Shopping With Dad
Dec. 22nd, 2012 08:29 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jynx_tsilevonWritten as I sit bundled up in my one-size too big jacket and flannel pjs bought from a very distinctly different place: The Boys' Section.
I was really skeptical about how this shopping trip was going to go. One, we were sort of pressed for time because he wanted to go shopping before I went to work at noon. And two...well, I still didn't know how well the gender neutral thing was sitting with him.
So in the car on the way there, I thanked him. When he asked why, I told him it was because he was being so open with accepting this (he's spent a lot of my life trying to make me look "pretty" and "fit in" with the norm for girls. I was pretty sure he was devastated when I ended up going more towards tomboy before gender neutral).
"You know what? I just want you to be comfortable. If this is what it takes, than so be it."
Well. Not the response I was expecting, but it's a great response!
When we got to the mall, the first store we hit was actually Forever 21. For awhile it was my favorite store because they had almost Steampunk clothes and almost anything my twin sister tries on in that store looks amazing on her.
And that's actually where I bought my first "guy's shirt" with the help of Kupo and Meek (basically they picked it out, split the cost, and then put it on me saying "you were staring at it for fifteen minutes okay!!").
Unfortunately this store didn't have a guy's section, and one thing jumped out at me but it was super big so I took a picture for reference. My dad muttered to me that the store had gotten "too mainstream" and "obviously nothing was my style in there!" Which made me laugh a lot.
We tried another store, that had button down shirts in it (I specifically had asked for button downs because they're my favorite style of shirt). We were looking at some on the girl's side and my dad shocked me when he looked at a shirt and then looked at me and asked, politely,
"Could you comfortably wear a binder under this?"
I really almost side tackled him in the store. Really.
The next few places we tried were places my dad and brother always shopped(I realized now that I'm almost trained to go to the right when entering a store because that's normally where the female side is). I was very excited, and my dad was on a mission. However we hit a snag.
I am small.
Of course most of you know this but I like to pretend.
So we were very out of luck because even the smalls were way too big on me. I felt bad and was about to apologize for wasting my dad's time when he grabbed me and said "No! To the next store!"
So through the mall we went until we hit JC Penny's. My dad skated through and found the boy's section. And lo and behold, we found stuff that would fit (for size reference, I'm a medium in most little boy's shirts...At least I can claim large on pants!).
My dad helped me pick out my first pair of guy's jeans. So now I have pants with real pockets in them. He also got me a coat, new flannel pjs that match his, and some button down/t-shirt numbers.
What really stuck out to me is that, at one point, I walked out of the changing room and stood in front of him. And he smiled and said "That looks really good on you."
He said that, to his "oldest daughter" while she was wearing all guys clothes.
I don't know what happened to my dad, but he's changed a lot. And he will never know how much I appreciate it, even as I try to tell him.
I was really skeptical about how this shopping trip was going to go. One, we were sort of pressed for time because he wanted to go shopping before I went to work at noon. And two...well, I still didn't know how well the gender neutral thing was sitting with him.
So in the car on the way there, I thanked him. When he asked why, I told him it was because he was being so open with accepting this (he's spent a lot of my life trying to make me look "pretty" and "fit in" with the norm for girls. I was pretty sure he was devastated when I ended up going more towards tomboy before gender neutral).
"You know what? I just want you to be comfortable. If this is what it takes, than so be it."
Well. Not the response I was expecting, but it's a great response!
When we got to the mall, the first store we hit was actually Forever 21. For awhile it was my favorite store because they had almost Steampunk clothes and almost anything my twin sister tries on in that store looks amazing on her.
And that's actually where I bought my first "guy's shirt" with the help of Kupo and Meek (basically they picked it out, split the cost, and then put it on me saying "you were staring at it for fifteen minutes okay!!").
Unfortunately this store didn't have a guy's section, and one thing jumped out at me but it was super big so I took a picture for reference. My dad muttered to me that the store had gotten "too mainstream" and "obviously nothing was my style in there!" Which made me laugh a lot.
We tried another store, that had button down shirts in it (I specifically had asked for button downs because they're my favorite style of shirt). We were looking at some on the girl's side and my dad shocked me when he looked at a shirt and then looked at me and asked, politely,
"Could you comfortably wear a binder under this?"
I really almost side tackled him in the store. Really.
The next few places we tried were places my dad and brother always shopped(I realized now that I'm almost trained to go to the right when entering a store because that's normally where the female side is). I was very excited, and my dad was on a mission. However we hit a snag.
I am small.
Of course most of you know this but I like to pretend.
So we were very out of luck because even the smalls were way too big on me. I felt bad and was about to apologize for wasting my dad's time when he grabbed me and said "No! To the next store!"
So through the mall we went until we hit JC Penny's. My dad skated through and found the boy's section. And lo and behold, we found stuff that would fit (for size reference, I'm a medium in most little boy's shirts...At least I can claim large on pants!).
My dad helped me pick out my first pair of guy's jeans. So now I have pants with real pockets in them. He also got me a coat, new flannel pjs that match his, and some button down/t-shirt numbers.
What really stuck out to me is that, at one point, I walked out of the changing room and stood in front of him. And he smiled and said "That looks really good on you."
He said that, to his "oldest daughter" while she was wearing all guys clothes.
I don't know what happened to my dad, but he's changed a lot. And he will never know how much I appreciate it, even as I try to tell him.
