Because, we can talk about them, on the internet and feel less, a lonely.

For myself the interest is more utilitarian, since my experiences with tailored clothing began with work and the issues of image projection. However, I do see both the purely aesthetic appeal (colour and cut), as well as the sensual, allowing for the tactile dimension of clothing.

I think attitudes towards style, as expressed primarily in clothing, are also intensely personal. Anything identity-related is going to arouse passion.

I like the way clothes annoy people.

And the way they attract mentals.

back to the topic....


Why do l enjoy clothes?

*  l enjoy the quality.
*  l enjoy the looks of the clothes.
*  l occasionally get off on the snobbery of highend clothing.
*  l enjoy the power and professionalism great clothing puts across. l always feel powerful and in control......clothing definately helps.
*  l enjoy how great l feel when dressed well.

I have noticed that everyone likes clothes. I mean with the rarest of exceptions. They may be chosen for different reasons but all people wear and like clothes. Remember that even counterculture people come from somewhere, some kind of background. No one was born Goth or a skinhead. Images of clothing are in your mind long before you meet in a damp basement with fellow conspirators to print up a "Power to the People" pamphlets. I find it intriguing that there is a magazine called "Gothic Beauty". Ghandi himself carefully chose to relinquish clothes for the loin cloth. It may be a human limitation that no matter how much you try to get away from material values, it's still all about the clothes.

Clothes are a form of status and they announce who you are or at least who you want others to think you are. Which is interesting if only because clothes send messages. The problem is whether you translating them properly for your own uses.

The classic "Oh my god, I can't believe she wore that dress" is sometimes a matter of jealousy but it can also indicate a failed attempt to impress a group. Questions abound like, was the wearer duped into that dress by a salesperson? Does she not know better? Does she not care? Even if she didnt care, she would care to the extent that people would recognize that she didnt care vs making a mistake...wouldnt she?

We discuss and study clothes to make sure the messages we send are indeed the ones we intended. We give each other feedback. Part of the desire to discuss them is to understand why we do enjoy clothes.

When people pick outfits they sometimes unfortunately have an accent. That accent makes them pick things that get interpreted improperly by the observer. A classic example might be an American wearing what he thinks is a very English outfit of green bengal stripes on a white background with a green tie. All made by an English maker but decidedly non English. The interesting thing here is that the English might admire your style as an American if they didn't think you tried to copy them and fell short.


That's where stylists might come in to play. Terry revived another thread on this in the forum but bsically a good stylist sees what is in different circles and locations and industries. Hopefully he either comes from a background that can translate style properly or has transcended his own limitations by observation and a desire to learn plus talent. He/she should be one part Flusser, one part professional or someone who often associates with them (Maybe I should say big city office worker?), one part John T. Molloy for the scientific end.

A talented stylist can choose things that are right for you and that get the message across. There is the flip side that a client doesnt like an outfit that nevertheless would look great on him and get him the results he wants. I wouldnt ordinarily say this but it seems that a lot of American men have very odd reactions to clothes, often the wrong reactions. The idea that you must be safe and bland sometimes gets curiously mixed with a sudden flourish of pattern or color in exactly the wrong spot.


Sometimes people dont know who their audience really is. If a girl from a counter/subculture was raised in a middle class suburban environment and she sees you in a conservative suit and tie she may react very positively. We don't any of us necessarily have the ability to turn our own instincts on and off, in spite of our wishes.

Taking advice on clothing fom someone whose sole motive is advance their ego and be hailed as an expert is probably disastrous for the listener. One needs to listen to as many views as possible and then make their own choice. On the other hand, if your mind is already closed, then by all means cheer your dictator.


There are certain truisms that come to mind as well. For example, Americans tend to respond better to individuality or eccentricity if they think you are rich or powerful. Generally, the less of either you have, the more aspersions might get attached to you. Americans seem to have expectations of what people should dress like. If you are wearing full bespoke all well coordinated and you just started at an I-Bank, you probably will be considered someone trying to buck the system but if you own your own company, then suddenly it may become a positive.

