"Good grooming never goes out of style." I recall reading that poster while sitting in the barber's chair during my nearly three decades in the US Navy. Always show up to work inspection-ready was my motto, because if you looked slovenly in uniform, then any work you produced would be immediately & equally suspect. Spring forward a few years & I've made the transition from Navy blue to corporate gray, & that motto stays with me, although I no longer wear khaki on a daily basis. But what is a suit if not just another uniform? The image you present to the world says much about you & what you bring to the fight, & contributes to other's opinion about you. For me, I was never in a hurry to slip into something more comfortable after work. I loved being in a suit, even if I was just walking the dog around Old Town Alexandria, VA. A trip to the Whole Foods around the corner was in suit & tie (or if I felt wild, I'd take off my tie). My wife thought it was hilarious that I'd immediately lay out tomorrow's suit just as I got home, but for me that act provided me a sense of purpose & control. Now in retired life I still love to slip into a collared shirt, cotton chinos, and Bass Weejuns when I'm going about town because, why not? Good grooming, indeed, never goes out of style.
I love how there is a whole history, as well as a whole philosophy, in that short reminiscence. The way you do anything is the way you do everything, as they say.
In the end you can’t hide any of your experiences, it seems, and you become who you are. In appearance, behaviour, everything.
Thanks for sharing this excellent comment, friend.
They did yes. Algorithm nonsense. Should be resolved and overturned soon KB.
Bless you for dropping by and asking though. It’s appreciated.
Worse case scenario and I can’t resolve it I will still write these essays and divert more of my energy to the Discord server that premium members here get access to.
Thank you. I hope so to. I dislike that it paints me as being somewhat controversial whereas my whole approach to social media has been to try and be a model of positive mimesis and growth without resorting to controversy, polarisation or unnuanced ‘takes’ manufactured specifically to elicit engagement.
It's mostly an American thing, but sadly it began to inflitrate good ol' Europe as well (blame it on the 1KYAE). Most people don't realize (or, to be more precise, have forgotten) that dressing well is a form of respect towards your interlocutor. It does not signify pride nor pedantry, but respect.
I do not have any data on this, but I'm convinced the peak-stylish era of the 50s was a reaction to war and poverty; "we are dressing well because for the first time since the poverty and war of the last 3 decades, we actually can. And we need to prove to ourselves that we can be more to each other than predatory beasts and survivors fighting over the last potatoes".
There are many reasons as to why we don't dress well anymore; the obvious one being that in a society where nothing is serious anymore, and nothing really matters, it's not surprising that clothing followed the trend. Exit the custom suits, welcome juvenile garments. Because how can you be relevant in a forever young culture if you dress like a man?
Another one, more pernicious, is the fact that the current economy could not work with this "dress well" logic; learning to dress supposes technical qualification (why would I buy a 600€, 85% coton coat from a trendy brand that won't keep me warm when I can buy a 70% wool one from a less known brand ?); it also implies historical meaning, as in; "why people dressed like that for so long? Why did they use this fabric or this material instead of an other?
Learning to dress well eventually takes you away from the fast-fashion and the never-ending compulsive consumerism that forces you to "update" your entire wardrobe every 6 months. No wonder it's not popular.
Learning to dress well is also frightening to many; if people start noticing me, maybe they'll eventually think higher of me, and I'll have to live up to their expectations? Frightening world indeed.
A counter on this problem of "dressing well": there is always a distinction between being clean, and "dressing in style". The labor men are the ones who are the most embarrassed to wear a suit 24-7, but would not mind to do for the occasion (or at the very least a dress shirt). The affluent are the ones who should treat suits like an uniform (ala Kingsman "manners maketh men" sense)... but weirdly enough the middle class are the ones most likely to do neither.
The hood rat aesthetic tends to scream the loudest with their brands and money power (upward mobility), but no class or loyalty. Same goes for Asian working rich with their jade circlets and gold chains, with no regards to scripture. Conversely for the downwardly mobile, the smart casual and yoga chic tends to take over. It is often what youngsters call "basic".
