During the last four years I have taken a belated interest in clothing. Initiated by a weight loss that more or less left my old wardrobe useless, I had to source new clothes rather rapidly, and found through eBay, Internet sales and sales in general that I could collect a far better wardrobe for far less money than I had previously amassed. I started off with sport coats, suits and formalware in general, but as this coincided with the growing interest in casual clothing of good quality - and I had not been completely braindead prior to this my new interest - I quickly caught on with that trend too. Actually, reflecting both my background and the flexibility I have in my workplace, I was quite excited about improving my casual wardrobe. And here is the happy preliminary ending: I like the look of myself in my formalwear much better than in my excellent casualwear. The cuts, the colours, the quality of cloth, combine into a package that that supports my ego in a relaxing way. I am indeed happy with most of my casual clothing, but I have to ask: is it worth the money and effort? How much better do I look in a full price $400 t-shirt/sweatshirt/sweater than one at a fourth of the value? And am I able to create an ensamble - a full costume - that create an overall effect that signals anything else than casualness? What do the elaborate and expensive clothes add? I look at pictures here and elsewhere and I do see intelligent and knowledgable people not only making an effort, but also succeeding of achieving something of note. Yet I question the regularity with which we succeed, and if high quality casual clothing really is worth the effort as an alternative to the mote traditional formalwear. Yes, the argument against what I am stating here is that I am comparing apples and pears, and that is true to some extent. But I am coming out on the side of choosing some version of formalwear whenever the occasion permits it.
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