March 20, 2006
TC Buys a Hat and Other Stories
In order to house my gigantic brain, I've been blessed with an oversized jug. This means that the simple act of purchasing, say, a ballcap for those days when my rug just won't cooperate is a chore, indeed. There's no single shop along the lines of, oh, "Melonhead's House of Hats," a place where a cantalopue head can do the in-out shopping bit. Carving out some valuable perusing time today, I found myself at three urban fashion emporia, the types of places known to sell a lid, or two.
Spectrum's: This Cherokee Street everything-goes-shop has been praised on these "pages" before, what with the store's curious selection of hip-hop fashions, bongs and porno. The hat selection, though, isn't the most expansive in town. Sad. This visit, though, predicted a sight that would be seen repeatedly as today's outing progressed: a new trend in t-shirt design is the wedding of a cereal pitch character with "blunt" imagery of Mary Jane. So everyone from Cap'n Crunch to the Trix Rabbit to the Snap, Crackle and Pop boys are now fronting 3X t-shirts, featuring these classic American cereal pitchmen in various states of being wacked outta their gourds. By summer, we'll all be sporting these tops, I'm certain. I'm gonna hold out for a way-baked Booberry.
Levin's: I've been passing Levin's for no less than 15 years, the shop located on the corner of 14th and Washington, next to the late, great Hungry Buddha. This is an old-school clothing store, with piles of pants stacked chest-high. It's also a place with a decent collection of sale hats, which meant my purchasing a fine KC Royals top for a resonable $18. Now, what's truly remarkable is that Levin's stocks clothing - shirts, pants, sundries - in sizes up to 10X. It's a place for the prosperous gent, the bountiful fellow, the big ol' dude. In fact, the store was being shopped by a collection of chaps that made me feel svelte, a fact that was much appreciated. Oh, my. Big clothes, people. BIG CLOTHES are sold here! Whoa! (Ah, thanks to an observant reader. I went to Levin's, not Levine's, which is on the same block. Zounds.)
Gus' Fashions: The venerable Gus' is on the move across the street, with much of the stock already outta the shop. What's left is a curious assortment of varied gear, including some pants, some shirts, some shoes. And some real odds'n'ends For example, a plethora of Rams replica shirts from the disgraced likes of Jason Sehorn and Tommy Polley. (Need your Grant Wistrom fix? This is your place for his jersey. No Jamie Martin's, though.) The Converse selection, though, needs to be witnessed to fully appreciate. Hundreds of Chuck Taylor's are on-sale, two pairs for 30 bones. There are a healthy variety of lows and highs, in a bunch of colors, including faux graf and camo styles.
A fun day of shopping. Yay!