Shopping for Work Attire

For the past four months, my work attire has always been a pair of jeans and a yellow dri-fit t-shirt (I managed to collect at least 6 yellow dri-fits over the four years of Inter Faculty Games during my University days). No one said anything about the attire. Working at the construction site also meant that attire didn't really matter much.

However, a week into my new posting, I was asked to attend a meeting at the thirteenth hour. I duly attended what turned out to be a 4 hour meeting in jeans and my faithful yellow tee. While my managers never said a word regarding my attire, my mind was telling me to look around and see what the others were wearing. Granted, they're way older and more experienced than me. As I attempted to imagine them wearing something as casual as mine, I realized that attire and image does matter somewhat.

After a long day's work, I decided to drop by a mall and look around for a new top. I wanted something not too casual but I didnt want it to be too office formal - being under the sun requires me to be in something comfortable. 

I touched countless shirt materials and flipped as many price tags. Im amazed that the shirts whose materials or designs caught my eye were way beyond my usual budget (It's been a long long time since I actually went shopping). 

My last stop saw me entering a shop that sells sportswear. A long-sleeved shirt whose design and material caught my eye. It's not your typical office wear. The tag says "Mountain Hardwear" and there's a picture of a guy fishing. The material's breathable and cannot be ironed (ironing is always a hassle, thus the strong attraction to this shirt). I looked at the price tag - higher than my usual budget but judging from the many other price tags I've seen, I guess it's relatively cheaper.

I then saw a short sleeved shirt - green and checkered and thought it looked different (my sister said it's ugly and my brother said I shouldve gone for brown or blue or black). I tried both, liked them both and got it. Even after the discounts, these are the two most expensive shirts in my possession.  

Mama then shared dad's story. During his younger days, he too used to spend good money on good quality products (unlike Mama who prefers to buy cheap decent products). Mama then went on to say that after he got married and several children later, he was buying cheap decent stuffs. 

Funny, I thought. I hope I'll follow his footsteps should I get married and have kids one day.