Coat of many colors

I was told by a good friend that "you are the most courageous man I know, to post that picture." What? I wore this coat for the recent Time Life Malt Shop Memories Cruise that departed Tampa last Thursday for three days, visiting the Bahamas for one day, but focusing on featuring singing acts from the 50's and 60's.

I wore similar fabrics during my four years in high school, when the "cool" people actually wore madras coats, shirts, pants, etc.
Funny story is that during my high school Junior Year (1964) we had an Indian exchange student named Vinay Deshpande, who told us that "in my country, only the beggars wear madras cloth". Gee, and we thought it was so "prep" back in Indianapolis. Maybe that says more about Indianapolis, than anything else.

Anyway, I took it along for the "sock hop" event, which was rained out on the main deck - had to settle for seeing the Beach Boys twice. I snuck in for the second seating, preferring to listen to them a second time than to hear a bunch of old guys who never left Philly and were singing "do-whop" in the Centrum. So, while wearing it I decided to "sit" for the photos you see taken on shipboard and sold for outrageous prices ($29.95). I ended up with about 24 to choose from using various backdrops, but got it down to two - one of which was paid for by "shipboard credit" from the cruise. The second one I purchased was with one of my tropical shirts. I was tempted to buy several others, but decided two were enough. Later I was told by a buddy that he'd buy one or two, then take digital pictures of the others he didn't buy. Damn, should have thought of that myself.

Actually, I love this jacket and have worn it several times to church, where somebody called me Joseph (Old Testament reference for my unchurched friends). And it's probably better than my Kiwanis bright orange blazer. Funny coincidence - both the Madras jacket and the orange blazer cost the same. Hey, for $99 bucks, who could pass up such a bargain. It's all about the Benjamin's they say, and if you can be a fashion plate [or perhaps at least a soup bowl] for under $100, you go for it.