Until recently, the one real memory I had of a suit involved a mismatched jacket I threw in the trash. I was twenty-two and at the end of my last shift at the movie theatre I’d worked at since I was sixteen. I was a manager, which meant I got to…or had to…wear a jacket and tie. That night I wore the jacket I wore most of the time. It was vintage…dark gray with thin lapels and at least two sizes too big. It was just after one in the morning when the last movie let out. I was outside smoking a cigarette and under the orange haze of the lights in the parking lot I could see how ugly my jacket really was. The shoulders and elbows were worn so thin they shined green like the body of a fly. The popcorn and butter stains didn’t help either. I took a long drag off my cigarette, and in a moment of melodrama I took off the jacket, folded it into a small square and squeezed it into the trashcan.

But things are different now. I wear ties to work even though I don’t have to. I read fashion blogs. I go to fashion week events, like the Band of Outsiders show pictured above. It’s totally embarrassing. And this week on Studio 360, I tell the story of how that happened. Listen below or on your local public radio station this weekend.