I'm a sucker for these

There's a lot about me I've not disclosed on this film blog. No particular reason, other than much of it's not relevant to a film blog. What the fuck, I've spilled my guts on politics and my hatred for John-whatshisname... you know that neo-fascist weasel who lost the last election. You know, the one who wouldn't know the truth if it were a brick and fell on his head. So why not clothes?

As a child, I had many creative interests that boys weren't supposed to have. I loved cooking (got hooked when we made pikelets in prep class), and still do. In fact, I do 99% of the cooking in this household. I loved handcrafts and made mats, a frog-shaped door-stop and a cushion. I remember these, because I still have them (my mum kept them for me, bless her soul).

In my early 30's, I went through some personal transformation and working through some issues discovered I had some abject fears. Like a fear of dancing. This is a deep subject, but I won't go into the psychological aspect. I took up Latin American dancing, and consequently found a dearth of good clothes for men. So I started making my own. I made a lot of clothes over the next few years, and when I sold my transport business in 2000, I considered going into clothing (but didn't).

Colour is important to me, and always has been. I remember as a child how I used to arrange my Smarties in order of the colours of the rainbow. The colours of the rainbow are still important to me, and my wardrobe and sock drawer are a testament to that. I love colour co-ordination and I often compliment people in the street who take the time and care to adorn their bodies as if they were a piece of art (which they can be).

I work in IT and my current workplace is business casual, i.e., ties not required. But I wear them Monday to Thursday, because I love the opportunity to express myself through colour and clothing. Socially, in this country and culture, males don't get anywhere near as much opportunity to express their flair like women, but ties are an acceptable avenue in the workplace. I have a decent size tie collection and as time goes by, I find myself becoming more selective and buying reasonably expensive ties.

I was in Anton's at Melbourne Central on Friday. I hadn't been in there for quite a while and decided to have a quick look. They have outrageously good stuff in this store, which obviously caters to the gay crowd and those a little more adventurous in their tastes. I suppose I'm what you'd call a "heterosexual pooftah". All my life, people figured I must be a poof, because I like things that macho bastards (also known as "real men") intuitively know only pooftahs and women like. Like gardening, cooking, photography, making clothes, art, personal expression, writing, etc. Poofs, as you no doubt know, have no interest in car racing, sport and beer (I'm a modest wine-drinker, again, an obvious sign of a faggot). I was socially bastardised throughout my childhood, something I confronted around the time I also took up dancing (there you go again, another sign of a poof).

Well, back to Anton's. They have a fantastic range of Duchamp ties. For those of you are into more masculine things, Duchamp are to ties what Ferrari is to cars. They are the best looking pieces of silk a guy can wrap around his neck and look respectable in a corporate environment. I bought a couple at DJ's a couple of years ago and seeing the extensive range at Anton's (they just got a shipment in, and they only get two shipments a year, I'm told), I splashed out and bought three of 'em. Yes, three. And they're not cheap. They also had a hanky looking thingy, but not the matching tie (the one pictured above). The lovely lady in the store who delightfully sold me the ties said they'd sold out of this one, but that I should check out Duchamp's website. (Bitch! She didn't even give me a discount on three ties. No, she was lovely, really). I went to the website, saw it, ordered it all the way from the UK just last Friday, and it was in my letterbox when I got home from work today. That's bloody fantastic, isn't it? Ah, ain't life grand.


FWIW, these are the three ties I bought from Anton's. Each of them is truly a piece of art. Had I the money, I could've bought twenty or more. Check out the full current range at Duchamp. These pics don't do them justice. The colours and sheen are just magic. I feel like a million bucks when I have one of these on. And fuck 'em all, I don't care who thinks I'm gay. I wear that as a badge of pride.