interesting WSJ article about dressing up(or not) - Page 8

Using this for a first post after months of lurking I have to say, this is perfectly true and I'm astonished at that every time I'm gaining this experience. I'm wearing suits five to six days a week and I noticed this is not only the case with sartorially interested people (which wouldn't be surprising at all) but with casually-clad fellows, too.

There has to be a reason for that, but what is it? Is it the unconscious impact of a fresh and well-chosen outfit combined with some friendly personality or is it - spoken like a true cynic - only some variation of business-like behaviour around some people assumed to be solvent?

^I think it could be a pavlovian response. The man in the well-fitting suit in movies and on the teevee is usually the debonaire man or the man in power.

Sweat, but not sweat pants, are hot on hotties.

this is so true. i will have to teach my brother these things.

You know, that makes dressing well after 40 sound rational and smart, not irrational and stupid.

.........

Yes, I think that is the point that Bounder is making - you should dress well as, if you just keep on wearing cargo pants, t-shirts and flip-flops, you won't have any chance of attracting nice women...

About the only issues argued about more on SF in the seven or so years I've been here have been the appropriateness of black suits (and we're about due for a new thread on that) and brown shoes (I think we've settled that one). And over the years some have argued we can blame it on the Boomers, economic factors, designers, retailers, Silicon Valley, Bill Clinton's loose WH dress code (and now Obama I suppose), the death of bespoke, an increasingly casual culture, and a multitude of other reasons I can't even remember. And none of it is new. I remember reading a novel published in the early 1970s where one of the economically poor protagonists noted that the rich kids dressed like they were poor, only their clothes cost a fortune. The reality, IMO and worth what you paid for it, is that people like easy and dressing up has always been considered a pain in the rear. It takes work to dress well. For every Cary Grant we had one hundred characters in movies noting that they were pleased to take off "the penguin suit", for every Fred Astaire we had one hundred others loosening their ties because they felt constrained. Yeah, everyone likes a sharp dressed man except the men who feel forced to wear a suit and tie and every woman who feels threatened that she's no longer the sartorial queenpin in a relationship. Me? I don't give a rat's behind anymore. Guy wants to sit in a nice restaurant beside me wearing cut-off cargos and a t-shirt? Rock on brother. Show up to a wedding in your best polo shirt and chinos? Have a drink! Made it to the wake in your clean running shoes, jeans, denim shirt and tie? Make sure to sign the book. Just remember to put your iPhone (and it's always an iPhone) on silent, please. I dress for me. I don't do it for the birds or blokes. I show up dressed for the situation as the old rules dictate but I expect nothing from anyone else. And I don't let it worry me. Why bother? Life is too short and I have other things to worry about. You showed up dressed like crap? Man, my reality doesn't even include you so why kvetch about it? Besides, I don't want any competition for the limited amount of good stuff I can lay my hands on.

I'm glad you typed that all out so that I won't have to. I can just say that I feel the same way. I dress for me and no one else.

+1 Well said, brother (particularly the bolded, which I could easily apply to other threads on this board).

I think the overall point is that sloppiness is indicative of poor character: that's why a man in the early 20th century wouldn't be seen dead in a scruffy t-shirt and some old chinos; there are appearances, there are expectations, and there's pride as evinced in your choice of clothing.

There's a flip side. When I see a person who is blatantly overdressed (wearing a suit to the grocery store), I assume he's a poor. I assume he's a salesman at the mall or something. It really depends on the context and geography.

^or that dude that looks like parick bateman and married to a kardashian

Wrong. Thin, tight sweat pants (and yoga pants) can be teh hawt on a hawt chick.

The problem is the modern attitude where all that matters is MY comfort, MY pleasure, and sod everybody else.

The only pleasure in being well dressed is being so in the presence of other well dressed people.