My five year old niece just declared my favorite jacket 'boring' and it made me pause

I was over at my sister's place in Tacoma last weekend, wearing this olive green utility jacket I've had for ages. My niece, Chloe, looked at me and said, 'Uncle Taylor, that's a good jacket for working, but it's not a fun jacket.' I asked her what made a jacket fun, and she just pointed at her own rainbow-striped sweater and said, 'It needs a story or a friend.' She meant it needed something extra, like a cool patch or pins. It hit different because it wasn't some fashion expert, just a kid stating a simple truth about personal expression. I've been so focused on clothes that are practical for my job that I forgot they can just be for joy. Now I'm looking at this plain jacket thinking about adding some embroidered flames or a vintage band patch to the sleeve. Has anyone else had a simple comment totally shift how you see a piece in your closet?

3 comments

3 Comments

bennett.jana1mo ago

What kind of story do you think your jacket should tell?

dixon.iris1mo agoMost Upvoted

Read a cool article once about how clothes can be like a map of where you've been. My old denim jacket's story is just the little tears from a hiking trip and a faded concert pin. It's not a grand tale, but it's mine. You get what I mean, @bennett.jana.

sarah8181mo ago

Actually, she said it needs a story or a friend, not necessarily both.