’s a great look. Very now. Very popular. What? What?”