Sweat Shop

Sing it Brother.

Some of you may know that the Tofu Muchacha has one of the most popular blogs in Cincinnati. Her blog is all about her daily fashion, and over the past (almost) 4 years she's developed a really unique flair and style about her.

One of the staples of her fashion is this thing called "Swapping". No.... not that kind of swapping. The idea is that people keep more clothes than they really need in their "rotation", so they put these clothes out into this market of swapping and someone else takes that piece off their hands in exchange for a piece of clothing (or shoes, accessories, etc...) of their own. It is not at all unusual to come home to a soft package on the doorstep sent by some random clothing swapper from Texas or Norway or wherever.

I actually think it's a really cool way to get new clothes without spending a dime (except on postage), AND without overstuffing your closets... You always end up giving away the same amount of clothing you accept. It's very yin and yang.

So... this past Saturday evening there was this swapping event down in the "Brighton" area of Cincinnati, and The TM and I went.... Well.... TM went, and I stood there feeling uncool.

Uncool in just about every possible interpretation of the phrase.... because while I was clearly, painfully, tragically, devastatingly uncool...

I was also sweating my fucking balls off.

That place was the hottest store anyone has ever... EVER been in. It was like we were transported to the hippest Indonesian communal bath you can imagine, and let me tell you... When I imagine Indonesian communal baths, I imagine hotness? I dunno... It was hot.

The TM had been looking forward to this thing for a couple of weeks. She picked out 10 pieces to bring (the max) and we barreled in like Augustus Gloop diving into the river of liquid chocolate. That's when we were hit by the heat-wall. It was like walking into the mouth of some moist hipster. I mean... damn it was so fucking hot in there. I was sweating. TM was sweating. The random strangers walking around the gallery of swappable clothes were sweating. As more clothes-thirsty swappers arrived, the temperature in the room escalated in kind. It became this firey hellish offshoot of Urban Outfitters. It was a trip Sweat Shop... or Sweat Swap, if you will. Sorry... Had to.

This is not to say I was miserable. I really enjoy watching TM shop. It's interesting to see her thought process when she picks up some weird thing. When it comes to clothes, I have a difficult time seeing how things come together to create an outfit, so when she holds up something that I can't possibly imagine looking good on her, and 2 weeks later she wears that thing to work and just absolutely KILLS it, I'm amazed. The process is fascinating. So there's that.

I have nothing else to say. It was an interesting experience highlighted by being in the hottest room (not featuring lava rocks in the corner) of any room I've ever been in.