My Calendar Will Need Forgiven
When I was 15 y/old I started working retail. It was a good job, and it taught me many useful tools. My first job was at Loehmann’s department store. There I would learn marvelous clothes that could transform you into any way you desired to be perceived.
If I wore a silk Oleg Cassini with wide leg silk slacks and a simple gold chain on my wrist and one for my neck I was no longer that awkward 15 y/old girl. I was powerful and I flowed above the ground when I walked. If I wore a Calvin Klein jean jacket, an olive Fendi top, and jeans that accentuated my full rear end I was a well put together powerhouse. In my mind at least. I figured out this disguise and manipulation of appearance very quickly. At 15, I got that my outward appearance could affect how I was treated by adults. I got that I could transform into anyone and fit in and manipulate. I didn’t work for commission, but I did work for recognition. When the women who came in intending to spend significant amounts of money I wanted them to request this 15 year old over everyone else. I’ve always been a fast learner and this goal didn’t take long.
My manager Mr. Evans, my purist inspiration was the first gay man I had ever met. I honestly don’t think I knew the word gay previous. He bought dresses for his mother in a size that was 10 sizes bigger than the mother he introduced to me. The disguise. Monday through Friday his suit and tie with shiny shoes was a powerful man and the dresses he brought home were unforgivingly fierce.
My mother had zero fashion sense, she never wore make-up, and she saw no reason to help me out in those areas. Mr. Evans, however, lovingly taught me how to be whomever I wanted or needed to be on the outside and we thrived.