Stranger's Reactions to your Clothes?

[ahn]

A dark navy Hugo Boss suit will sometimes do a job better than my ccp suits.

IMO if you're relying on your clothes to do ALL the work for you then you're wearing them wrong. Self projection through adornment is incredibly important but it will only get you so far.

You have no control over what the stranger across the street thinks of you or your outfit. You also have little control over first impressions... but it's not like we're talking about a pair of converse or a pair of shoes so badly beaten-up that the soles are falling off. Given the opportunity to confidently personify your fit choice, the impression of 'suitability' as perceived by an uneducated party should become inconsequential to the occasion.

Lowering your projected image in an attempt to 'fit in' is heresy.

TL;DR - own your fits, don't let them own you

[grapefruitpop]

I was at the Philadelphia airport last winter wearing the BBS boots tucked. I was with 6 other collagues who flew to Philadphia for a business meeting. At the airport there was this rude customs officer who asked if i hid anything inside my boots. I respectfully said no sir. I am just not used to the cold weather yet. I'm still adjusting. I come from a tropical country. That officer asked the other officer near him (who happens to be a Chinese officer) to "check me out". The Chinese officer was quite respectful and didnt agree with him or smilied back. That made the entire situation even more awakard - there were like 50 people behind me waiting to go past the customs. After a long long pause, The officer agreed to let me past. I knew he still wanted to pick on me if there weren't so many people in the airport.

Honestly you need a reality check your highness. If you're flying security is paramount, no one gave a shit about your boots.

IMO if you're relying on your clothes to do ALL the work for you then you're wearing them wrong. Self projection through adornment is incredibly important but it will only get you so far.

You have no control over what the stranger across the street thinks of you or your outfit. You also have little control over first impressions... but it's not like we're talking about a pair of converse or a pair of shoes so badly beaten-up that the soles are falling off. Given the opportunity to confidently personify your fit choice, the impression of 'suitability' as perceived by an uneducated party should become inconsequential to the occasion.

Lowering your projected image in an attempt to 'fit in' is heresy.

TL;DR - own your fits, don't let them own you

IMO sometimes theyre just clothes so if you have to throw on a navy suit just do it and dont turn it into a soul searching "my style defines me", "i wont let my clothes own me" moment that exhausts everyone.

TL;DR - theyre just clothes.

[ahn]

IMO sometimes theyre just clothes so if you have to throw on a navy suit just do it and dont turn it into a soul searching "my style defines me", "i wont let my clothes own me" moment that exhausts everyone.

TL;DR - theyre just clothes.

Yes I agree - sometimes. I don't turn getting dressed to pick up my prescriptions into a soul-searching moment that exhausts everyone.

But it was an occasion for Bleu1950 where garment "suitability" was the specific focus of conversation and contemplation. In this instance I think it's quite relevant.

[Faust]

Yeah, let's not shut down a discussion that goes beyond search for geobaskets by "it's just clothes." You are on SZ, after all.

[Fuuma]

Yeah, let's not shut down a discussion that goes beyond search for geobaskets by "it's just clothes." You are on SZ, after all.

Ahn's post was the kind of adolescent misguided statement that should have people slapping their bitch kids around. Sometimes you need to wear a suit, sometimes a tuxedo, and most times, yeah, whatever you want (within decency) and yeah, tis but the way of the world. People have gotten to such a high level of rebel individualism that they actually cannot even grasp the idea of socially prescribed dress.

The bleu dude is some business bro from HK, he obviously will look stupid wearing some CCP shoes to work dealing with some business bros wearing navy suits, blue dress shirts and rep ties. Such is life, just leave the world of business bros and you'll be fine. It is even more shocking to read he does not get that a designer who is pretty much the incarnation of le beau est toujours bizarre/the beautiful is always bizarre (Beaudelaire) could shock the mundanes. That is part of the point.

[ahn]

Ahn's post was the kind of adolescent misguided statement that should have people slapping their bitch kids around. Sometimes you need to wear a suit, sometimes a tuxedo, and most times, yeah, whatever you want (within decency) and yeah, tis but the way of the world. People have gotten to such a high level of rebel individualism that they actually cannot even grasp the idea of socially prescribed dress.

