My fashion sense is not good.
When the Associated Press sends us articles on national fashion trends, I'm guessing that their writers know what they're doing. I have no idea what was "in" or "out" this year or what people will want to buy in 2013.
The first reason for this is that fashion really doesn't interest me at all. However, I run some fashion articles - as I did today - because I know they interest others.
Article Photos
Scott Shelters
The second reason is that I'm color blind. Of my daily tasks, getting dressed is among my least favorite.
I suppose I should've asked a loved one a long time ago to help me label all of my clothing by color. But that task - like many others - has always been on the back burner.
My mother taught me many years ago that most shirts go well with blue jeans. I kept that in mind throughout high school and college. I hardly ever had to dress up, so picking out a shirt each morning wasn't hard - even for a color-blind kid. Days, weeks and even months would pass before I would think about color blindness. It didn't seem to matter at all.
Then, I went and got a job at a place where wearing jeans to work isn't usually an option. I enjoy dress-down Friday, but I need to competently dress myself with matching shirts, ties and pants during the rest of the week.
Sometimes, I'm pretty sure I succeed. Other times, my mother, my girlfriend or someone else will tell me something like, "You probably shouldn't wear that shirt with those pants again."
This, of course, happens after I've had them on at work all day.
When a few of my relatives asked me what I would like for Christmas this year, I told them dress clothes would make wonderful gifts.
They asked about colors; I told them whatever looked good to them would be fine for me. Most of them aren't color blind, so I'm not too nervous. Hopefully the ones who are will consider gift-card purchases.