Steve's Fashion None-Sense

In Bev's blog, she answered a bunch of questions about fashion, so I thought I'd do the same.

1. Do you read articles about/ads for clothes?

Never. I'm a bad gay. When the movie "The Devil Wears Prada" came out, my first question was, "What's a Prada?" Sounds like something for chapped lips. I do, however, watch Project Runway.

2. Do you have a favorite brand or designer?

I don't think I've ever looked at a label in my life. I see a shirt I like. I get it. For a long time, I was into plaid shirts because that's what the guys in Creedence Clearwater used to wear. Lately, now that I'm becoming a theatuh person, I've been leaning towards just wearing plain black. I like black. Like Johnny Cash.

3. Do you have more than a dozen pairs of shoes?

I have one pair of shoes. One. They were prescribed to me by my foot doctor who has put special inserts into them because I'm diabetic. Yes. Diabetic shoes. They are black tennis shoes or trainers. I wear them while running. I wear them with my patched-together tuxedo. I wear them to the theatre. They are worn out and my new ones are three months late because they keep delivering the wrong size.

4. Do you wear clothes until they're worn out?

Yes. Or until I'm sick of looking at them.

5. Do you shop in used clothing shops?

I buy gym shirts in used clothing stores. I work out or run in t-shirts with cut-off sleeves. So when I find them at Goodwill, I buy them for a dollar apiece.

6. Do you remember clothes from your youth?

I remember buying fancy clothes one time in my life. It was the summer after college. I was hired to be the musical director for a big Baptist church in Dallas. They gave me money to buy clothing. It being the early 70s and me knowing nothing about clothing, I went to the store and bought the most mod, bizarrely striped, clothes on the rack, including high heel shoes and boots. I looked like a circus act from a Beatles cartoon walking down the aisle. And I was so proud of my fashion sense. I now shudder at the memory.

7. Would you like more expensive clothes than you now feel you can?

Now that I've been watching Project Runway, I actually have been peering at some of the expensive clothes I see on the fashion pages. I have a strange body shape in that my waist is very long and my legs not as long as they look. Off-the-rack clothes only fit until I wear them unless I buy one size larger (in long sleeve shirts). So, I think I would enjoy clothing that were tailored to my body. I'd still only go for plain and mostly unadorned. I don't even like wearing a pocket handkerchief with a suit, feeling that it looks too foppy. I like very clean, plain clothes in dark hues.

8. Do you feel you have a color that flatters you or makes you feel more comfortable?

Midnight blue. Back nine years ago, the producer of The Last Session bought me a suit for the opening night party. I chose a midnight blue suit because, once, long ago, I had my "seasons" done and they told me I was a "summer" and that I should wear blues and turquoises and burgundies. So, since I believe everything anyone tells me, that's my color palette.

Oh, and I still have that midnight blue suit. It's still the only suit I own and the only suit I wear.

9. Does it bother you if the people you are with don't seem to be dressed appropriately?

I never notice what anyone else is wearing until someone calls attention to it. Again, bad gay.

10. Do you watch awards shows to see what the stars are wearing?

Of course. But I only remember what they're wearing as I'm looking at them. After they move on, their costumes slip from my memory. If someone asked ME to design a gown from scratch, I'd be completely and totally lost.