How do you relate your taste in apparel to your environment?

[Luca]

When it comes to forum members here think about their clothing sense and taste, how does that intersect with their environment? As the Germans might say (sp.?) was ismus sind Sie?

It seems to me that men fall into four broad categories when it comes to clothes. I hasten to add that I doubt there are any posters, here, who fall squarely in the first two categories.

A > Ascetic utilitarians are men who perceive clothing purely as a means to conceal nudity and provide warmth as necessary. They cannot fathom why anyone would want to invest apparel with symbolic, aesthetic or socio-economic meaning of any sort. They will wear whatever is cheapest and most convenient as long as it’s permitted.

B > Mimetic conformists are able to countenance that clothing may be invested with non-mechanical qualities but see these as being purely contextual to collective standards (whether within society as w hole or some fairly broad subset of it). They will wear clothes of a quality and aspect that blends in as smoothly as possible with the average, whatever that may be, for any occasion.

C > Elegant absolutists are convinced that there are essentially objective, very slowly changing standards of aesthetic and practical quality of dress. They regret the fact that the vast majority of their peers, in varying degrees, fail to meet such standards while they themselves adhere closely to them. They will wear clothes that are as elegant and well-cut as possible but generally would eschew any flourish that might be branded as outlandish.

D > Expressive individualists see dressing as a personal artistic statement. They are relatively indifferent to what others wear as long as they are left unhindered in their fanciful practices, though they seek the company of like souls. They will wear clothes that verge on the theatrical, even if sometimes elegantly mixed and carefully sourced.

And now a tongue-in-cheek Q&A

What would they wear at their cousin’s wedding?

A: the closest thing to work-out or farm clothing their wife will let them;
B: odd jacket and the shoes they wear at the office, may or may not wear a tie and the jacket-trouser combo may not necessarily match well;
C: their nicest, dark 2-3 piece suit, a white broadcloth shirt, black cap-toe oxfords and a grey/silver tie
D: either vintage morning dress at an informal garden wedding or a 19th-century naval-uniform-inspired outfit at a daytime black-tie wedding.

What do they think of world-city hipster styles and places?

A: puzzled but ultimately indifferent;
B: declares them pretentious but secretly wishes he could be one;
C: disdain for their impermanence and poor sense of quality;
D: fellow visual insurrectionists.

What would they drive if they chose their car like they choose their clothes?

A: a used people-carrier with the best mileage or, if a bit more masculine, an entry-level 4x4 or pick-up;
B: anything by Toyota or Ford;
C: an Aston Martin if he can afford it otherwise an Audi saloon;
D: a custom ride that does not always start on cold mornings.

[hectorm]

And now a tongue-in-cheek Q&A

Very funny, Luca.
My answers to the Q&A, given the limitation of choices, they would be all unapologetic Cs.
As for the question of the topic, it deserves more pondering and I might come back to it.

[Luca]

More Q&A, then...

What type of hat do they own?

A: a ball cap they got for free at work and a J-Sports polyester beanie for winter.
B: a paper hat from the Christmas cracker at the company December party and an inexpensive flat cap he is too embarrassed to wear.
C: a rabbit-fur, custom made, medium-brim, dark brown or charcoal fedora that costs just a bit less than a class-A. Any other hat is pathetic.
D: solar topee, three tops hats, a vintage homburg, a bowler, a boater, etc.

What is their favourite tie?

A: none. If his wife forces him to wear one, he borrows the crappiest tie his next door neighbour is willing to lend him.
B: anything from Tie Rack that's not too obvious. Is afraid of any striped tie in case it "belongs" to some club.
C: a self-lined, 12-fold, self-tipped, custom length, plain dark blue twill Marinella that, to 99.9999% of the population is indistinguishable from a Tie Rack £12.99 job.
D: a slightly moth-eaten, 1922, purple, chartreuse and mustard bow tie they found in a shop in Prague. Anything with a diamond tie pin in it.

What watch do they wear?

A: who needs a watch when you always carry a smartphone with you?
B: owns a fake Rolex a mate bought in Asia but wears a Sekonda.
C: a hand-made, Swiss, time-keeping micro-sculpture with 73 complications that's insured at Lloyd's or a vintage Cartier.
D: either a Victorian pocket-watch or has a rather vague concept of time-keeping.

A casual / smart shirt means?

A: a T-shirt, obviously / something oatmeal, vaguely checked with an inexplicable 'texture' made by child slaves in Myanmar.
B: a polo shirt from M&S / a dingy, no-iron 50/50 white shirt from M&S.
C: a T&A shirt with single cuffs / a Budd shirt with double cuffs.
D: Neither adjective has any meaning. He wears a stiff-collar, starched-front to meet friends at the pub on Sunday and a see-through voile, riviera-collared shirt to work.

What wine do they buy?

A: whatever Tesco has on sale that week... and Carling for the boys.
B: he's read about Chilean, 20 years after they became big, in the Telegraph. Secretly, he would prefer Ribena.
C: expansive tastes. The nice man at J&B sends over such nice vintages. Has two cases of port laid down.
D: Champagne is a wine.

What about when it rains?

A: All his clothes are water-repellent as are his shoes. No problem.
B: Always carries a collapsible 'totes' micro-brolly with an 8" canopy. Except on rainy days.
C: J. Smith & Sons; strictly black
D: J. Smith &Sons; lavender or royal blue.

[hectorm]

Oh, Luca, now you are making it more and more difficult for me to remain exclusively on the Cs.

