My History with Plaid Shirts

People who went to school with me may recognize the plaid shirt I'm wearing in this picture. It kick started my thing for plaid, and set the bar for at least five colors in every pattern I own. It all goes back to the CCS free catalogs I used to get in the mail in junior high. They featured a lot of flannel button-downs for skaters who were either riffing on the preppy look or being influenced by SoCal cholos (lowriders). I tried to cop the style without buying the brand names. I went to K-Mart for cheap plaid shirts and khaki pants, but when I wore them to school, people told me I was dressed like an old man. Maybe I should have gone baggier, but it was obvious I didn't look like a skater, a prep, or a cholo. Rather than start over shopping for clothes, I decided to run with it - my new "old man style." I started wearing plaid shirts everyday, I raided my dad's closet for jackets, and I asked for thick, wool, plaid ties as gifts. Later on, I started wearing mismatched socks with brown saddle shoes and flat/paddy caps. To this day, people at work still expect to see me come in every day in a plaid shirt, and when I deviate, I hear about it immediately. I could be known best as the guy with two different-colored eyes, but I prefer to be known for something that I have some say in.