I have a rule never to trust anyone in a dark suit and bright gold "power" tie. (Closely followed by the bright red power tie.)

In long experience I can't remember anyone ever disproving my stereotype.

I generally assume well dressed people, men and women, care about things. Things like some respect for the past tried and true, some thought about how others perceive them, and vice versa, some idea of group norms, situational dressing and ethics, and basic hygiene.

Mostly I'm right but sometimes, rarely in my wide-ish circles, as pointed out above there are arseholes with taste.

Sadly I'm not sure that there is a lot of consensus these days on what are good and bad manners. This is part of the problem.

Last edited by fxh (2011-05-14 07:50:33)

In the US, I've never noticed any reliable correlations between the way a person is dressed and their manner of being. Often the man in the Gordon Gekko-esque power suit can be a jerk, but not always. At the other end, many a person living on the streets has been very polite while wearing rags, while others would make a Gekko blush twice.

I can remember that a man in a suit was accorded respect just for the suit, and if his bearing was good, that respect continued. However, if he behaved badly, he might still get some curt respect but not much else. This might jive with respecting the office or title of the person but not the person in the office or title holder.

Overall, like Formby, the worst jerks I've ever met were very well dressed by Flusser or Brummell standards, and their clothes were soon shown to be their only redeeming feature. At least they were pleasant to look at while they behaved horribly.

Gosh, a lot has been happenin' here since I last strolled by! I think that 'dandy' has become a pejorative term but I also disagree that Brummell was seen as a 'popinjay' in his time; otherwise he would not have gained the eminence and influence that he did gain - not to mention (despite - or because of - his miserable end), the legend. There is also the modern term 'dapper' but there is a subtle distinction between that and the modern use of 'dandy' and does not carry any negative connotations - Duff Cooper springs to mind as the epitome of the 'dapper' man; whereas 'Bunny' Roger was called a 'dandy'. There is some factor involved, which distinguishes the well-dressed, virile man of action (who justifies his existence outside the dressing room), from the effete lounger; star-gazing in the looking glass; or photographing himself in the work lav. with his 'phone camera, and then posting-up self-conscious pics on the internet, asking all the world: "Does my bum look big in this? - It does, doesn't it?".

I entirely agree, FNB. Beau Brummell's great triumph was that, although he was the acknowledged Leader of Fashion, in an age of relative exclusivity, he was an 'outsider' and a 'rogue'; remained an outsider and a rogue throughout; even though he died a disowned exile. He had a form of constancy.

At first, he had never had to live on his wits as such as he was left, early on, an adequate inheritance to maintain a great lifestyle. A losing streak at gaming (and he certainly had not always been a loser at that), compounded by lost borrowings, put paid to it all but, even after that, he managed never to do a solid day's work (the Consulate was a mere sinecure and a 'perk') and, when he was begging for relief from friends (relief from 'bran bread'), he was sucking back Dorset ale and a bottle of claret with his supper, despite Armstrong's restraining hand. I suppose that we have to hand it to him that, until illness overtook him, he never failed, come what might, to remain himself, and being 'ourselves' is something that a great many people never quite manage; because they are overtaken, allow themselves to be overtaken, with the prescribed grind of working their arses off, for someone else's benefit, in return for just enough to scrape by on, all the way up the bloody hill - and then uncomplainingly take the final smack in the mouth: a thankless, unremembered end. Even though most people just go through these motions, out of conditioning, they know that there is another way and, out of their own frustration and clanking their chains, they profess to despise, condemn and fear (but also secretly admire), those who dare to take it.

The thinking-out-of-the-box mindset is quite rare and often bears a heavy price. But then, everything, including winning money, bears a price.

Last edited by NJS (2011-05-14 19:58:38)

The baby- boomers and the rot - yes I am of that generation and I fear that the rot is our fault but, the trouble is that the rot (and there is much) has, sometimes, been a consequence of a greater good. It's a tough one and the issues are difficult to deal with in an age which pussy-foots around hyper-sensitivity: a Durex Gossamer of an age.

I had thought that Cameron and Co had been busily erasing their backgrounds (there's a great irony in there somewhere) and abandoning ties at every opportunity; I once noticed that the green and white polka dot tie on a pink shirt was a more daring variation on the yellow tie and blue shirt - and don't they say that a Tory tie doesn't change its spots? It just gets shoved out of sight for a while.

I have to confess that I once had a light yellow Hilditch & Key tie, which I wore with a white shirt and even toyed with the idea of a Parliamentary candidacy for the Socialist Workers' Party but they said:

"Wrong tie, son".

Out-dressing the boss sounds like a bone-headed idea and they need to read their Machiavelli.

Last edited by NJS (2011-05-15 06:49:18)