Most people who grew up in Saint Louis know of Carol House Furniture. I know I bought my first couch there in the 1980s. And why did I choose that store? Because I had no GPS and no internet. I picked that store because I knew where it was (perched at the intersection of two major roads) and recognized the name from their incessant commercials with the slogan “Carol House. Because you like nice things.”
At some point the owner brought his kids Brook and Amy into the commercials, and we watched them grow up, and as they suffered floods and fires and a tornado.
At some point the Dad stopped being in the commercials, and it was just the aging kids reminding us how much we like nice things.
And then today, I saw Brook in the latest commercial.
So! Evidently now we are going to watch Brook’s midlife crisis unfold through commercials.
What in the actual hell is going on with those sleeves? I don’t hate it; if I were a man I’d be sick to death of my limited clothing options, but dude, you are selling Nice Things to the middle class in the Midwest.
Then again, maybe all of Saint Louis men will adopt this fashion trend. Or perhaps the commercial ends with an explanation. This so rocked me I paused the TV so I could let the world know.
4 responses to “Saint Louis Furniture”
… the sleeves are bewildering, yes. ??? and also yes, it would be nice if there were more options for guys in some ways (although honestly they save *so much* time and money by having clothing that is sort of invisible; it is not like a magenta blazer that *everyone* will remember you already wore this week).
Maybe his stylist lost a bet and as a result was required to talk The Boss into wearing some slightly-surreal article of clothing on television? Don’t know…
KC – I have a friend who wore the same tie to work every day for three months to see if anyone would notice. We did not. Also, I know the coasts are ten years ahead of St. Louis in fashion and trends. Perhaps they could weigh in and say “Oh, yeah, gauntlet suits, all the rage in New York.”
True re: the coasts and fashion, but… I’m not seeing anything online about cuffs or gauntlets for men, except this: https://kimonoshi.com/products/blue-cuffs-embroidery-jacket and that’s clearly a different style.
But! Maybe there is a specific search term that’s not surfacing these.. choices.
(and yes. Men have to have a *distinctive* item of clothing for most people to notice it being worn again. I’ve known two men who managed it [both professors] and also would not recommend either set of sartorial choices in general.)
(sartorial choice #1: wear a pastel plaid button-up shirt under a ringer t-shirt; wear a trucker hat. Same three items every day for a week, then change to a different shirt/t-shirt/trucker hat, wear for a full week of class, repeat.)(it is reasonably likely the trousers were on the same rotation, but generic pants are generic pants, whereas pastel plaid office shirts and random t-shirts and product-specific colored trucker hats are… noticeable.)
(sartorial choice #2: a rotation of three notably dilapidated sweaters/jackets, which someone in the class kept a running tally of. Remainder of wardrobe not noted, but extant, since a lack of wardrobe would have been noticeable and also cold.)
KC – That link is actually pretty close, I think. Maybe Brook is trying to educate us.