Sunday, September 14, 2008

Places to Avoid: Holt Renfrew - not the place to meet women or buy a suit

Holt Renfrew is primarily aimed at women.

As a result, the mens goods that can be had there and the women for that matter need to be examined closely.

HR attracts people with profound aesthetic senses. I have immense respect for this and the store's stock reflects this crowd's sensibility.

But mens' clothing, unlike women's couture, does attach itself to the shifting debates of some peoples' artistic sensibilities
HR is not a place to buy a suit. You can have far better made to measure elsewhere.

HR is the place to buy ties and socks, pajamas and underwear. Beyond that, I am skeptical.

HR also sells illusions. The aesthetic of the place is associated with financial, emotional and social security. These things are temporary in a capitalist economy. I had the misfortune of meeting a woman, who I quite liked, at HR.

What I did not like is that she needed these illusions to be substantiated in her life. Her solution was to find a man meet her needs. The problem is that men, unlike God, cannot give guarantees. This is a shifting world a ambiguities. A man that promises things beyond his control is a lier. Truthful me can only speak in relative probabilities.

Smart women understand that element of chance and risk in life. They also understand the fortune favors the bold and the not the criminal.

To be sure there are men like this at HR, but they are in tow with a wife and kids. Why am I not married ... I did not take enough key risks and failed to comprehend opportunities.

Sensible women, who do not worry about squeezing their ass into spandex, can be found on Ottawa's running trails, ski slopes and gyms. There is something about the understanding that minor goals require sweat, exhaustion, some fear and sometimes pain, to sort out the sheep from the goats.

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