A system of Borrowers

Fashion motivates me in strange ways as a writer and an artist. You would think that as a writer I would perhaps have no interest in fashion -- since its primarily something visual-- and , though inmany ways its true that I don't get too excited for fashion, it's still definitely the case that, when I occasionally think of it, and all its possibilities, I tend to feel very deeply inspired as a story teller.

 As a writer I am in some ways like an actor: I seem to like to be dressed up and somewhat "in character" when I write. It helps me a great deal. One might imagine that a writer could just sit naked as he writes. I suspect many do. I certainly do this sometimes. But then there are other times, when I really want to make a "deep slip", when I feel the need to dress for the occasion....even in complete spite of the fact that I will just be writing alone. Right now, for instance, I am sitting in a hoodie, with the hood pulled up over my head, and a pair of black Dockers. This outfit makes me feel ltitle to nothing.

In 20 minutes, however, if I decide I may want to jump into a pirate story, I may very well wrap a scarf around my head, put all my earrings in, put all my rings on, and maybe even apply eyeliner. When I want to write like a woman, it's occasionally the same story as the pirate: I grab a light colored flannel and jump into it, as well as a skirt and some leggings, and suddenly I'm ready to go. I'm in "Woman mode".  And so too is it similar for the very rare times when I suddenly decide I want to make an attempt at something vaguely serious: I will actually step into my closet, and proceed to dress myself, head to toe, in a suit with a tie. I will maybe even put one of my never used fedoras on, as well as my shoes, which I might polish. Keep in mind that almost none of these garments are ever worn in reality by me. If I was dead tomorrow and someone looked in my closet, they'd think these garments were all just forever unused. They would have no idea that I was, in fact, occasionally stepping into them, when I was alone, to work on tales.

Having said all of that, however, here is the big shame of fashion for me: It is a very costly and expensive pain in the ass, and so, as the years have gone on now, I find that I have less and less fun with it. This is primarily because I no longer feel its necessary to buy clothes like I once did, 10 years ago, when I was only 18. Back then, my closet was obviously quite small: I had only had a few years to build a collection at that point. So it seemed like every few months I would actually have to be at the mall to get something. These days though, its not the case. I have more than enough pants that are never used, so pants are totally unnecessary to buy, and this is the same thing, more or less, for t-shirts, jackets, and hats. Clothing is now, at this point in my life, an undeniable vanity project, if I were to shop for it. It's almost never a necessity to get new clothes. For me this is a big problem, becuase I do not like buying things that aren't necessities. My cross dressing would probably be completely out of control, for example, if I only had the money to let it get out of control. Since I hardly have any money, and since I have never been the sort to buy anything I don't need to buy, the cross dressing desire just sort of ebbs and flows. I get it out of the way mostly just using Adobe Photoshop.... which is free....

Still, I sometimes sit here and I try to really imagine just how inspiring it might be, if I could really get my hands on all the clothes I would like to wear, to get into my various little "Characters". Would the clothes perhaps improve me as a writer? Would I buy a fresh outfit, slip it on ,and then come sit down here at my keyboard and write the best seller? Is it actually the case that my frugality when it comes to clothes is stifling my imagination--and leading to me feeling perpetually "blocked" and "dry" at times, as a writer? After all, you must remember what I said before: Often I feel no inspiration at all...and then I get dressed..and I feel flooded by inspiring thoughts. It's almost like the clothes are magical! But ..thats ridiculous, isn't it? Clothes can't possibly be magical. They're just clothes. I'm making too big of a deal out of them....

Sometimes I think that the way we share clothes with one another might be very different in the future. For example, in our own time now, we have a system like Goodwill, which works decently I suppose, for those of us in financial straits, but in the future I can imagine something even better. I can imagine a system somehow connected to the Internet, perhaps, where clothes might actually become much like songs have become on YouTube. I know it sounds bizarre, but think about it: Two decades ago, the idea that we would all be sharing so many songs on a site like YouTube sounded totally preposterous, and yet now it is the reality... most people are very eager to share, even Republicans. So who is to say that a system like this won't one day be worked out for physical things like clothes as well? It has already happened with books at the library, and the library predates the Internet.

