I know what you mean, but there are many well-dressed gents to be found on Madison Avenue (between 44th and 50th or so) and up and down Park Avenue.

Sometimes, on really pleasant days, I walk around these areas on my lunch hour to stretch my legs and be surrounded by fellow conscientious dressers.  Yes, I am weird, but it can be encouraging and I get ideas for combinations or approaches I would never have come up with on my own. 

This is dangerous on Madison, because I am inevitably inspired by someone's ensemble and am compelled to pick up a little something at Brooks, Press, or Paul Stuart.

l'm dissapointed in Australian dress standards too. Most of the best dressed people are in designer clothes because they don't know any better. Very rarely l see a Brioni, and even more rarely do l see something which resembles bespoke. The shoes are nearly always appalling; even on the men with the better suits. l'm in a state of constant disgust with peoples dress standards and l actually feel sorry for the people in bad footwear. lt always puts colour in my cheeks when l see a good suit or a good pair of shoes; it allows me to see the person in a much more positive light.

Don't give up the faith Marc. There are always going to be well dressed people who will always appreciate what you wear yourself; few and far between, but they will still be there.

l actually had a young guy come up to me (monday) and asked me where he could get good shoes (l couldn't believe it). lmmediately l got fire in my belly and my eyes dilated and l talked to him for 20 minutes all about shoes and alittle bit about suits. He was wide eyed and fasinated with what l had to say. He didn't balk when l suggested he part with $800 for a pair of C&J handgrade or spend $1,000 on C&J shell cordovan shoes. He normally spends $200 on Florshiem, but he really wanted to know where to buy really good shoes that would last. l suggested he buy a pair of Loake 1880's to cut his teeth on (so he can get some idea what better shoes are like), and then go onto the C&J.

All my friends think i'm crazy. They just can't understand why l get things made and spend so much money on clothes items. They always laugh about it.

Last edited by The_Shooman (2007-06-06 10:41:20)

FNB, welcome to nearly every day of my life.

It's hard to dress in a understated and tasteful manner when most people barely dress themselves.  At that point elegance and understatement seem to fall out of the equation. 

Living in the suburbs of Chicago, (not exactly the capital of elegantly dressed individuals), I constantly have to answer to people asking why I am so dressed up - usually when I am wearing a sportcoat and trousers.

I did, however, experience an interesting occurance a few weeks ago.  I had just finished work and was invited by a few friends of mine to attend a college party in the city (I'm 21 by the way).  As I was coming from work, I was still wearing a three-piece suit.  As I expected, I had to answer all the usual questions regarding my attire: "no, I didn't attend a formal this evening....".  At one point, I found myself surrounded by a gaggle of girls who had solicited my help regarding pattern matching.  It was at this point - when I was explaining how to wear checks with stripes, that some drunken fellow stumbled up to me and told me he liked my tie - but he wouldn't have worn a patterned shirt with it.  It was perhaps the only time I have ever sartorial advice from anyone my own age - let alone a drunk college student.  I was very suprised by this comment.

The most stunningly dressed men and women I've ever seen were in the Italian ski resort Cortina several years ago, where dressing is as much of a sport as skiing (Maybe more so).

Some thoughts on the supposed "decline" of smart dressing, particularly in menswear:

First off, the part of me that is resistant to mandates tells me that i should wear what i want and let others do the same.  That having been said, I think that the "decline" in question has less to do with a lack of caring and more to do with a lack of informed sensibility.  Clothes were something i learned about (rather recently by the standards of some here i'm guessing), as one learns about building things or fishing or whatnot.  This learning lead to individual tastes that others may or may not share.  The advent in the latter 20th century of high end designer menswear i think has contributed greatly to the decline of sensibility, but if anything, has INCREASED the extent to which people care about dressing.  The price and the label create the aura of good taste and good appearance that used to be generated by fabric, texture, color and pattern.  Thus, men don't have to think as much about what looks good on THEM as INDIVIDUALS, and adhere more closely to a generic idea of "what men wear these days."  Yes, they choose to buy it, but there is an element of dictation involved.  This is perhaps the distinction between style and fashion, the element of choice.  I'm sure some people buy Gucci for the craftsmanship or the design (although i'm skeptical about the level of craftsmanship among fashion behemoths), but most buy Gucci to own Gucci.  Even if it is homely Gucci, which abounds.  Dolce and Gabbana is worse.

The fact is, New York, particularly Manhattan, is in no shortage of people with expendable income, and most of these people probably care very much about how they look.  Trouble is, their idea of looking good seems to be along these lines:  Atrociously overstriped or patterned shirt; jacket that fits too long; faded, ripped and overpriced designer denim; and overpriced designer sneakers.  it's the 20-35 club set look.  And the people who wear it probably think they look sexy as hell.  even those in $95 pre-ripped t-shirts probably think they look amazing.  But, on the same note, if they're happy, i'm happy.