Thanks for posting.  First live interview I've seen with Flusser, looks spiffy.

He certainly talks a good talk and he is interesting but his template is extremely subjective.

It was interesting to compare Flusser's style of speaking with his prose style.  Like most of the clothing writers, he gets a bit stilted and grandiloquent on paper.  The man in person, however, was devoid of all of that.  I think he did a very good job of making the point that dressing well is really a matter of common sense that does not require forumite-like obsession with detail.  Perhaps, Grayson, this follows your observation about  Flusser's technical knowledge v. his taste.  If a man just relaxes a bit about it all, he can dress well.  In forumland culture, we perhaps do a disservice to the novice dresser in that we tend to complicate issues and focus on minutiae.  We're not to blame.  It's in our nature and we're probably shooting for something other than just well-dressed.  For the regular guy, though, Flusser's common sense approach makes a lot of sense and his book might have better served its target audience if more of that had come through in prose.

I applaud his loyalty to his buddy from camp.  We have Stein Mart out here in PA and his stuff there is pretty nice.  I remain a big fan of his spreading of Knowledge.

As I said, even with all his shortcomings, I'd rather talk to him about clothing than the majority of laymen.

Some of the fora Cogno's give ol' Flussy shit, but I happen to like his taste as well.

I think there are many reasons for this.

First, clothes as a concept and approach. Remember that there was a time you went to the local shop and got a couple of suits/jackets made and then got some shirts made and grabbed a couple of ties. You may have quietly looked at a magazine cartoon/sketch or just done your own quirky thing based on the examples of how other men dressed around you.


Now, men have to focus too much on clothes to dress well. And as soon as they spend too much time on thinking about clothes, it becomes an improper focus. I think men want to look smart and the reasons they may have trended the opposite way are varied and complex. For elegance to exist you have to have an audience with a reference point. There has to be a common set of expectations which create a uniform with tribal markings which in turn leads to refinement and enhancement and ultimately individuality.

I would also not discount the ease of sexual relationships or opportunities as a reason for men to not wear tailored clothes. Nor would I discount the Clinton generation's disillusionment with the suit as a boring, tasteless, smelly, cardboard uniform.

Another is the never ending judgments. Now, although I recognize that this subject matter's Internet space has more than its fair share of the more precious wing of American men but still, you can hardly blame men for not wanting to wear suits when you see that people lament that they're not wearing them, only to descend savagely on anyone who is wearing one they don't like; usually the most savage of them have the glass jaws with regards to comments about their own choices. Which is it that they want, that men wear suits or ones they approve of? Could you imagine men trying to escape this judgmental hierarchy? If everyone wants to judge and not be judged, then you really have a problem.

There are so many messages sent by people who post on clothing message boards that really suggest that they're just confused and like to squawk endlessly about how it used to be better.

Further, I like the comments that some people dont have clothes to impress others at all, or that they're uninterested in status, or that they are not into power or class or whatever nonsensical repression/ denial they are boiling themselves in.


I can't say that I always get the messages that clothes send right but I keep searching. The more you enlighten yourself the less you can remember the original reactions you had for clothes. But at least have a purpose. I know what I want. I don't know what the future holds which is what makes it all very exciting; people that need to know what happens in a book or movie before they start it, I find depressing.