My Smile Sweater
By, Allie Miller
1) "I wear you all time and no one notices mwahahaha" sweaters
2) "I wear you once and it's burned in everyone's head" sweaters
The former is nearly always a black v-neck sweater. It's my version of the Steve Jobs uniform. Slap on some denim and black leather boots, and you have half the outfits I've ever worn. I'm colorblind, and this outfit option is easy. Black matches everything.
The latter is the sweater in question.
You see, I didn't even buy this sweater. I got it in May 2015 when my grandmother passed away. My sister and cousins and I looked through her stuffed closet and overflowing jewelry collection and found troves of insanity. Jaguar brooches, Chinese kimonos, neon striped scarves--my grandma had her own sense of style and people took notice.
I wanted something to remember her by. So of course, in addition to some jewelry that I still wear to this day, I opted to take one article of clothing. One absolutely absurd sweater that I could always count on for a smile.
I always meant to send photos of it to Rob. Not just because I thought it would make him smile, but because I wanted his commentary. I needed to hear how he would describe the fading color, the inconsistent thickness, the rough pilling on the inside, the coarse texture of the beaded appliqués, the random patches of velvet, the lack of ribbing of the cuffs--everything.
You see, a sweater isn't a sweater until it's been described by Rob.
So I wanted to do the next best thing and send the photo out into the world of Rob. His closest friends. The people who most looked forward to his ridiculous but somehow exactly-what-you-needed emails about his sweater that day. And some of the people that knew him best.
And maybe it's just me, but somehow this email and this sweater have brought me closer to Rob. Robohoff. The boy in my French class that I called freshman year on my Cisco landline in Brown. The creative genius I got to work with for Dartmouth Dimensions. The philanthropic gem that I spent every Friday at DREAM with. The dancer extraordinaire who outshone everyone in Shebalite. The best friend I shared most of my most cherished memories with.
Rob, I'm going to break the email rules and wait until Halloween to wear this sweater. But I know that when I walk around campus sporting an off-black cotton-poly blend with a faded (and in some places lumpy) pumpkin...
It will be a great success for everyone involved. Miss you, Rob.
Love,
Allie
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