Bagillion

I hate the Atlanta airport. No matter how much time I spend there, I can’t stand it. I know it’s the busiest airport in the world, but if it could be a little less busy I’d still hate it.

Probably the worst thing about Atlanta is its size. Each terminal is fifty bagillion gates long and it takes forever to walk the concourse to get to the sardine can tram to go to another fifty bagillion gate long terminal. My flight is never in the center and I always have to sprint to one place from another. I think the airlines are getting payback for years of ungrateful customers by making layovers there as short as possible, too.  A57 to E32 in 10 minutes, who will win? You? Or the Atlanta Airport?

Today’s trek through the worst place on Earth was made particularly uncomfortable as one of my travel companions decided to stop in the duty free store. Of all the duty free stores we will pass, he chose to go to the one in the airport with the shortest layover.  Waiting on my friend to buy his duty free chocolates, I had some time to admire some recycled clothing displays in the airport.

I participated in an Eco Fashion show a few weeks ago, and it was neat to see how other designers came at some of the problems I did. Of course the outfits in the terminal were professional, but (if you didn’t look too hard) I think my designs could have been displayed next to them.

I had been in the midst of creative dry spell when the show started looking for entrants, and I leapt at the opportunity to focus on not school. Despite the fact that I felt like a small sweatshop child (3 complete outfits in 2 weeks, initially without a sewing machine), I had a great time. Choosing fabrics and looking up patterns, I experienced a way of life and doing things that most people just don’t do anymore.

Probably the biggest obstacle I faced was the idea that guys don’t make clothes. That’s stupid, I can do whatever I want, I could be President if I wanted to… but instead of working on my stump speech, I made a t-shirt halter and some burlap shorts.

Making clothes made me look at how I relate to clothing differently. By making for different body types, I learned how to capture lines and curves and what really brought out the best physical features in a person using their wardrobe. Also, I felt a lot of pride in my designs. Going from someone who had only ever sewn buttons and rips, I gained a whole new skill set that I hope to practice in the future.

Portland Bound,

Mr. Mockler