Fathers Day - My Dad

With Father’s Day quickly approaching I have wanted to write something about, and for, my Dad.

Every time I have sat here and tried to write something I have struggled.

Dad and I, although we live together at the moment, don’t have the best relationship; we clash quite a lot with our views on many different topics.

He also has Onset Dementia which can make my days even more frustrating than they need be.

But every time I think of Dad I am brought back to his idea of fashion.

Now I am rubbish when it comes to shopping and fashion and the truth be told I do 2 things. I will usually just give money to a female friend and say go spend and buy me something good but that would also suit me or I walk into the shop see what’s on the mannequin and buy the whole outfit.

As a teenager I was never fashionable not like so many others that I knew. I remember to some degree that what we wore actually defined which kind of social group we ended up in. It didn’t matter if you wore designer clothes or rocked the black Goth look you automatically knew who you could talk to by what they were wearing.

This isn't a new thing either, my Dad will quite happily tell me that when he was younger the social dress sense craze at the time meant you were a "Mod" or you were "Rockers".

Mods would apparently dress in a "modern" outfit and would ride Scooters, where Rockers would potentially have long hair, be dressed in black and leather and would ride a Motorbike.

Mods

Rockers

When I questioned my Dad some more he would proudly admit that he was a Mod. So potentially following what he was telling me he would have been "cool" and would be wearing the latest and most modern thing to wear.

This for me is equally surreal and unbelievable, especially if you ever considered what he wears now.
Being a 75 year old man he has a "unique" fashion sense that a lot of men his age seem to have.

 He will quite happily wear tracksuit bottoms of any kind:

"Oh, they're just for comfort, easy to move, can get dirty and I don't mind working in them and sweating a little"

But with these tracksuit trousers on he will wear a 1950s style t-shirt or jumper, which clearly you can see he has had for the 40 plus years, that he clearly thinks suit him.

"Well you always want to feel that you look good!"

(The worst thing here is he will tuck these into his tracksuit bottoms which just for an extra mental image he has slightly too high up his torso)

Finally for the topping to this glorious outfit off, are clean, hard, and always sparkling black work shoes, something you would expect to wear with a suit.

"Well son you never know when you need to look smart”

(This is NOT my dad...He would actually kill me if I put a picture of him up...This guy amused me though and I think helps with some visualisation!)

So a man who potentially was dressing to fit into a social group called Mods, who would dress to look fashionable and be ahead of the times, now wears shoes that you would only wear with a suit, a pair tracksuit bottoms that are pulled quite high up his torso, with an old fashioned t-shirt tucked well into his trousers.

Now, as I stated earlier I don't think I have great fashion sense, I even think I have made some blunders, but seeing the transition from my Dad then to what he is like now fills me with joy and a lesson in life that I really hope I learn from him.

My Dad no longer cares about his appearance; he would rather now just fit in to any scenario and not worry what he looks like, as potentially in his head he fits perfectly in to any social situation.

There are always those moments where you want to hide and be swallowed by the ground for the embarrassing things he says and does. However, how great is it that he doesn't live in fear to be so conscious about what he is wearing?

He doesn't wear the coat of fear or social pressure any more. When you look at him you may judge him as a crazy old man with at times no sense. (Let’s be honest you might be right in thinking this)

Our relationship is still strained for different reasons that I have briefly mentioned here. Yet it’s his little, quite often, embarrassing traits that I will remember him for because behind him there is very little worry or care; just a man who has learnt in life to enjoy what he has and be happy.