Saturday, June 27, 2009

The Suit: Part 1

Another woman and I once showed up for a ride wearing the same jersey, but rather than laughing about being at a party in the same dress, I was given a hard time for looking so together while she claimed she looked disheveled. I was wearing socks that matched the jersey, my helmet and shoes were the same color.

It started way back in my racing days when my jersey matched the shorts, which matched the socks and gloves. Through the kit we wore, we advertised and represented our shop, our sponsors and our team. For all of them, we had to look good. Since it was the only cycling gear in my drawer, I could reach in knowing that whatever came up in my hand went with anything else that might surface.

I've slowly shaken off many of my racing habits, but the old mantra sticks: you've gotta look good. It's like dressing the part in the corporate world: if you want to move up, wear the suit.

So for me the suit, or matching "kit," is still a must. It's a bit more complicated now, though. My helmet and shades and shoes are a neutral silver, but I can't just grab things from the drawer and come up with a sure match.

I've got red and neon and leopard-print jerseys, and I have cow socks and paisley socks and some with flames; and the brown puppy socks just don't go with the orange sleeveless.

I'm working hard to keep the hyperventilating to a minimum.

- OB count to ten....

6 comments:

Mike J said...

In my opinion the cow or flame socks will go with ANYTHING! My wife would probably disagree though.

WheelDancer said...

You do always look good and the thought you put into it helps but you are blessed with great raw material to begin with.

As for me, it takes real effort to think about all the coordination when I am kitting up but after getting ribbed about my kit being coordinated and matching my bike, perhaps I'm starting to pick it up.

Doozyanner said...

I totally understand! Matching is important. I want a black helmet for the days I wear my comfy fushia and black top. The last time I wore it, everything matched...except the helmet. I left the house feeling a bit off kilter.

Jim said...

Really nice kit pictured here. As for me, I like things to match. I like black shorts, black shoes. I was a hard core white socks guy until they started making them with chili peppers, black anarchy socks, black socks with white trim (Rapha), black socks with red ankles (Smartwool). Black socks go with everything. So, there's my fashion statement for the day!

The Old Bag said...

@MikeJ -- flames with ANYTHING?!

@Wheel -- aw!

@Doozy -- I KNOW WHAT YOU MEAN! My last pair of shoes were silver which gave me a nice balance between shoes and helmet....

@Badger -- I've started going the black sock route myself. For years, I wore white with some graphic because that's what was available...of course they all ended up gray due to riding in bad weather (of course I don't do that so much now!).

Leslie Morgan said...

I've got black socks with red cherries that make the home dudes scream out loud when I arrive at work and stick my foot out of the car. Thanks, Badger.