Blazers!

I accomplished one of the things on my 21-year-old list ‘o planned accomplishments (“bucket list” makes me want to gag)! Thanks to Ousmane, my previously-mentioned and super-awesome tailor, I now have what is—as far as I’m concerned—the perfect blue blazer. Why?

1. It’s wool with silk lining, meaning that it’s quite warm and I won’t be tempted to machine wash it. Plus, natural fibers.

2. It actually fits my weirdly-hunchy shoulders. Also my chest. Also my waist. Also all of me, he is magic. (I was discussing the tailor with someone yesterday and we decided that most of our delight with his work comes from the “I gave him something flat and he made it something three-dimemsional!” shock. Every time, this man.)

3. He interfaced the back collar so it stands up and doesn’t do the cheap jacket thing where it rolls under and dies. (I know that cheap jackets do this because all of mine do.)

4. He made me a matching pencil skirt that manages to be very pencily while still making me look like a banker, which is really truly what I was going for. This is a job interview suit. (I realize that everywhere I want to work has its employees in cargo pants most of the time. I just want to continue being overdressed, all the time, everywhere.)

5. Owning this article of clothing allowed me to send an email entitled “Getting Blaze(re)d.” The fact that my judgment is such that I sent my parents the weed/menswear punned email is beside the point!

I was talking to a friend yesterday (who right this moment is traveling through Prague, the lucky duck) about living here and the simultaneous very coolness and overwhelming weird emotions, and she—because she is lovely—pointed out that I live in a place where I can get a wool suit made to fit me for $40.

“Emily,” she said, “There is no one else I know who will take advantage of that like you.”

She is correct on that front. This place is a lovely way to feed both my enthusiasm for cheap clothing and my enthusiasm for good clothing. (Even my enthusiasm for fast clothing—I have successfully beaten the engineer’s triangle.)

So that was a good realization.

Also, I realize I have not linked to another human soul on this thing in some time. So!

• Do you enjoy art? Do you enjoy travel? If so, go read my aunt’s blog on working as a professional artist during extended travel abroad.
• Would you enjoy more writing about Dakar, but with a male protagonist, pretty photos, and an easier reblog system? Then check out my fellow program student’s blog. He says interesting things and punctuates them with pretty photos!