Does This Cap Go With My Shirt?

I’m never, ever, ever wearing black socks with sandals. I may be old but I’m not that old.

          Of course my lovely wife would say, “Oh, don’t bet on it.”

          I will admit though one of aging’s perks is worrying less about fashion. Ellen hasn’t arrived there yet. She still worries … about me … and my fashion statements … in public.

          Back in early June, I had a book signing at our local library. Twenty folks came down the stairs to the basement conference room to hear me speak about a writer’s life in general and about writing Dark Eyes, Deep Eyes in particular.

          Ellen didn’t attend because she was doing her children’s librarian thing. That didn’t keep her from checking up on what was happening.

She walked into the room, looked at me, turned to the audience, and said, “I didn’t dress him.”

She offers that disclaimer often … at the library … at church … while visiting friends … to strangers at Walmart.

And I offer no apology.

After all, I’m old.

And I don’t care.

Now I’m not saying I don’t care a spit about what I wear.

I do.

But my worries deal almost exclusively with cap selection. I would never wear a red cap with an orange shirt. Or a New York Giant cap with … anything!

Here are some things I’ve learned about fashion for the elderly.

Goodwill works for you. Some of my favorite shirts (including the one I’m wearing now as I write this) had their start in big name, fancy clothing stores. But I discovered them in the men’s clothing aisle of Goodwill.

Go bolder as you get older. I’d say this holds true for me but then I look at what I wore in the sixties and seventies (Can we say, “Leisure suits and Nehru jackets?”) and know I’m only returning to my early fashion roots. Nonetheless I find myself attracted to a colorful Hawaiian shirt or two.

Comfort is your priority. Shorts and sandals to church? You betcha. Black socks and tennis shoes? Why not?

But note sandals with shorts and black socks with tennis shoes. I’m not about to wear black socks with sandals.

After all …

I’m still not that old.
ABOUT T. NEAL TARVER

T. Neal Tarver, a native Texan living in Wisconsin, has served churches in Texas and Wisconsin. He, his wife Ellen, and son Daniel lived and worked for three years as missionaries in the Russian Far East. Tom speaks enough Russian to both converse and confuse.
In 2011, Tom was selected as a semi-finalist in the American Christian Fiction Writers’ Genesis contest. He’s also been a two-time winner of MBT’s “Make Every Word Count Flash Fiction” contest. His debut novel, Dark Eyes, Deep Eyes, is available through WestBow Press, Amazon, BARNES & NOBLE, and other retail outlets.
He currently writes from his home in Richland Center, Wisconsin, or from wherever his travels take him. He posts articles weekly at A Curious Band of Others.
Tom has spoken in churches across America, and in Europe, Asia, and the Middle East.