Why is Chicago so poorly dressed?

Originally Posted by TylerDurden

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Casual has gone so casual... I don't know....

The people of Walmart, are not just in Walmart.


No one care's what they look like anymore... Is it TV's fault? Is it the internets fault?



I don't think that the majority of people ever "cared" about what they look like. Of course, if you looked to the entertainment world or the aristocrats, you'd have seen fashion "do" more frequently than fashion "don't," but the working class and the laborers were never "Dapper Dans." That's an idealized myth in the same category as the one that states, "Through most of history, women stayed home and men went out to work."

The fact is, that the majority of the people who we see in our daily lives are working class people or those who work lower-level, de-skilled jobs. The others, are people who grew up in working class families and who only wear suits because it's their job to do so.

Originally Posted by magogian12345

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I've noticed that foreign businessmen (in particular, from Germany, France, and Italy) are usually well-dressed.


Business-people who are important enough to their company to make major business trips are usually well-dressed and well-educated regardless of where they come from.

Originally Posted by OttoSkadelig

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BTW, i assume you're excluding the Magnificent Mile, which on a good / bad day comes close to being a fashion catwalk.

A catwalk of plump soccer moms wearing kitty cat sweatshirts? I think you're on to something.

Come to Houston, everyone there is impecabbly dressed.

I may start a Why is Houston so impeccably dressed thread.

Originally Posted by ssnyc

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A catwalk of plump soccer moms wearing kitty cat sweatshirts? I think you're on to something.



look closely. amidst the platoons of soccer moms are smaller contingents of hipsters and genre- and gender-crossing progressives that raise the average.

Originally Posted by OttoSkadelig

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name one midwestern city that is snappy.

BTW, i assume you're excluding the Magnificent Mile, which on a good / bad day comes close to being a fashion catwalk.

Modern fashion clothing = also poorly dressed.

Originally Posted by TRINI

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Why is everyone so judgemental all the time?

+ ∞

Originally Posted by magogian12345

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Modern fashion clothing = also poorly dressed.

at least they are more interesting to look at.

I see more well dressed in Chicago than I do in Indianapolis.

Don't know an economically relevant city where many who matter are particularly well-dressed...

Most of highest-paid traders and hedgies in Manhattan wear crappy OTR suits and ride a smelly/sweaty cab to/fro office

In SiliconValley, no one who matters has worn a Luddite suit/tie in >10yrs (and many are wealthier than any hedgie in Manhattan)....but many commute via some new AMG unlike 3rdWorld Manhattan

Chicago covers a large area ... so it's hard to fit. If the city isn't yet broke -- seems most of America is headed that direction -- I suggest the town leaders call Christo for something bespoke.



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Originally Posted by RSS

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Chicago covers a large area ... so it's hard to fit. If the city isn't yet broke -- seems most of America is headed that direction -- I suggest the town leaders call Christo for something bespoke.



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When Christo did the Pont Neuf in Paris ,it was stunning especially at night...

The contrast between the muddy dirty waters of the Seine and the white canvas was beautiful.

The Reichstag one is more like a giant sweet wrapper than anything else...

Originally Posted by comrade

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I lived there for 17 years from 1971 through 1988.
I shopped for suits and sportcoats in New York as well
as Chicago. New York had better selection and more
individuality in clothing. Chicago Stores, even at the high
end, tended to be more generic as in standard Southwick,
Norman Hilton, etc. Basically, Chicago was, and still may be
in its soul, an Archie Bunker town:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archie_Bunker

Not a recepie for elegance.

Poorly dressed (or, should I say, non-SF-approved dressed)does not mean bigoted or unsophisticated. People here just don't care about clothes - the quality of restaurants, the arts (Lyric Opera, CSO, jazz, theatre), etc. are very high but clothing is just not that big a deal. Once of my best friends is real estate developer who wears Carhartt but he also collects modern art and can complete the Financial Times crossword puzzle (this is anectodal, I know).

Originally Posted by ld111134

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Poorly dressed (or, should I say, non-SF-approved dressed)does not mean bigoted or unsophisticated. People here just don't care about clothes - the quality of restaurants, the arts (Lyric Opera, CSO, jazz, theatre), etc. are very high but clothing is just not that big a deal. Once of my best friends is real estate developer who wears Carhartt but he also collects modern art and can complete the Financial Times crossword puzzle (this is anectodal, I know).

Agreed - there are some isolated pockets of well-dressed individuals, but people here don't care as much about impressing through their clothes. And for many people, they don't see a need to do it for themselves.

I think it'd be easier to dress well if we didn't have such ****** extreme seasons. We have brutal winters requiring an investment in winter clothing. Brutal summers requiring an investment in hot weather wear. And we have about 3 weeks of Autumn. Do we have a Spring? Anyway, I will blame the weather. Or I blame the fact that once you make enough money to buy nice clothes, you're likely to take your cash and move to the burbs. And once in the burbs they have no need for fashion.

I was going to blame beer-gutted Cubs fans on the northside, populated by 20-somethings and 30-somethings who care very little about replacing their clothes from college. But then I recall the black and white sports jerseys and faded jorts worn by the Sox fans and so I can't really be too harsh on the bleacher bums.

And we're all fat in Chicago.

And it's hard to get grease and italian beef juice out of that high-class **** you hafta dry clean.