Stylin' at the US Open

Fashion and NYC go hand in hand, and this is no exception at the US Open. Every year the discussion seems to focus more on some of the women's apparel than their actual game. The men have previously been left in the dust when it came to fashion discussion. My favorite example of this was a few years ago when Tommy Haas was told that he could not wear a sleeveless shirt because it did not fit within the guidelines of what was acceptable. Mind you, this was the same year when Serena was wearing her black cat suit. Sexist? You betcha. But thank goodness times have changed. If not for Tommy, we probably wouldn't see Nadal's guns.

So this year, Sharapova continues her reign as the fashion maven in her red crystal embedded dress. I kinda like it - even though I know I would look utterly ridiculous in it. Think Snape in Neville's grandmother's attire. However, the man who is perhaps the greatest men's tennis player of all time, Roger Federer himself, has been making some noise in the world of style. He appeared last night in an all black Nike ensemble, including tuxedo shorts, socks and monogrammed shoes. One should know that Anna Wintour, of Vogue fame, luuvvvs the Federer Express, so perhaps she talked him into it. Ted Robinson and John McEnroe spent more time commenting on Federer's attire last night than his complete domination of the game. They had never seen him in all black, thought it was almost unrecognizable, and joked that it was his gangsta attire. Those poor guys - they really missed the point. They should have gotten Tracy Austin back in the booth. She could have told them the real story - the man just looked plain hot on a hot night in NYC. Stylin' is not just for the women alone!

Bag the Shopping

Sonny Boy has always had very particular tastes in clothing. He is very clear on what is "cool" and what is decidedly "uncool." I remember when he was two years old and I was getting him ready for church one beautiful summer morning. I just love little boys in those cute little rompers. I had a very cute light blue one I found at the Just Ducky closeout warehouse. He had worn it a number of times - he looked so precious with that romper and sandals.

Well, that morning he decided that rompers were no longer cool. He started saying rather loudly, "I don't wike wompers!!" I tried to explain this was a Sunday outfit and continued to get it on his struggling little body. He kept up with his exclamation and proceeded to rip the button off the strap - he was not going to wear a romper that day. I decided I didn't care - we found a tshirt and shorts. If people wanted to talk about the preacher's kid not being dressed nicely for church, let them.

So now he's 13 and thinks he is destined for a career as a professional snow boarder. He's also thinking when he is world famous for this career, Dancing with the Stars will ask him to be on the show. One of the very few stores that carries appropriately snowboarder cool clothing is Old Navy. Since I shop there so often, I decided to get one of the ON credit cards - I figured the extra coupons they sent were worth it.

Last week, I received a plastic bag in the mail - everything stuffed in it would be an extra 25% off with the use of my card. Sonny Boy was growing again, so off we went. We arrived at the counter with five shirts, four pairs of shorts (all big enough for a 5'5, 110 lb boy) and one little sundress for Princess. The cashier apolegetically told me that the clothes actually had to be in the bag for the discount. Sonny Boy and I started laughing rather loudly, and then removed all the coat hangers and crammed every bit of clothing into the small bag. The bag had a couple rips, but the clothes were in. The cashier then took each item out, rung it up, folded it nicely into a large bag and put all the coat hangers in the bag as well.

Sonny Boy and I laughed all the way to the car. I'm sure the manager didn't appreciate us too much that night, but we did provide some entertainment for the other customers.