The
Old Coot saved “Old Blue.”
By
Merlin Lessler
My
favorite shirt is 38 years old. A blue, oxford cloth, button down collar
specimen. It’s an old timer, like me. In fact, we’re the same age if you
reverse the numbers. The main issue with it is a frayed collar; it’s officially
not allowed out in public. I’ve tried, but didn’t get away with it. Even when I
used some blue painter’s tape to cover the fray. The problem is, my wife has an
eagle eye. So, Old Blue is under house arrest and in “work shirt” status. If
I’m not careful, that will be my status as well. The shirt and I have history. It
went to work with me, on vacation, to parties and once to an opera, which neither
of us got much out of.
,It
was a Tommy Hilfiger creation; I purchased it in his outlet store run by his
sister in Elmira, New York. As far as I know, it was the only outlet that sold
his high end clothes at bargain basement prices. Probably, because Elmira was
his home town and he wanted to share his fashions with the local people. He put
Elmira on the map as did Mark Twain, who wrote Tom Sawyer, Huck Finn and other
books in a cabin on his wife’s sister’s farm where he summered for many years. The
cabin now resides on the campus at Elmira College; he resides nearby, with his
wife, in Woodlawn Cemetery.
All
of us old coots have some favorite old clothes, hidden in the back of our
closets. The ones we’ve saved from donations to thrift stores or town dumps. I
miss those clothes that were sacrificed in that manner, but having Old Blue
still with me makes up for it. Thanks Tommy, for 38 great years.
Comments?
Complaints? Send to the paper or to
mlessler7@gmail.com
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