Our reading group was doing Hamlet when we came upon Osric, a stooge of the king, whom we concluded, among other faults, was a fop. We then branched into other contemporary examples of "fophood" we could cite. I then thought of other examples of Osric, later after the meeting, that I might have described to the group, one of which was me.
Many years ago the pianist and I went to Maui for the first time of our lives. It seemed so splendid I believed I needed to dress for the occasion in a more appropriate way. I bought a chequered seerssucker jacket, sky blue and white, lemon yellow trousers. a matching woolen lemon yellow tie, white shirts, and blue and white saddle shoes to complement the jacket. I can't remember the socks but they would have been as memorable as the rest of my ensemble. I'm not blaming the salesman at the clothing store and I did blend in with the other gentleman at the time at the old Lahaina luau.
When we returned to Victoria and my first day back to work I thought to wear my Lahaina clothing and came to the hospital for rounds in the morning. I hasten to say that in those days in Medicine in the 60's everyone in practice wore the uniform, dark blue or grey suit, white shirt, drab tie without food on it, black polished shoes, and the suit buttoned up. I had no inkling of the singularity of my garb or the consternation it created given that day, that place and that era. Some whispered I was having a breakdown. My favorite surgical nurse said, " You look like a dressed up Ukrainian." Someone else asked, "What country's flag was the jacket?" Shortly after I retreated back to the house and from then on dressed in dark blue or grey. I wanted to belong. I didn't want to be a fop.
Dressing right I found, is like real estate, location, location, location!
Many years ago the pianist and I went to Maui for the first time of our lives. It seemed so splendid I believed I needed to dress for the occasion in a more appropriate way. I bought a chequered seerssucker jacket, sky blue and white, lemon yellow trousers. a matching woolen lemon yellow tie, white shirts, and blue and white saddle shoes to complement the jacket. I can't remember the socks but they would have been as memorable as the rest of my ensemble. I'm not blaming the salesman at the clothing store and I did blend in with the other gentleman at the time at the old Lahaina luau.
When we returned to Victoria and my first day back to work I thought to wear my Lahaina clothing and came to the hospital for rounds in the morning. I hasten to say that in those days in Medicine in the 60's everyone in practice wore the uniform, dark blue or grey suit, white shirt, drab tie without food on it, black polished shoes, and the suit buttoned up. I had no inkling of the singularity of my garb or the consternation it created given that day, that place and that era. Some whispered I was having a breakdown. My favorite surgical nurse said, " You look like a dressed up Ukrainian." Someone else asked, "What country's flag was the jacket?" Shortly after I retreated back to the house and from then on dressed in dark blue or grey. I wanted to belong. I didn't want to be a fop.
Dressing right I found, is like real estate, location, location, location!
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