How They Do It

“I don’t know where he gets it from” she said half laughing. “My son shakes in front of the mirror watching the creases in his pants and how they sway. If they move too much get thee to the cleaners! It’s not me and it’s definitely not my husband.” We were talking in the teachers’ room about our children’s fashion sense and where they pick it up.

We laughed at the image of her teen and the next teacher told of her 18-month-old with no hair to speak of gazing adoringly in the mirror smoothing out her “tresses” with a brush. The talk reminded me of someone else — my little brother-in-law.

At 19 he’s super put-together and polished. I always wondered what it was that made his lines so crisp; it couldn’t just be his Brooks Brothers collar-stays because my husband has those too. Then one Shabbos meal while waiting for my husband to finish washing and return to the table I observed his preoccupation with his shirt cuffs.

He tugged at them a little one edge of the cuff was a millimeter off and not completely aligned with its counterpart. He adjusted it then readjusted his cuff links which had moved a “ma — she —hu” in the tweaking. It took seconds but in that moment I knew that I would never be it. I would never be super-polished and sophisticated with my sheitel perfectly coiffed.