[HristoStefanov]

What would they wear at their cousin’s wedding?
C

What do they think of world-city hipster styles and places?
C

What would they drive if they chose their car like they choose their clothes?
Tesla or other high quality electric car. And this is not only because of the environment. Electric cars will soon perform better than conventional cars. And I feel that paying to the Russians and to the Arabs billions for oil so that they can use them to buy weapons and to fuel wars in the Middle East is both stupid and immoral. Seriously - all weapons in the Middle East are bought with oil. Iraq had the 4th largest army in the World by the time of Saddam, Saudi Arabia buys the latest weapons from Germany and US and plays war in Yemen, Russia is present in Syria because they had oil money to finance such expensive military operations and it is a public secret that SA and Qatar are financing rebel groups in Syria. And of course ISIS is finances with oil smuggling (and it is possible that they are also financed by some oil producing countries from the region).
So f* your oil consuming Aston Martin. One guy from Munich made a 4000 km Eurotrip with his Tesla in 48 hours without paying a cent for fuel or electricity - he used only the free Tesla super charger stations. And the performance is insane - Tesla Model S P90D accelerates from 0 to 100km/h in less than 3,3 seconds. Why would anyone buy a conventional car?

What type of hat do they own?
I have still not found a hat to fall in love with. Would consider a bespoke hat maker.

What is their favourite tie?
C

What watch do they wear?
A - I don't wear watches. If I need to know the time, I would simply ask the most attractive girl in range.

A casual / smart shirt means?
D - I know the rules, but I have preferences - all my shirts are with double cuffs. All my non formal wear shirts are button down. This way I am usually wearing shirts which are too smart to be casual for some and too casual to be smart for others. But who cares as long as I like my shirts.
I remember Simon Crompton posted on Instagram a photo of him wearing a splendid black tie suit with a wing collar shirt. And there was a pile of comments that wing collar is wrong and bla bla bla bla. I could not stop laughing. Simon was the best dressed guy in the room and people criticized him for wearing a wing collar shirt. Absolutely ridiculous.

What wine do they buy?
D or simply a fresh pressed juice.

What about when it rains?
D

[Costi]

E



Basically there are only 2 categories of people: those who split people into categories and those who don't.

Fun read, Luca

[vancehn]

E



Basically there are only 2 categories of people: those who split people into categories and those who don't.

Fun read, Luca

[uppercase]

This is too difficult. Too cerebral.

I dress, therefore I am.

Dressing is a creative act, which I do exclusively for myself. Daily. For better or for worse.

If on a desert island, I would certainly not dress.

Hence, look at the underlying physique upon which we hang our clothes.
This has to be the best that we can make it. It is the starting point.

Laziness in physical education cannot be be compensated for by fastidiousness in clothing.
That would be a charade, a deceit.

Begin with the body. Self respect for oneself. Discipline. Standards. Vitality. Health. Vigor.
Hang those T-shirts on square shoulders and a flat stomach.

It is too easy to buy the disguise of a well cut bespoke suit.

[hectorm]

Laziness in physical education cannot be compensated for by fastidiousness in clothing.
That would be a charade, a deceit.

Dear UC,
but an unsightly protruding clavicle (result of a heroic bicycle collision ) that sticks up and lifts one side of the jacket collar can be well managed by a hand sewn sleeve and shoulder padding.
You may say that´s a deceit, but that´s what bespoke tailors are for. I´m only sorry that I cannot resort to that kind of charade with my T-shirts also.

[Costi]

Dressing is a creative act, which I do exclusively for myself.[...]
If on a desert island, I would certainly not dress.

Almost in one breath...

Robinson did. In goat skin.

Begin with the body. Self respect for oneself. Discipline. Standards. Vitality. Health. Vigor.

Right! RIGHT!

Left, right, left...

[uppercase]

Funny but my clavicle also is a problem. Skiing accident. Always confuses the tailors.

Really, a nice T or casual shirt, trousers and shoes is all that one needs in summer.

But it has to be hung on an appealing physique.

I know a swimsuit model. She exercises 6 hours a day and lives on champagne and cigarettes. That is absurd.

The promise and potential of youthful beauty is long gone.
But a heroic effort to return to my 20s is not wasted.

Everything looked good then. Even nothing on Mykonos.

[Luca]

Elegance may not require morning dress and a topper but if, truly, "a nice T or casual shirt, trousers and shoes is all that one needs in summer" then in winter surely all one needs is those plus a sweatshirt and a fleece?

That way lies the sartorial wasteland that I have to gaze upon every weekend.
How do we reconcile a lounge based on fabrics that cost more per yard than a perfectly presentable entire outfit with such low ambitions?

I honestly don't think we can or should 'justify' bespoke elegance with the occasional physical imperfection. Only Ken dolls are perfectly symmetric.

Embrace your dandyism! No need to make excuses for elegance! Come out of the (cedar-lined) closet!

[Costi]

Only Ken dolls are perfectly symmetric.

And only they are forever 20, too...

The rest of us had better come to terms with mortality and its feared heralds. The sooner, the better. It's a lot more relaxing.

[hectorm]

....... It's a lot more relaxing.

Call me superficial, but I don´t want to look like the relaxed people who came to terms with their mortality and attend the yoga classes in my club. I want to look like the very stressed people in denial who are training for a triathlon in the next room.

[Scot]

....... It's a lot more relaxing.

Call me superficial, but I don´t want to look like the relaxed people who came to terms with their mortality and attend the yoga classes in my club. I want to look like the very stressed people in denial who are training for a triathlon in the next room.

You are superficial.