Friend
on Facebook posted something the other day about glow in the dark
stuff.
Basically,
she was talking about glow in the dark fabrics and fabric dyes.
Which, sure, I can see a lot of fun and safety and potential value
in such a thing. If you wanted a cool look for yourself, that
could be neat, especially if headed out for the evening. If you
were a parent and wanted something for the kids to wear after
dark in the summer or for trick-or-treating, this might be useful.
There are lots of great possibilities, and certainly many more
to be found.
The
specifics of the post however didn’t really connect with me. Not
all that interested personally in glow in the dark shirts, pants,
socks or bandanas. Doesn’t stir much excitement. With that rattling
around in my head, however, I realized there was a specialized
fabric I would love.
It’s
been a warm, dry summer around here. Actually, make that a hot,
dry summer, with little rain but more than a few moments of heavy
muggy. One of those summers filled with days where you need a
shower after getting out of the shower. Gotta love that.
What
I’ve noticed, from exercising to heading out for the day, is that
I would really love a fabric that doesn’t change colors when you’re
sweating.
Now,
some of you fashionistas out there are going to start rattling
off color choices and fabric styles that work in such a situation.
Fine. But let’s face the realities of the world, if it were perfect
and flawless, none of us would have issues with marks along our
backs, around our necks and under our arms. But that we do.
When
was the last time you opened windows and doors to create cross-breezes?
I
did that tonight. Have for the past few nights. Temperatures have
been dropping in the evening hours, and I’m trying not to use
the air conditioning all the time. (Especially after that last
electric bill. I mean, wow.) It’s nice. But earlier this afternoon,
I went through three shirts before finally finding one that was
going to work for my dinner plans with friends.
And
that’s the crazy part, right? I don’t care at all about the temperature
in general terms. Cold in the winter, fine, I’ll wear a sweatshirt
and jacket. Hot in the summer, I’m really not worried about being
drenched when taking a walk or finishing some yard work. It’s
when taking a shower and then the simple activity of getting dried
off and dressed is causing me to start sweating again that bothers
me.
I
suppose it would be cool if instead of showing damp stains my
shirt glowed in the dark instead. That might be neat. But then
again, I’m not sure if trading in a light gray shirt with dark
gray spots for a shirt with spots when the lights go out really
is all that incredible.
There’s
a lot of work when it comes to fashion decisions and choices.
We probably don’t respect that enough when watching clips from
international designs shows that feature creations absolutely
no one would ever wear. (Then again, my style is shorts and t-shirt
or jeans and torn sweatshirt. My fashion choices are not likely
to create seismic waves for the industry.)
The
end result? Glow in the dark fabrics are kind of a yawn. Shirts
that don’t show the sweat would be a terrific find. And a cool
breeze on a summer evening is a fantastic treat.