Challenge Met

Here is a link that works to the article on men rolling up their pants. It's incredible.

And below is how I incorporated it into my story. This excerpt comes from the morning after Mark arrived in Winigo. He is staying at The Queen's Inn, run by Miss Pettigrew, and he runs into some fashion road blocks.

When it was 8 o’clock, Mark was showered, shaved and dressed. It took him an inordinate amount of time to do so. Mark realized when he opened his suitcase that his packing had been substandard. He was used to packing for business trips, taking only those necessities required for a few days in an office in a strange city, and a few business meetings. All he had were two suits, two cleanly pressed white shirts, and two cleanly pressed white undershirts, and, of course, clean underwear and socks. He wanted to dress more casually today since he wanted to fit in better. He doubted that there was anyone in Winigo who wore a suit and tie regularly.

                Mark sat on the bed, thinking about how he could turn the meagre selection of clothing that he had chosen to bring with him into a casual outfit. And then it struck him. Mark remembered seeing men all over sporting the latest trend in men’s fashion: rolling up one’s pant legs. Contrary to the ‘old’ way of thinking, a man could roll up his pants in non-flood weather conditions without evoking images of Huckleberry Finn. It was almost as if rolling up one’s pants was ‘shabby chic’ for men.

Ever the perfectionist, Mark decided to look online for the best techniques for pulling off this look. On one website, he noted that Mr. Tom Julian, author of two fashion books and fashion consultant for Nordstrom, suggested rolling one inch of cuff three times for cotton or canvas trousers. Another expert had his technique perfected: Starting from the bottom, you flip once, making as small a fold as possible, then twist the front of the pants leg by about an inch, then roll twice more while holding the pinch tightly. Mark started to get confused when yet another expert (How can there be so many experts on pant-rolling? Don’t people have things to do? Mark asked himself while sifting through the cornucopia of advice on the internet) said that this look is casual, so nothing about the outfit should look too formal. The roll should feel “unintentional.” Mark wondered to himself how it was possible to look like one had rolled up one’s pants unintentionally, when it was the look that one intended to go for. His head was starting to hurt, and he felt as if these ‘experts’ were, in fact, out-of-work post-modernist assholes. In their anger at their own failures, they lashed out at society. That was just like them. Mark looked and saw that the auteur of that particular piece called himself Gordon the Vampyre. After that, he decided to move on quickly to the next item in his Google search. This one examined the 'dont's': No formal shoes. No rolled-up skinny jeans. No wool pants – the rolls won’t stay. No bootleg pants, which should be burned anyway. And since rolled pants are meant to look casual, nothing about the outfit should be dressy, at the risk of looking too studied. While you’re at it, stop trying so hard. Feeling adequately prepared, Mark dove in.

                Mark decided to pair one of his undershirts with a pair of grey, lightly pin-striped trousers. He carefully, but unintentionally, rolled his pants so that the lightly pinched cuff fell an inch or two above his ankle. And he paired the whole look with his black penny loafers. For a moment, he was angry with himself that he had never purchased a pair of those fashionable crocs he had seen on Miss Pettigrew earlier this morning. Perhaps, this outfit might be a bit better if paired semi-ironically with crocs. But then Mark saw himself in the mirror, and realized that the overall effect of this outfit was quite pleasing and that the crocs really would have been a faux pas.

Whenever I think about men with rolled up pants, Jude Law comes to mind. And true to EsNoWriMo 2010 form, I followed that image up with the first image when one Googles Jude Law Drunk, and then another one. Just for fun.

Until next time, faithful readers.