I'm back

Sort of.
In my mind I'm neither here in the cold north nor there, in the motherland. I expect this state will change as soon as my jet lag is over.
It was sunny and warm, intense, infused with family business and old, true friendships. Hard to find the Self in such circumstances, easy to lose yourself in it.
Now back to business. Please come back with me.

Inconveniences and the New Qoute

Inconveniences are an indispensable and annoying part of our lives, without them we wouldn't have anything to complain about, and that's dangerous.
I'm encountering these days the greatest inconvenience of all: illness. It interrupts everything you can think of in your life. It changes you.
My mother is very ill, and I left the new baby in my life, my lovely, lovable shop, to be with her and help her through an incredibly difficult time.
I hope it will be for the best.
In the meantime, please forgive the inconvenience you may encounter in my shop without me there. I left in the capable hands of my good friend Yoav.
I'll be back - that's my new quote for the week. I think I don't need to tell you who said it.

Me and Mark Jacobs at Fab

On the same page. I sure hope it's not down hill from here.
Check out the news press on Renaissance Man here:

http://www.fabmagazine.com/style/archive/334.html

Can we live on compliments?

It's truly flattering when people say the shop is lovely, that they like coming and all that, it's great for the ego. But I have to say, compliments alone will not keep us alive for too long.
Again, the ups and downs are so challenging, each in it's own way. I find that my moods are now controlled to a great extent by these waves in the shop. Oh, to be not-moody, what will it take?

The way things are

The shop is a very active place most of the time. If I'm not selling, I'm busy sorting items, steaming, and rearranging the closet that has become my shop. It's hard to find room for all the fantastic things people bring in, a constant challenge. I find myself at times feeling like I'm drowning in clothes.
When the shop is quiet, I get a little nervous. What if no one wants to buy anything ever again, what will I do will all of these, how will I pay the rent. All my anxieties pop up like undesired windows on a computer screen, and I have to close them one by one. Some refuse to shut down, until the next wave of shoppers floods the place and I tell myself it will all be alright.
Having a good supply of books and dark chocolate helps.

Completely unrelated to clothes

But I couldn't resist. Please watch this:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=S8zDpBh7k-A

or search feed the cat cartoon on youtube.

I'm in The National Post today

http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/financialpost/smallbusiness/story.html?id=653bf564-5dd7-4d76-91db-32fcc1a8cd27&k=65236

Burning Sky

The days before Halloween, the sunset skies light up.

She said lovingly

"I like it when you look like a bitch, but not like you're everybody's bitch". So he didn't go for the waiter look with the white shirt and the bow tie.

"I can't touch these in the other stores"

He loves his Versace shirt. That day his groomed mustache was in top form, I just had to document it.

Before and After

The Rollerblade Guy, as he introduced himself once, likes to strip my mannequin. It works, doesn't it?

I'll have that wallet now, please...

That's how I convinced the would-be shoplifter to surrender his loot yesterday. He said: "Oops", produced the items from his pocket and left the store promising not to come back, since I have such a good eye.

Questions and Comments

People ask questions and comment on what I do, and I try to answer without attitude, a challenge for me. Here's a typical crop:
What is resale? (Something that was owned and is being sold again).
What is consignment? (You get paid after your item is sold).
Is this your line? Do you make the clothes? (No).
Are these used clothes? (Yes).
Why are they so expensive? (Some are and some aren't).
You don't have to be so cheap, jack the prices higher. (O.K.).
Why don't you sell women's clothes? (Many stores like this for women already exist).
What made you do this? (Thought about it for years, finally got the opportunity to try).
I'm very impressed with your store. (Thank you).
Oh, you're still here! They are keeping you in business. (Yes, it's going well).
Do you have this shirt in extra large? (Most of the clothes are one of a kind in this store).
When will you get more shoes, sweaters, suites etc. (I need a crystal ball to answer that).
Who is your average customer? (Men are, but some women shop here as well).
Does it make me look gay?(No, it looks great, and in any case gays know how to dress so you shouldn't care).
Got anything new? (Always).
What did you do before this? (Long story, I usually tell them parts of it, depending on the situation).
What are you reading? (This week was so busy I had no time to read at all, good for business, not good for the soul).
Have you sold any of my things yet? (Usually, yes).
Will you give me a deal? (Sure).
And so it goes.

A growing collection

The shop is becoming fuller by the day, and the selection varies greatly, from the kinky to high fashion, which is exactly what I wanted. Take a look at this naughty T - shirt: My mannequin was wearing it the other day, with nothing but underwear and a hat to go with. Today he is wearing this fabulous Balenciaga wool jacket.

What I did on Rosh Hashana

Our friend Alex is a wonderful sculptor. We were invited to the official opening of a ceramic installation he did for the municipality of Cambridge, about an hour and a half drive from Toronto. This is a detail from the piece, the entire thing takes up a wall of a building.
Alex is a typical artist who has no time for shopping, but he chose my shop to do his shopping for this occasion. His wife was very pleased.

Fall is here!

