Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Clothes

For my ideal island-wear, I offer up some battle-tested threads, many of which became a man's best friend during my sojourn through Southeast Asia, China, the Balkans, and other parts of Europe last year. Also, I figure that a post is needed ASAP to cover up the 1st pic in the Fuzz's sexytime post, as people looking over my shoulder at work are getting the wrong idea...


1. North Face Hedgehogs - These shoes are awesome! Sturdy enough for hiking over rough terrain (the porcupine-modeled spikes on the sole are great), but casual enough for regular walking, these babies guided me from the volcanic hills of Ko Pha Ngan in Thailand to the cosmopolitanism of London (on an island as well). I was torn between these and some sandals, but then I figured that I could make some killer flip flops (possibly to be worn with socks when it gets cool out at night) out of braided strands of palm fronds.



2. Columbia Nylon Cargo Pants - Another awesome buy for my around-the-world trip. It's lightweight and dries fast in case it rains or you take a dip. The nylon is pretty sturdy, although an exposed wire from the seat frame of a cab in Bulgaria did tear a small hole into it... but that was pretty quickly remedied with a few stitches. As a bonus, you can zip off the legs under the knees, and turn these pants into studly cargo shorts. The vast number of pockets will come in handy as I forage around for supplies, or for carrying a large knife to take down a wild boar.


3. Thai Red Bull Singlet - Originally purchased to not survive an all-night Black Moon party in Thailand (cheapest thing I could find), the singlet became my emergency shirt when I was running out of clothes on my trip. Surprisingly warm for not having sleeves, and with a super-cool Thai Red Bull logo, this would work out very well on my island, though it may lead to funky tan lines on my shoulders. With my sexytime three (to be featured in an upcoming post) around, I need to maintain some sort of stylishness after all.

9 comments:

wb said...

What exactly do you mean by 'singlet'? Like a wrestling uniform?

Thomas said...

please clarify. I shuddered 3 times already.

Alex said...

After a quick search on Wikipedia, it was revealed that it is an Austrailian term for sleeveless shirt. That's how it was sold to me, which makes sense because Aussies may be the predominant touristic force in Thailand.

I also recall our track "sleeveless shirts" being referred to as singlets.

The term was used by me (enjoy the passive voice) because "sleeveless shirt" seemed a clunky term.

wb said...

How about 'tank top' then? And avoiding those wrestling references?

From the wikiP:
"In American English, a tank top is a sleeveless T-shirt-like garment that can be worn by either sex. It is often worn under the shirt as underwear, though more colorful and well-designed tank tops are usually worn as an outer shirt. The term is also used in Australian English, although the term singlet is commonly used to refer to the garment."

fuzzy j said...

Men don't wear singlets. Men also don't wear tank tops. Terrible. Alex, you'll be bringing your Thai Bull Shirt to the island. Just go with shirt.

Alex said...

European men do...

Lucia said...

I have to concur with the folks that shuddered upon reading "singlet". I actually tried to blow up the picture to see if the shirt included shorts sewn onto the bottom.
Alex, sometimes you are so odd.

Alex said...

It's truly a wonderful "sleeveless shirt". Unfortunately, the army fatigue cargo shorts that I bought to go along with the singlet were dealt a mortal blow at the party.

At least someone's keeping the board lively ;).

11frogs said...

Um, it's a tank top. But, thumbs up to the zippy pants. In addition to the chacos, I've also taken my zippy pants (or shpants, in Leigha-talk), on every trip I've taken in the past decade.