All these points to a central theme: dressing well as a sweat-and-labor class is never the same as "getting a suit", but that the suited gentlemen should also practice to respect. This mutual agreement ends the trend of fast fashion and reintroduction of tailored design.
Side note: the reason why more people pick cotton more often than not nowadays, is that there are more people with cold-tolerating temperaments (mesomorphic or what Indians call "pitta") available to shop for clothing. There are more conscientious and aggravative affluents coming out of the woodwork for similar reason. Q: did temperamental demographics change, or just that wealth are moving hands to different people compared to the past? https://archive.ph/egj2qhttps://archive.ph/q4Ze6
‘in a society where nothing is serious anymore, and nothing really matters, it's not surprising that clothing followed the trend‘
That’s a profoundly sad sentence but there is an awful lot of truth in it, Sebastien.
And yes you are right about taking clothing seriously meaning that you end up being a ‘bad’ consumer.
Particularly astute readers such as yourself will have picked up that as well as all of these newsletters really being about mental health there is also a strong thread of anti-corporatism and anti-consumerism (meaning focus on quality and lifetime value rather than being a miserable, bare apartment dwelling ‘Minimalist’)
This is unpopular because it is actually subversive in a way that can be a little risky to signal. The same as dressing well. As you say it means you become noticed with all of the things that that implies regarding expectations, self-belief and Tall Poppy Syndrome.
The crab bucket is real sadly. But the only way to escape seems to involve looking damn sharp while you scale up to the lip of it.
Unironically agree. I recently went back and read some of his blogposts from the mid-noughties. Still pertinent, more so if ever. This whole newsletter of mine is an overly wordy G Manifesto inspired homage for people who just want to nap on the beach rather than be an international playboy man of mystery type.
I think The People’s Champ himself would understand this though.
This essay topic is timely Tom. I recently had my favourite pair of black Levis retire on me. I was in the market for a replacement. A friend suggested a pair of ABC Lululemon pants that he said he’d been living in since Christmas. Needless to say I was sceptical.
I happened to be in a mall a few days ago so I popped in to take a look at them. I cannot adequately describe the mix of sorrow and exhaustion I felt looking at them. The colours. The material. My reaction was “Christ, is this what men are wearing now!?”
Obviously I didn’t buy them. Moreover, I walked out of the store thinking that I didn’t want to be the kind of man that would wear stuff like that. Lockdowns are hard on the psyche but we need higher standards for ourselves.
Thanks for you newsletter. As always it’s given me something to ponder over on a Sunday!
Levi’s aren’t what they used to be. They were great quality wise back in the day, then they absolutely fell of a cliff I think ten years ago (I believe they moved the factory to Turkey or somewhere like that) which is when I stopped wearing denim. Now I gather they have revived somewhat or at least that was the case immediately Pre-Covid from what people tell me.
But yeah Lululemon trackies on a grown man is no bueno in my book.
You’re absolutely right about the need for higher standards James. The strange dichotomy I notice is how unnecessarily harsh people’s standards of ‘productivity’ are yet also how unfeasibly low their standards of things like appearance, hygiene, comportment and all of those other things are *when left to their own devices*
People will begrudgingly dress presentably for work *if they have to* but any vague hint of it being your own decision and out come the lululemons and the stained t-shirts.
I don’t know why this has collectively happened. But I don’t think it bodes well in terms of where the collective mental health and general self-esteem is right now.
Thanks for stopping by and leaving a great comment, James.
What do you wear instead of denim? I have suits which I love. I just feel that wearing them grocery shopping would make me a twat! :) Maybe that’s something for me to work on.
Denim has become my default that I’d find them hard to replace. Completely agree that the quality is not what it used to be. Cheers Tom.
Dark chinos, polo shirt and some kind of patch pocket blazer is the grocery shopping look I would say. But part of me increasingly thinks ‘screw it, I’m gonna go round the shops in a three piece suit, come what may’ The crab bucket will not me drag me down to its shitty sartorial level.
Like Black Flag said ‘Rise above, we’re gonna rise above!’