The chill is in the air and people feel it. I'm getting fall clothes in and out, it's making me very happy.

Happy New Year

Today the shop is closed. I'm sacrificing my usually best sales day of the week to feel in touch with my people, so to speak. But the week so far was very good for business so I'm not feeling too guilty about it.
Here is my man in brown, isn't he dashing?

Changes

I put up some new shelves in the shop for the fall selection.
The shop is getting to be quite crowded these days and I have to keep moving things around. It's a challenge, a bit like a puzzle. I don't mind.

The suit

A young man bought a suit, shirt and tie from me last week. He had to go to a wedding in the U.S. and kept coming back to check the suits, trying them on and asking me, quite anxiously: do I look like I have money, does it look good, can you tie the tie for me, can you give me a good price, etc. I obliged, of course.
When I opened on Tuesday he popped in just to say: "Thank you, it all worked out great".
I like it when people do that.

The Style Consultant

Told the man he's been buying clothes too large for years. That's why he brought his great expensive shirts to my shop. However, this man does not shop without his stylist's approval. That's another good thing for me (or not? we'll have to see). He saw shoes he liked in my store, and will bring his stylist to the shop before making the decision to buy. So I'll get another contact even if he won't approve of the shoes.

"What a great Idea"

She said, enthusiastically. "My husband always complains how come there are no shops like these for men".
" Well, you know where to send him now" I handed her my card and said.
" He's on his way here right now, and I'm getting him to buy this shirt". And he did come, and she did make him buy it. And they promised to be back.
This shirt came in today. Never worn. The guy admitted to be a shopaholic. His closet is too full with clothes with tags still on. Just the kind of person I rely on.

"My closet is bigger than this store"

The man came to check out the shop, a friend told him to look for "this lovely little boutique". He promised to bring some of his clothes to me. I'm waiting. He said he has a lot more clothes than I have in the shop, but he only wears his favorites. Goody for me!

A song

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zFz60EuEawg

My model

I got recently a lot of beautiful clothes that fit a very small man. Good thing is I have one at my disposal.

"We don't lie about fashion"

There were 3 guys in the shop today at the same time ( a rare occurrence). Two are regulars, they come and check what's new at least once a week, try on things and just have fun. The other one just discovered the shop and was on his cell phone telling someone about it. He is a self- conscious, incredibly beautiful man - dark skin, green eyes like pools of light. He tried on 2 green shirts. Had a hard time deciding which one to get, the one he liked had a green flower pattern. He asked the gay guys for advice, they said he should take the one with the green flowers because it goes with his eyes. He did. They said gay guys don't lie about fashion. I wanted to know what they do lie about, but they wouldn't tell me...

Tears

Sometimes there isn't enough traffic in the shop to keep me busy, so I read. It's great. Keeps my mind from thinking about finances. However, these days I'm reading an incredibly sad book: Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold. It makes me cry. I'm sitting in my shop sobbing, pressing tissues to my nose and wiping my eyes hoping no one will walk in and see me like that.

Swindled

I let myself be swindled as an experiment. I knew that the man would not come back to pay for the pants he was wearing but I wanted to believe for a moment that he would. It's not a big loss money wise, but to think he stood in my shop for over an hour telling me his life's story, and all the time thinking how stupit I must be, that is a bit of a loss. Also, one of the first things he asked me was if I am Jewish, and I can't help thinking that he thought it was OK to steal from me because I am.
There is a lesson to be learnt every day.

Closets

"It's amazing what one can find looking through one's closet..."
Yah baby!

Allergic to new clothes

How old must they be for you to be able to wear them, I asked. He said Oh, I don't know, maybe 20 years. Or a certain brand, some brands I can wear sometimes. I'm dying for a white shirt I can wear.
He found one shirt and I truly hope he wears it.

Casting the Dice

Not exactly a man, but a happy customer none the less.

It's Better than sex he said

When I paid the commission on an item of his that was sold. I liked that.

Give and Take

That's the name of the game in my shop.

This week's quote

Every week I put a quote in the shop's window.
From now on I'll post them here as well.
You can read previous quotes in the list on the right.

Today's crop

I opened on a Sunday, which I don't do normally, because it's Pride Day, and the parade went on just down the street, and I thought it won't hurt to be there when a million people are walking by, someone may have an itch to buy something. (Sold 2 items...).
I put a big rainbow flag at my door and my chair outside, sat with my book and watched the world go by.
Quite a few people walked in. A lovely gentleman told me he was leaving on a year's mission to Central America in a week's time, but would pass my card along to his friends. He thought my shop is a great idea and he would come back to see me once before his departure, and as soon as his mission is over.
He told me some things about himself, and what stayed with me is this: " The way the world is today, someone must do something to make it better even if it means risking life. It might as well be me. We must have more love in this world".
I couldn't agree with him more.

first post

Welcome to Renaissance Man.
I will be posting quotes from my shop, pictures of happy men visiting the boutique (consenting adults only, of course) and anything else I find appropriate.
Happy journey!