“The worry for all the candidates should be, if you dress with really any kind of serious fashion sense, you WILL look gay.”
–Fox News Commentator
Boggles the mind what passes for political news commentary these days, doesn’t it? Don’t believe me that one of Fox News’ regular talking heads would say something so completely ridiculous (and offensive) on the air? Watch the Daily Show video for yourself (besides, John Hodgman is always humorous — it’s worth watching for him alone).
I wish I knew which of the dingbats said it … some dark-haired woman I know I have seen on Fox News for ages, a supposed “serious” reporter. I don’t know any of the TV talking heads by name, because the only time I am exposed to any of their inane babbling is when it ends up on The Daily Show or The Colbert Report, which is the only place stupid crap like the above quote should ever be uttered in the first place.
A big reason Americans dress so poorly is because in organizations where sucking up is the quickest way to advance, the suit and tie underlings are careful not to outshine the boss, just as they pretend to agree with everything he says and does. That’s why in businesses where the big guy dresses well, the rest of the crew tends to follow suit. However, most times the boss is a slob, so the rest have to be slobs, too. Apologists have long rationalized this phenomenon as evidence of our American sense of democracy. I think that among the hourly wage class, lesser traveled and educated, it’s often ignorance as to how awful they look. They see tailoring as something for movie stars, athletes, lawyers and marines, not them. Dressing like Beaver Cleaver at age fifty is a manifestation of resignation to one’s status in life, and the vast majority of middle-aged Americans (voters) have obviously given up. So the Fox News commentary is correct if you substitute ‘not stupid and not ugly and not poor’ for ‘gay.’ People may be those three things, but they don’t like being reminded of it.
I have always done my best to dress well and appropriately for the occasion. Clean and neat with clothes that fit. Hell, I even do my hair and dress nicely to go grocery shopping, and pretty much live by the rule that it’s better to overdress for something than underdress. I am often annoyed by the way people dress for special events in Austin, like the ballet. Thong sandals and ragged jeans … at the ballet! I have even seen someone wearing cut-offs at the ballet. Cut-offs!!! Makes me nuts.
I get being poor. Been poor for much of my life. Far more so than I am now, and yet we still managed to look presentable at all times. But it’s damn well near impossible to do so these days when even an expensive pair of “nice” jeans comes pre-torn and faded in the butt and knees. When I went to buy new jeans last year, I had to choose between having jeans that fit well and having jeans that were already too worn to be put on for a night out at a nice club (in my opinion, of course). I mean, if you look at the clothing being sold, even in the top dollar stores, they mostly look like rags to me. Pre-worn, pre-faded, ripped up, lacking hems, and so on. The only people who can afford to “look gay” are those having clothing made for them. The common folk, buying in retail stores, are left buying new rags that are in worse shape brand new than vintage stuff you find at Goodwill. So I can’t entirely blame people for looking like slobs. What you going to do when that’s the only thing on the racks?!
You pretty much summed it up about the business world. I saw that first hand myself. If there is somewhere out there where sucking up isn’t the quickest (or only) way to advance, I never ran across it. One of the best days of my life was the day I decided to speak my mind at work. Didn’t do so much for my career (which I had already decided I wanted out of anyway), but it did do wonders for the high blood pressure and impending heart attack I felt certain was around the corner if I tried to keep on that path. Sure, less money in the bank, but I was happier and healthier and a much nicer and better person once I decided big business was not for me. That sucking up can be a soul killer, and dressing like the boss is only one small part of it.
Here is something I am sure you are aware of. Whether you purchase clothes at retail or vintage stores, the one thing you should do, aside from keeping your clothes clean, is take them to a tailor to have them fitted. It can make the world of difference in how the look on you, and how they fit, and the cost is reasonable.
That’s where I am lucky. I started sewing at 5, and then I have off and on done tailoring and seamstress work for other people, so I can do it myself. You are right though, great clothes can still look shabby if they don’t fit right, and nothing ever fits me off the rack.