Imagine the system being something like this: I own a nice jacket, and it's an authentic coat thats supposed to be like the one an elegant pirate captain might have worn back in the 1650's. This coat, right now, since it is rare and presumably handmade, seems to always cost hundreds of dollars when I search for it online. I am a starving artist...I can't waste that much money on a coat, man. Espeically one that I really can't wear all the time like that. But, what if there existed a system of borrowing with the Internet? What if there was some website you could log on, where you could "borrow" the coat, like you were borrowing a book from the library? So I would just need that coat for a few writing sessions, maybe a months worth of time. I'd get to take a bunch of selfies in it, I'd get to walk my dog a few times through the city in it, maybe go on a date...so on and so forth. I don't need it for life;I just need it for a quick bit of inspiration.

 So why not just borrow it...?

The site in question here, to borrow clothes, it would be very organized and you would have to use your ID to utilize it, therefore you would be held accountable if you stole the pirate coat worth hundreds and never returned it. As for the person who was lending the coat, one imagines that they would get some sort of reward, much like people who post their work to YouTube for free, "sort of" get a reward now. The lender, for instance, would get points towards their credibility, perhaps, so other lenders would be more likely to trust them to borrow more expensive items, etceetc. Being essentially a type of barter system, this sort of database would rely massively on trust--but most of this trust would be established very quickly, like credit, once you were on the system for even just a few weeks.

 One imagines that it would perhaps be difficult to just log on your first day, and immediately get the chance to borrow a $1,200 golden ring,plus a pair of Armani shoes in your size. You would have to work your way up to that level somehow. You would have to lend things yourself, to build points, otherwise no one would want to let you borrow anything. The system would start out small; but it would quickly build. Money would not be involved; it would merely be the trading of things. 

To again mention a system like Goodwill, what folks need to understand about that system is that what it really sought to do, was to turn a profit off of clothes that were otherwise just getting tossed to sea, into the dumpster.   Jump back in time to a decade like the 40s for example, when I don't think Goodwill existed, and try to imagine being a mother of 4 grown kids, who now has 6-7 years worth of childrens clothes on her hands. Well, the first thing that might happen is this woman will perhaps try to find neighbors who are interested in the clothes, or maybe some friends, assuming she has any. In this way, she might be able to get a quarter of the clothes off her hands , if her own social network is large enough.

The rest of the clothes, however, what happened to them, prior to Goodwill? One imagines they just all got tossed out, "lit on fire", "thrown to sea". The mother here got nothing in return for her old clothes (like the lending site would give you) and, to make things worse, some other new mother out there didn't get the chance to get new clothes. Now here comes Goodwill, which basically decided to cut a profit off of these two people, by connecting them with one another. Goodwill basically just gives you access to "closets" in other peoples houses. It also did something else which was very important: It gave the marginalized, friendless people among us a chance to sorta "borrow' things for cheap, just like someone with a large social network might have the luxury of doing....

 Goodwill, though it turned a mighty profit for itself, also accidentally revealed to us the major flaw of capitalism that Republicans refuse to admit exists: It is a system which, as an absolute rule, always seeks to produce far more than what is necessary to produce. Clothes are a wonderful example to use in an argument denouncing capitalism, because there is no doubt that it is a waste to throw out perfectly good clothes to sea, just because a child has outgrown them. Someone else can wear those clothes. There is no reason to actually buy completely new stuff, if the old stuff is still functioning. There's simply no reason. Again: Someone else can wear those clothes.  Why not let them? What on Earth is the point of throwing things out that are perfectly good - when there is someone who can use them? What on Earth is the point...?  There is none....