I would never thought in my whole life, so far with 20 years old, that dressing way too comfortably would be in fact an act of selfishness. Idleness is like my personal brand, although I'm pretty disciplined with many aspects of life. Now I feel that dressing a little bit better, even while I'm at home office, would make my day-to-day interactions, once impaired by quarantine, revive in some manner. Thanks for another great essay Thom!
It seems counterintuitive on the surface, as so much of what we are told signals the opposite, by I absolutely maintain that dressing well is selfless and dressing for comfort is selfish.
Clothing definitely does something to mood, and there is a big different in the mindset you get from being effortlessly stylish vs effortlessly sloppy. This is the definition of sprezzatura vs sloth.
I used to wear childish and supposedly "comfortable" clothes. But recently, with the big help from my wife, I've started to look more for aesthetics. And I shall admit it feels great, all the benefits you mentioned are real.
So whoever is reading this comment, I can verify that everything Tom said is true.
Although all clothes are "analogue", aesthetics seem lost in the modern digital age and considered as something unusual, often claimed as a part of special status (even if it's not a question of money, as you mentioned). I think that hustle culture and overall business favours comfortable clothes and promotes minimalism and a utilitarian approach to style in general - in clothes, architecture, furniture, etc. So, as one who has an old collection of "comfortable" t-shirts in the same wardrobe with overcoats and Chelsea boots, I have big hopes for the aesthetics to come back and become a part of the analogue future.
As with so many other things is this world I am realising that I have to take a bit of ownership and act with some leadership even though that isn’t my default position and temperamental inclination.
Be the change, and all of that. I’m not saying I dress like an out and out dandy, but I feel like I can look myself in the mirror (in both senses of that phrase) when I make a little bit of effort to swim against the tide of drab utilitarian comfort clothes.
I appreciate you backing me up on this, John. Makes me feel like I’m much less out on a limb with a beyond the pale opinion.
"Good grooming never goes out of style." I recall reading that poster while sitting in the barber's chair during my nearly three decades in the US Navy. Always show up to work inspection-ready was my motto, because if you looked slovenly in uniform, then any work you produced would be immediately & equally suspect. Spring forward a few years & I've made the transition from Navy blue to corporate gray, & that motto stays with me, although I no longer wear khaki on a daily basis. But what is a suit if not just another uniform? The image you present to the world says much about you & what you bring to the fight, & contributes to other's opinion about you. For me, I was never in a hurry to slip into something more comfortable after work. I loved being in a suit, even if I was just walking the dog around Old Town Alexandria, VA. A trip to the Whole Foods around the corner was in suit & tie (or if I felt wild, I'd take off my tie). My wife thought it was hilarious that I'd immediately lay out tomorrow's suit just as I got home, but for me that act provided me a sense of purpose & control. Now in retired life I still love to slip into a collared shirt, cotton chinos, and Bass Weejuns when I'm going about town because, why not? Good grooming, indeed, never goes out of style.
I love how there is a whole history, as well as a whole philosophy, in that short reminiscence. The way you do anything is the way you do everything, as they say.
In the end you can’t hide any of your experiences, it seems, and you become who you are. In appearance, behaviour, everything.
Thanks for sharing this excellent comment, friend.
Hey Thomas, is everything alright? Did they suspend your TWTR account?
They did yes. Algorithm nonsense. Should be resolved and overturned soon KB.
Bless you for dropping by and asking though. It’s appreciated.
Worse case scenario and I can’t resolve it I will still write these essays and divert more of my energy to the Discord server that premium members here get access to.
When one door closes another opens.
Glad to hear you are alright. I'm sure it will get resolved one way or another.
Thank you. I hope so to. I dislike that it paints me as being somewhat controversial whereas my whole approach to social media has been to try and be a model of positive mimesis and growth without resorting to controversy, polarisation or unnuanced ‘takes’ manufactured specifically to elicit engagement.
But here we are. Never mind.
It's mostly an American thing, but sadly it began to inflitrate good ol' Europe as well (blame it on the 1KYAE). Most people don't realize (or, to be more precise, have forgotten) that dressing well is a form of respect towards your interlocutor. It does not signify pride nor pedantry, but respect.
