you don't win friends with salad

A friend like Ant

I'm not sure if I'm too young for a mid-life crisis, and perhaps the word "crisis" is a bit elaborate for this, but a friend encouraged me to step outside of my comfort zone recently, and it turned out to be... not as bad as I was predicting.

Let me introduce you to Ant. He is my best friend, and we met through work. We quickly became fast friends when we realised we shared a mutual love for Michael Jackson and Elvis Presley. Since then, we've never looked back. Like all good friends, we share jokes, problems, and advice. Ant called me out on my personal brand recently, remarking that he only ever sees me in the same five plain, boring shirts. I explained that I only own five plain, boring shirts. Upon hearing this, Ant, who has a motto of "fashion is a danger", was slightly put out by this revelation. Later that evening he sent me across some shirts he thought would look good on me, which were somewhat more daring, and not the usual garments I'd buy from Debenhams or Marks & Spencers.

I've long believed that a man should dress sensibly, not ostentatiously, but - with nothing to lose - I went ahead and purchased one of the shirts. I threw myself at the mercy of his better judgement and asked him to pick me out one. It was from the website ASOS, which uses models aged about 20 with tattoos on their necks, but he implored me to look beyond that. The item was in the sale, and faster than you could say "impulse buy", it landed on my doormat.

It was my cousin's 30th Birthday party on Saturday, and I wore the shirt. I sent Ant a mirror selfie for his opinion, and he loved it. My Dad swung by my place to pick me up, and both he and my brother complimented the shirt as well. I swear, I left that party a star! Everybody was saying how different it was, and how good it looked on me. I messaged Ant and, throwing caution to the wind, asked him to send me across some more recommendations.

I haven't changed my wardrobe since... let me think now. Since about the time of Christ I believe, so it feels quite refreshing to be in the mindset of putting to bed those five plain, boring shirts and adding a bit of zest and colour to my wardrobe. If anything, it's given me a much-needed confidence boost.

I think every man needs a friend like Ant.

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