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The Official Dieworkwear Appreciation Thread

CBrown85

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It's interesting stuff. Youth culture, at least at the school I'm teaching at, is limited to black hoodies, track pants, and flip-flops or Jordans. If a student, especially a male, wears denim, he's targeted as being a gora (white). Crooks and Castles is still the favourite, followed closely by knock-off Gucci.
 

beargonefishing

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There is overwhelming evidence that the way you dress has absolutly nothing to do with character or class.
 

houselight

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@CBrown85 Interesting. I assume you're in South Asia somewhere. From my experience over the last few years the opposite is true; if you're not wearing blue jeans or track pants (ie if you're wearing 'traditional' clothing) to anything other than school you're seen as a backwards fuddy duddy (obviously this is different in cities with high fashion culture that incorporates traditional dress like Delhi or Lucknow).
 

am55

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Yet Fela Kuti sang in English, so that his music would have a wider reach in Nigeria and elsewhere. Manners and dress standardisation, like this very English we are all typing in, are just another bridge between people, at the cost of some individuality. In that respect I feel like the examples given are red herrings - in both cases, the person requested the diversion from the standard, and it is good (standard) manners to follow.
 

DoubleDouble

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In the previous blog post, Sergio (of Barbanera) mentioned Pasolini wore western shirts… so I had to investigate:
1318781

1318782

1318783
 

Waldo Jeffers

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I think there are two sides of this debate.

One is the wearer. If wearing something makes you feel more comfortable, confident, and/ or powerful, then by all means. Do whatever makes you feel good. Clothing should make you feel more empowered and comfortable, whatever that may mean for you.

The other is the viewer. If you see someone wearing baggy or skinny pants, pants not on their hips, something odd or unusual, or whatever else, I think it's also fine to say you don't care for that aesthetic (I do it all the time). But it's another thing to read things such as character, virtue, or respectability into their clothing. It may be that their clothes simply conform to a non-hegemonic culture. Or they just don't care about dress, but are perfectly respectable in more important ways.

In some situations, it may be that a person's clothing choices should not be deemed respectable. If you wear a t-shirt that says "******** the groom" to a wedding, maybe you shouldn't given respect. But in less extreme cases, and in more normal day-to-day lives, the ways in which people read respectability are often dangerous and get into who's deserving in society (deserving of safety, respect, and a certain quality of life).

Ben Golacre, who lectures on causality, has a good lecture series called Bad Science. Broadly speaking, he talks about "how do you know the things you know." I mostly like it because I like reading about research methods. Most research is very bad, so it helps to be able to understand when something is reliable.

He had a post somewhere (I'm too lazy to find it) about a study showing the effects of respectable clothing (that is, suits) on perceived job performance. This was a really good study. Generally speaking, when musicians trained in classical music wore tailored clothing, the crowd perceived their music to be of a "higher quality" or "more skilled." If they wore jeans, the crowd perceived the music to be more amateur, even if it was the same musicians performing the same composition.

So, use that to your advantage if you wish. But on the viewer's side, maybe just be aware of these irrational biases. The prescription for those two sides are very different -- you can prescribe the performer to conform, but also encourage the viewer to be more rational

I agree in concept but I think it’s important to acknowledge that few people will ever actually question their own biases.

if you choose to dress in a “non-hegemonic” way, then you should expect that you will bear a cost in terms of how many will perceive you

this is not to say this is how things should be, but just acknowledging reality

if you don’t want to be perceived negatively then the most straightforward solution is to conform to conventional expectations

Again, this is speaking practically, putting aside how things ought to be
 

brax

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Yep, the Bryceland's has six snaps. Definitely runs true to size, and if you're between sizes I'd recommend sizing up, since the fabric doesn't give. It tapers at the waist as well, but not overly. Tails are long but can easily be tailored.

The black Cash shirt gets softer after the first wash. It's twill and breaks down like most with every wash. I'm kind of a stickler for keeping blacks black so after a while I'll probably dye it again (I've done that with my COF jeans).

Can't speak from experience about how the denim sawtooths feel initially or after washing, though. @Gus what's been your experience with it?
Not Gus but the Sawtooth is a stiff and heavy 10 oz. shirt. As stiff as my 12 oz one. I haven’t washed it yet so have no idea how easily/quickly it breaks down.
 

Bromley

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Pasolini's sunglasses are awesome.
 

CBrown85

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@CBrown85 Interesting. I assume you're in South Asia somewhere. From my experience over the last few years the opposite is true; if you're not wearing blue jeans or track pants (ie if you're wearing 'traditional' clothing) to anything other than school you're seen as a backwards fuddy duddy (obviously this is different in cities with high fashion culture that incorporates traditional dress like Delhi or Lucknow).

I'm in one of Vancouver's suburbs. Traditional Indian clothing is particularly beautiful, but not many people wear it unless it's on a special day (Diwali or something).

It's fascinating- it could be the dead heat of June and kids are still in head-to-toe sweats.
 

FlyingHorker

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Does anyone have that meme saved of the skeleton in the desert wearing layers of clothing?

It went something like

"Oh ****, he's dead!"
"Sure looks dope though"
"Hell yeah"
 

JJ Katz

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Re. the latest article on clothing, respect and respectability, etc.

If the thesis is that very informal or garish or untidy clothes are NOT proof of moral depravity or professional incompetence, that sets the bar pretty low. Sure; poor clothes are a fairly trivial shortcoming compared to, day, being a complete b#####d.

But that does not equate with the belief that slovenliness or the refusal to differentiate apparel depending on the occasion or wearing vulgar apparel are evidence of laziness or solecism or even rudeness.

The fact that the practice is now widespread is not rationally that relevant, any more than casual nationalistic chauvinism or littering or wanton energy waste can be justified due to their frequency.

Revisionist relativistic readings of social history have tended to prove poor explanations. Coarseness of one kind begets coarseness of other kinds. Veneer is less important than underlying substance but it is not entirely unimportant.
 

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