I do not have any data on this, but I'm convinced the peak-stylish era of the 50s was a reaction to war and poverty; "we are dressing well because for the first time since the poverty and war of the last 3 decades, we actually can. And we need to prove to ourselves that we can be more to each other than predatory beasts and survivors fighting over the last potatoes".
There are many reasons as to why we don't dress well anymore; the obvious one being that in a society where nothing is serious anymore, and nothing really matters, it's not surprising that clothing followed the trend. Exit the custom suits, welcome juvenile garments. Because how can you be relevant in a forever young culture if you dress like a man?
Another one, more pernicious, is the fact that the current economy could not work with this "dress well" logic; learning to dress supposes technical qualification (why would I buy a 600€, 85% coton coat from a trendy brand that won't keep me warm when I can buy a 70% wool one from a less known brand ?); it also implies historical meaning, as in; "why people dressed like that for so long? Why did they use this fabric or this material instead of an other?
Learning to dress well eventually takes you away from the fast-fashion and the never-ending compulsive consumerism that forces you to "update" your entire wardrobe every 6 months. No wonder it's not popular.
Learning to dress well is also frightening to many; if people start noticing me, maybe they'll eventually think higher of me, and I'll have to live up to their expectations? Frightening world indeed.
A counter on this problem of "dressing well": there is always a distinction between being clean, and "dressing in style". The labor men are the ones who are the most embarrassed to wear a suit 24-7, but would not mind to do for the occasion (or at the very least a dress shirt). The affluent are the ones who should treat suits like an uniform (ala Kingsman "manners maketh men" sense)... but weirdly enough the middle class are the ones most likely to do neither.
The hood rat aesthetic tends to scream the loudest with their brands and money power (upward mobility), but no class or loyalty. Same goes for Asian working rich with their jade circlets and gold chains, with no regards to scripture. Conversely for the downwardly mobile, the smart casual and yoga chic tends to take over. It is often what youngsters call "basic".
All these points to a central theme: dressing well as a sweat-and-labor class is never the same as "getting a suit", but that the suited gentlemen should also practice to respect. This mutual agreement ends the trend of fast fashion and reintroduction of tailored design.
Side note: the reason why more people pick cotton more often than not nowadays, is that there are more people with cold-tolerating temperaments (mesomorphic or what Indians call "pitta") available to shop for clothing. There are more conscientious and aggravative affluents coming out of the woodwork for similar reason. Q: did temperamental demographics change, or just that wealth are moving hands to different people compared to the past? https://archive.ph/egj2q https://archive.ph/q4Ze6
‘in a society where nothing is serious anymore, and nothing really matters, it's not surprising that clothing followed the trend‘
That’s a profoundly sad sentence but there is an awful lot of truth in it, Sebastien.
And yes you are right about taking clothing seriously meaning that you end up being a ‘bad’ consumer.
Particularly astute readers such as yourself will have picked up that as well as all of these newsletters really being about mental health there is also a strong thread of anti-corporatism and anti-consumerism (meaning focus on quality and lifetime value rather than being a miserable, bare apartment dwelling ‘Minimalist’)
This is unpopular because it is actually subversive in a way that can be a little risky to signal. The same as dressing well. As you say it means you become noticed with all of the things that that implies regarding expectations, self-belief and Tall Poppy Syndrome.
The crab bucket is real sadly. But the only way to escape seems to involve looking damn sharp while you scale up to the lip of it.
Another example of how far ahead the G Manifesto was.
Either custom suit or shirtless. The rest is BS.
most not honest enough.
Machete
Unironically agree. I recently went back and read some of his blogposts from the mid-noughties. Still pertinent, more so if ever. This whole newsletter of mine is an overly wordy G Manifesto inspired homage for people who just want to nap on the beach rather than be an international playboy man of mystery type.
I think The People’s Champ himself would understand this though.
Run the numbers.
This essay topic is timely Tom. I recently had my favourite pair of black Levis retire on me. I was in the market for a replacement. A friend suggested a pair of ABC Lululemon pants that he said he’d been living in since Christmas. Needless to say I was sceptical.
