Some people are into clothes. They have fashion sense, and they know what looks good. If they do have fashion sense, they probably look good themselves. I don't have fashion sense. I don't even know, really, what "fashion sense" is, other than knowing what looks good.

How do you get fashion sense? Is it something you're born with, or do you have to be carefully taught? It probably helps if you have a role model, someone to look up to (and at). Maybe you should have some incentive to look good. I live alone and work at home and rarely go out. Most days nobody looks at me, so it doesn't matter if I'm in rags and tatters.

If you don't have a fashion sense but suddenly realize you need to look good, you should probably have a fashion adviser. I freely admit that I can't shop for clothes, for myself or anyone else. I don't think I've ever successfully picked out a gift of clothing for anyone, unless I had some help. And when I need to look good, I have to get help or I might as well stay out of the mall altogether.

Whenever I've tried to shop for my own clothes, the kind that I would wear on those rare occasions when I want to look good, I've failed. I've spent too much on something that wasn't quite right. The color, the size, the style. It doesn't matter. It's just not fashionable, and I look as if I've been dressed by my inner four-year-old.

So today Suzanne and I went to lunch and to shop for clothes for me to wear on the cruise. She's been on several cruises and I've never been, so that's one good (public) excuse for me to ask for her help. (Actually, she volunteered.) The real (secret, private) reason, just between you and me, is that I'd be hopelessly lost if I tried it on my own. And then I'd show up on the ship looking anything but good.

The young sales guy from the sportswear department helped me try on sport coats. He confessed that he didn't know what he was doing, and after he handed me the tape measure without telling me what to do with it, I believed him. It was more or less by trial and error that we found a coat in the right size (which is apparently 42 short). It wasn't my first choice of style, but it was a close second, and by the time we found it, I was ready to fall in love with anything that fit.

When it came to dress shirts, he tried to steer me toward bright colors. I don't know if I looked to him like a twenty-something on the make, but I wasn't going for fluorescent blue. Even thought this was one fashion decision I was pretty sure about, it was good to hear Suzanne echoing my doubts about his shirt choices.

We settled on a more muted shade of blue, and did you know they put metal strips in the dressing rooms that you're supposed to stick the pins on when you try on a shirt? Well, I didn't know that.

Where our sales guy really came through was picking out neckties to go with the shirt and the sport coat. He told us when he made his original disclaimer that his only qualification for taking over the men's department (other than the fact that he worked for the store and someone had called in sick) was that he had some nice clothes himself. Maybe his sister helped pick them out, but the ties he liked were the ties I liked.

And that's it. That was enough money spent in one day in one department store anyway. After letting my store credit card get all moldy in the bottom of my wallet for so long, I didn't want one of those phone calls from the credit department, asking me if someone had stolen my card because there was unusually high activity. Maybe I'll get that call anyway. I did drop some big bucks, as soon as I signed my name on the slip.

I'm feeling good about what I got today, and I'm grateful for Suzanne's help. I'm ready not only for Formal Night on the ship, but also for the wedding in January. And it's even possible I'll find more occasions to wear all this cool new stuff. I can't imagine why I'd want to look that good, but I would like to get my money's worth.

Suzanne also brought me my document booklet for the cruise (which is the second week in November). Eric and I will be sharing a stateroom, and we're sharing this booklet. It's in my custody because he's in the process of moving. It has our itinerary, a checklist of things to remember, and a description of available extras, including shore excursions at the various ports. (It costs $146.00 a person to swim with dolphins, but only $28.00 for the "Town, Country and Tequila Tour.") I'll have more details as I have time to look through the booklet.