Local geek attacked by fashion... Film at 11.

Hehe. So because of my promotion I've decided that I need to start dressing a little more respectably. When I started out at MUSD, they asked me to wear polos/collared shirts. I complied for a long time, got some Dickies work shirts and put patches on them so I could obey the letter of the law, if not the spirit. Then I bought a couple T-shirts from Think Geek and started wearing them. One said "You read my t-shirt. That's enough social interaction for one day." The other said "i > u". I got some amused responses from my bosses and wasn't told I couldn't wear them, so I started buying spiffy t-shirts all over the place. Enter the fateful "WTF?" shirt. Wore that to work one day, got my first "verbal warning". Yeah, apparently my boss knew that didn't stand for "Where's The Fun?" He said that all the kids at the high schools knew what it meant and that it was clearly inappropriate. Makes sense since that is one of the only shirts I got compliments on from students. So I reevaluated the image I was putting forth to students, teachers, and staff. I realized that while I may look like your typical "techie", I did not look the part of a System Administrator which will be my new title come July 1. Since it means almost a three dollar-an-hour raise, I figure I might need to dress to impress.

So I went shopping. A good chunk of change later and I think I am ready. I say "good chunk" but most of what I got was on sale for $7 a shirt. Yay for sales. It all started when I went with my wife to get a polo for an important meeting with some folks from Apple and the superintendent of the district. I wanted one of the polyester golf shirts since I am tired of the cotton shrinking all the damn time. One look and the wife says no. Not only no, but hell no. So I am wandering around the mens department and my wife comes up with some rather... homosexual... looking shirts. She sees my look of concern and goes "before you say anything, try them on". Needless to say I was rather dubious. I'll be damned if they didn't look fantastic. I guess it was strange for me to be wearing "color" (most of my shirts are black or dark blue). One of these was a bright blue with white pinstripes, the other gray with white stripes. I bought both and thought that would be the end of it.

I went to work the next day in the bright blue one with the sleeves rolled up a quarter of the way tucked into regular blue jeans. I had probably half a dozen people comment on how nice I looked. My boss even said "Wow, you clean up nice! What's the occasion?" I wasn't sure how to take that. Did I really look that nice or did I just normally look like shit so even the smallest effort stands out? That decided it for me. Come July 1, no more T-shirts at work unless I am doing something dirty (moving PCs, hauling stuff around, etc). I went back to the store and went nuts. I now have the original two, another blue w/ white stripes (different than the other one, not as bright); a pink and a yellow shirt, both also with white pinstripes; a pastel purple and a tea green (both with ties) and a pale blue shirt. All are long-sleeve oxfords that I will be rolling up and either tucking in or not depending on my mood. I was IMing one of the girls at work telling her I had clothes with color and she goes "The day you buy a yellow shirt is the day the world will end." I actually had to take a picture of them hanging in my closet and send it to her to prove it. After she looks at the pic she goes "OMG!!! Is that one next to it PINK?!?!?" Hehe. I am amused. I may look metro, but at least I won't have people falling down in shock over my dressing up once or twice.