I happened to be in a mall a few days ago so I popped in to take a look at them. I cannot adequately describe the mix of sorrow and exhaustion I felt looking at them. The colours. The material. My reaction was “Christ, is this what men are wearing now!?”
Obviously I didn’t buy them. Moreover, I walked out of the store thinking that I didn’t want to be the kind of man that would wear stuff like that. Lockdowns are hard on the psyche but we need higher standards for ourselves.
Thanks for you newsletter. As always it’s given me something to ponder over on a Sunday!
Levi’s aren’t what they used to be. They were great quality wise back in the day, then they absolutely fell of a cliff I think ten years ago (I believe they moved the factory to Turkey or somewhere like that) which is when I stopped wearing denim. Now I gather they have revived somewhat or at least that was the case immediately Pre-Covid from what people tell me.
But yeah Lululemon trackies on a grown man is no bueno in my book.
You’re absolutely right about the need for higher standards James. The strange dichotomy I notice is how unnecessarily harsh people’s standards of ‘productivity’ are yet also how unfeasibly low their standards of things like appearance, hygiene, comportment and all of those other things are *when left to their own devices*
People will begrudgingly dress presentably for work *if they have to* but any vague hint of it being your own decision and out come the lululemons and the stained t-shirts.
I don’t know why this has collectively happened. But I don’t think it bodes well in terms of where the collective mental health and general self-esteem is right now.
Thanks for stopping by and leaving a great comment, James.
What do you wear instead of denim? I have suits which I love. I just feel that wearing them grocery shopping would make me a twat! :) Maybe that’s something for me to work on.
Denim has become my default that I’d find them hard to replace. Completely agree that the quality is not what it used to be. Cheers Tom.
Dark chinos, polo shirt and some kind of patch pocket blazer is the grocery shopping look I would say. But part of me increasingly thinks ‘screw it, I’m gonna go round the shops in a three piece suit, come what may’ The crab bucket will not me drag me down to its shitty sartorial level.
Like Black Flag said ‘Rise above, we’re gonna rise above!’
I would never thought in my whole life, so far with 20 years old, that dressing way too comfortably would be in fact an act of selfishness. Idleness is like my personal brand, although I'm pretty disciplined with many aspects of life. Now I feel that dressing a little bit better, even while I'm at home office, would make my day-to-day interactions, once impaired by quarantine, revive in some manner. Thanks for another great essay Thom!
It seems counterintuitive on the surface, as so much of what we are told signals the opposite, by I absolutely maintain that dressing well is selfless and dressing for comfort is selfish.
Clothing definitely does something to mood, and there is a big different in the mindset you get from being effortlessly stylish vs effortlessly sloppy. This is the definition of sprezzatura vs sloth.
Thanks for reading and stopping by Mauro.
Sprezzatura is the effortless chic of an over-achiever who never admits to hard work.
That’s as good a definition of any. But over-achievement, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder.
Thanks for stopping by, Fe Def.
I used to wear childish and supposedly "comfortable" clothes. But recently, with the big help from my wife, I've started to look more for aesthetics. And I shall admit it feels great, all the benefits you mentioned are real.
So whoever is reading this comment, I can verify that everything Tom said is true.
Although all clothes are "analogue", aesthetics seem lost in the modern digital age and considered as something unusual, often claimed as a part of special status (even if it's not a question of money, as you mentioned). I think that hustle culture and overall business favours comfortable clothes and promotes minimalism and a utilitarian approach to style in general - in clothes, architecture, furniture, etc. So, as one who has an old collection of "comfortable" t-shirts in the same wardrobe with overcoats and Chelsea boots, I have big hopes for the aesthetics to come back and become a part of the analogue future.
As with so many other things is this world I am realising that I have to take a bit of ownership and act with some leadership even though that isn’t my default position and temperamental inclination.
Be the change, and all of that. I’m not saying I dress like an out and out dandy, but I feel like I can look myself in the mirror (in both senses of that phrase) when I make a little bit of effort to swim against the tide of drab utilitarian comfort clothes.
I appreciate you backing me up on this, John. Makes me feel like I’m much less out on a limb with a beyond the pale opinion.
Cheers.