Dressing: an antidote for life’s difficulties??

[uppercase]

Here is a quote from Put This On :


In an old documentary about Tom Ford, the American designer explained this scene from his 2009 film A Single Man, where his distraught protagonist George drags himself out of bed in order to get dressed. The scene wasn’t in the original book on which the film is based, but Ford put it in because it was a bit of his own life. Ford has been very public about his struggles with depression, and one of the things that gives him joy is putting on a suit. “It might be false,” he said in the documentary, “but I feel like if I shine my shoes, put on a tie, and make myself look as good as I can possibly look, I feel better. That somehow it’s armor; it’s a ritual that I go through.” Our point here isn’t that fashion can cure depression, but that good clothes, like good music, can be a wonderful part of your day.

My view: yes, dressing can be a wonderful part of the day.
And even a bromide for some of life’s temporary and superficial difficulties.
Waking up, dressing with care, bravely facing the day, presenting our resolute outer shell while nurturing our inner self,....well, every little repetitive, positive, routine helps.

Who knew that tailors could be shrinks in disguise ??!!

[uppercase]

https://youtu.be/8da1nXckEy4


Makes sense to me....

[Luca]

I think that one of the fallacies of contemporary (romanticist) mores is the veneration of ‘authenticity’ understood as the absence of artifice, of elaboration. In that light, interest in superficial elements like apparel is damnable. I suppose it derives from Rousseau’s inversion of the concept of original sin but, like so many progressive doctrines, it ultimately robs us of individuality and meaning nearly as much as the strictures against which it rebels. In the stricter Christian tradition, vanity is opposed because it reflects excess self-regard; in the post-Christian piety because it reflects insufficient self-regard.

But we humans are self-defining, self-reinventing creatures and the costume we don is part of that statement, that striving. The vast decrease in uniformity of dress, of the very concept of correctness has clearly opened up the possibilities for self-expression through dress (as well as many other areas). I think that what Mr Ford points to makes perfect sense and, even though there is a risk of narcissism and vanity in the pursuit of elegance, a humanist perspective should be amicable to such forms of expression.

https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/act ... ulture/#!

[old henry]

Uppercase,another great post. I have only my customers comments on how they feel when they put on a suit or coat made just for them which they took part in the making of. They look for a reason to wear it because of how it makes them feel. The looks they get. The comments. Also knowing that they look great. It's like a slow drip of endorphins.
FS

[uppercase]

Greetings and felicitations OH!!

There has never been any doubt in my mind that clothes are transformative, mystical and magical.

With a bit of imagination, whimsy and release, a tailor’s alchemistry can transport us to what is good, or immerse us further in what good we already possess.

There is an integrity, honesty, simplicity, an anchor of stability and tradition, a tether to sanity, offered by tailored clothing and for which some of us are searching. Thank you.