For those of us who grew up in a distinct subculture, clothes were vital (as much so as the music involved) to belonging to that group.  It eventually becomes a uniform, but hopefully one's interest expands past that into a true love/interest for clothing and that's when the good stuff happens, after you've broadened your interests past the accepted tribal uniform and you take some of the aesthetics from that (which attracted you to the subculture to begin with) and create your own look based on its foundations.

That's why I enjoy clothes, because of my tribal loyalties as a youth transcended past uniforms into something more personal

I enjoy nice clothes because I like how I look wearing them and the comfort they provide. But for me it goes beyond the obvious. I enjoy meeting the craftspersons, some of whom have become friends. I like to see and feel how quality clothes evolve as they are worn. I enjoy committing to the proper maintenance they deserve. The memories and experiences attached to them. And clothes can be great conversation starters. Like the other day when I was at the travel agency, one of the agents, a Polish woman, complimented me on the shoes I was wearing, without knowing their origin. When I said they were made by craftsmen in Warsaw, that brought a big smile to her face.

What interests me about most attire, but particularly that associated with subculture (say, mod or punk etc) or niche markets (I think bespoke and trad might fall into this category, although trad may be a subculture) is that once one develops an infatuation with the clothes, one makes the attempt to convey that one has dressed in such a manner all along.  No one considers themself a punk or a mod at six, regardless of whether or not their punk/mod parents dress them as such.  In my experience, one develops a taste for clothes and a specific style when one begins to develop a more mature sense of who one is.  Group mentality of course plays a role, but a sense of selfhood requires a relationship (either oppositional or in alliance) with the group.  There is no logical reason why an investment banker could not wear punk clothes, were it not for the fact that other investment bankers do not dress as such.  (i'm picturing the future of punk Wall Street).  Most importantly, however, dressing well, in accordance with one's own idea of "well" bridges the disconnect between the inward reality of self and the outward social projection of self.  If "persona" is the mask, clothes are the costume.  I doubt anyone cosiders what to wear based solely upon the purely aesthetic criterea of pattern, fit, color, etc.  There is in every sartorialist, a measure of self-objectification, a means to approximate the self through the eyes of others. 

Clothing, particularly for the young, the impressionable, and the aspiring permits us to inch one step closer to an idea of selfhood that may or may not be achievable.  There is an element of fantasy in dressing.  For bespoke fanatics, the fantasy of power through appearance (if all the power brokers were to one day show up in sweat pants and t-shirts, i believe that would capitalism would still remain intact).  For vintage devotees, the garments create for the wearer an image of the past to which one can belong by donning the suit.  Vintage clothing is art, artifice and artifact all in one.  For the sharp, hip, designer-clad sartorialist, the projected self exists somewhere in the vacuous future, somewhere just beyond the next promotion, the next achievable goal.  The future is on the precipice of arrival, and it is his to grasp.  Staying current is of the essence. 

For the traditionalist or the vintage fanatic, the ideal "cool" involves a degree of nostalgia.  This is not to say that traditionalists' dress constitutes a fultile attempt to inhabit the past, but rather that the icons that they consider to be cool are most likely gone.  This highlights the extent to which an attempt to achieve "originality" through dress always involves a dialectic of copying and assimilation.  If Ari Gold from Entourage is your style icon, you are probably not a Trad.  Cary Grant, yes.  One learns to dress by seeing others dress well, by picking and choosing elements of like and dislike, and by reappropriating ideas into one's taste.  Appreciation of fine art is also developed in such a way. 

Lastly, the "happiness" or "tranquility" induced by dressing well occurs when the more inward sense of self and the outward, performative social self come into balance, when a look satisfies not only how we want to be perceived by others, but also how we perceive ourselves. 

Rant Over