The bleu dude is some business bro from HK, he obviously will look stupid wearing some CCP shoes to work dealing with some business bros wearing navy suits, blue dress shirts and rep ties. Such is life, just leave the world of business bros and you'll be fine. It is even more shocking to read he does not get that a designer who is pretty much the incarnation of le beau est toujours bizarre/the beautiful is always bizarre (Beaudelaire) could shock the mundanes. That is part of the point.

Hey I respect this and am completely aware that there are extremely conservative cultures out there who take their corporate dress very seriously. But we're not discussing how suitable it is for him to wear a pink patchwork CdG suit to a corporate meeting - it's a much smaller margin of comparability, and it seems sad that he should have to opt for some off the rack hugo boss ensemble when he has access to something so much better and could conceivably pull it off.

Maybe he can't - maybe the differences between a full "corporate ccp" look and a navy hugo boss suit and shoes are really huge to conservatives of that level. I haven't flown in those circles. What seems subtle to me might be outrageous - I concede to that completely - and if so then I'm humbled for my lack of understanding.

[ahn]

Back OT (sorry for disrupting)... I once got asked by a colleague who I've worked with for almost a year - and who has never seen me wear any kind of hat/head covering - if I was Muslim after I'd put on my long nun-style RO beanie one night after work.

[BrianK]

Wore my rick geo leather jacket with a high snood covering half my face and black cargo pants today and as soon as i entered a deli i could've sworn i saw the owner reach for something under his desk..

[zen dog]

^ I purchased a Thamanyah hood (burka) after going from not liking anything on my head to enjoying the feel of a tight cap. I haven't worn it yet- partially because of the warm weather and partially because of the image it presents. Maybe I'll have to check both the day's weather and news to see if it is appropriate to go out with it.

I then purchased a wonderful Tissue Tire hood- fitting looser on the head, both because it was a beautiful piece of clothing and less intense than the "burka".

The point of this ramble is,while waiting for the weather to change I've had time to ruminate on the images presented by cap, hooded jacket and separate hood. A pulled down cap covers almost as much flesh as a hooded coat and a separate hood increases the coverage by about the same amount. The benign "vibe" decreases exponentially. I'm interested in other's experiences, I think I'm in for a challenging time.

[a bag of it]

Wearing a regular t shirt, ZB asymmetrical drop crotch pants and white guidi 992 at a bar. As I'm leaving, "what do you think you're some rapper or something" Was weird cause idk any rapper who wears anything like that except maybe A$AP rocky.

[Fuuma]

Hey I respect this and am completely aware that there are extremely conservative cultures out there who take their corporate dress very seriously. But we're not discussing how suitable it is for him to wear a pink patchwork CdG suit to a corporate meeting - it's a much smaller margin of comparability, and it seems sad that he should have to opt for some off the rack hugo boss ensemble when he has access to something so much better and could conceivably pull it off.

Maybe he can't - maybe the differences between a full "corporate ccp" look and a navy hugo boss suit and shoes are really huge to conservatives of that level. I haven't flown in those circles. What seems subtle to me might be outrageous - I concede to that completely - and if so then I'm humbled for my lack of understanding.

Look I think corporate dress should disappear, I'm mostly interested in profane or spiritual "ritualistic" clothing, say funeral or marriage outfits, as social cement and proof of respect. On the other hand it would be ludicrous to say a designer like Poell, who makes clothing that twists the body around, elongating and slimming it in ways Egon Schiele wouldn't have disavowed, will be received the same way as a trad suit.

[BSR]

"corporate ccp" is self-contradictory.

[Faust]

that is true. although, he has done suits that could work in the upper echelons corporate environment these days, where sharp dressing is acceptable.

[Mail-Moth]

CCP is not simply sharp IMO. And even if the suits may be tolerable in this kind of environment, what of the footwear ? Because I can't imagine a CCP suit work with anything else, and I can't believe that those would pass.

[Faust]

True, the footwear won't work. I just remember the-addict in the lufthansa commercial in a CCP suit and he looked perfectly acceptable as a business class passenger.