The Life And Times Of A Hermetic Menswear Blogger
I was tired.
So tired that I couldn’t even keep my eyes open. Alan Flusser, who sat next to me in the confines of his midtown office, nudged me awake. I reticently opened my eyes to stare back at the two mac book screens in front of me. His to the right. Mine to the left. Sweeping angles and zoom ins of old Esquire scans traversed the monitors. I achingly propped myself up for a few more hours of work, wrapped in some expensive cardigan made of fine cashmere that Alan lent me to fight off the 5 week head cold I had been suffering from. And the kicker? I had to wake up at 5am the next day to do it all over again.
But Mr. Flusser hadn’t taken up all my time. You see, my position at the Custom Shop had been rearranged to a creative one with me at the head of photography and assisting with content building for Alan’s new website. It was a role I gladly took on. Unfortunately, it was only a part time position. To fill my time (and wallet) I took another part time position at a cafe right next door to my apartment. I figured the commute was only a few steps, how bad could it be?
Then they promoted me to manager.
I went for it full steam ahead, finding myself such a natural fit in the food service industry with a great knack at customer service. I also created a new atmosphere through changing the music and instilling in the staff the kind of customer service level you would rarely expect from a New York City cafe. It was, and still is, very hard work but work that I really enjoy doing.
At my peak I was clocking 105 hours a week between the cafe and my work with Alan. I would wake up at 5am, work 6am-3pm at the cafe, run home, shower (if I had time), change clothing, get to Alan’s by 4pm, work until 8 or 9pm, get home by about 10, edit some work, then pass out.
During this time I didn’t know if I was coming or going. I lost a bunch of weight, was smoking too much, and generally did not take care of myself very well. On the one day off I would have I generally slept all day then took my 25 pound laundry bag that was piling up for drop off and pass out again. I didn’t see my friends or loved ones. I hardly had time to even think about clothing for myself. And I completely dropped off the radar in terms of blogging.
Don’t get me wrong, I am not writing these words for any kind of sympathy from my readers (however many of you may even be left) but you could imagine what little interest I had after an 18 hour work day to set up my photography equipment and take photos of myself. Nor did I even want to write about clothing. In fact, I was sick of the whole menswear blogging world. Especially “street style”. Honestly, everything that was being posted on some blogs looked ridiculous to me. Even more ridiculous than runway. So I just stopped and worked my ass off on other things. And let me tell you, working with Alan so much and digging through all those Apparel Arts and old Esquire magazines really boosted my knowledge of what to look for in clothing.
As the months rolled by my work with Alan finally slowed a bit and I’ve gotten back into a more manageable schedule. I’ve also reinvented my wardrobe which has me excited to write a new series of articles for Made To Measure, NY and made a promise to myself to stay a bit more insulated instead of “keeping up with the menswear blogger Jones’s”. Because most of them, honestly, annoy the living shit out of me.
You’ll be hearing a lot more from me this year, albeit sporadically. As I said from the very beginning I do not write this blog in hopes for big money, a “collab” with some up and coming designer, spots in GQ, or anything like that. I write this blog because I like clothing and want to show guys how to do it without busting the bank. So if I drop off again, I apologize. But always know that I will come back to writing for Made To Measure, NY. Sometimes I just need a long ass break to do so.
Welcome back, Cahlo.
P.S.: Did I mention that during my 105 hour a week work schedule I was writing a new album? Yeah…that too.
