On Fashion

[Patrick Murtha]

Originally Posted by Irene Wilde

Mr. Murtha,

I noticed you've been lurking this week, so I thought I'd say hello and tell you how much I've enjoyed your online diary since stumbling upon it in your profile. I hope at some point you decide to end your foruming hiatus. I think yours would be an interesting voice to add to the mix here.

I much appreciate the kind words! I certainly will be posting here again, although more of my energy is going to the blog than to any other online activities, these days.

[Irene Wilde]

If just one more American male learns how to dress from your blog, it will be energy well spent!

[Patrick Murtha]

I think there is just a bit of a resurgence of classic men's dress, at a very micro level. The Internet with all its flaws (which I have dwelt on, Lord knows!) does enable like-minded souls across the world to gather and compare notes, and a number of menswear boards have energized the suit-wearing community. Unfortunately, men being men, those boards quickly become competitive horror shows. Here's hoping that the World Literature Forum keeps its civility!

[Irene Wilde]

I hope you are correct about the micro-trend. I long for the days when men knew how to dress. I drool over the costumes in the Fry & Laurie "Jeeves & Wooster." I work in a office with seven men who run the gamut from Armani to Dockers paired with the ubiquitous polo shirt.

I, too, hope this forum keeps its light and civil tone. I think we have a good group so we should be able to continue to treat each other with respect and courtesy.

[Beth]

Originally Posted by Irene Wilde

If just one more American male learns how to dress from your blog, it will be energy well spent!

Hear, hear! Down with Dockers and the polo!

[Irene Wilde]

Originally Posted by Beth

Hear, hear! Down with Dockers and the polo!

And most of them don't even play polo!

[Beth]

Or would not know it if they saw it! In London a couple of months ago, I was thrilled to have my cumbersome luggage swept up and carried at every train station and tube staircase by beautiful men in suits! It was almost as though they worked in synchronized fashion, blue arms coming from nowhere to politely ask, ''May I''? Some of them were young, some older, but it's almost as though the dressing gave them extra powers of civility and, well, extra power to lift that luggage. All 17kg of it!

[Irene Wilde]

That has long been my theory. That if men dressed like gentlemen, they'd behave more like gentlemen, which explains why so many American men resist dressing like gentlemen. My very limited experience with the UK and the Continent is that the men have a sense of dressing for the occasion. Granted I know some unusual gentlemen in those parts, but just from people watching, cinema, news footage and the like, Europeans dress much better than Americans in general, and far better than the typical American male in specific.

American men! Burn your baseball caps! Cast off your khakis! There's a better way!

[Stewart]

Originally Posted by Irene Wilde

Europeans dress much better than Americans in general, and far better than the typical American male in specific.

A few years ago, we had a couple of American woman over on secondment and they were pretty much in awe of the fashion the man in the street was wearing. It may be that being in Europe we are closer to those places seen as fashion capitals - Paris, Milan, London, etc - and the influence, while being centrifugal, only ripples so far.

[Irene Wilde]

New York is also a fashion center, or was last time I checked. I think there's a cultural difference in the definition of masculinity from one side of the pond to the other, and we American women got the fuzzy end of that particular lollipop.

[Stewart]

Okay, then. More fashion capitals concentrated in an area.

Of course, in Glasgow we have our own sense of fashion:

[Irene Wilde]

Perhaps that is one answer, the success of Homer Simpson may be another.

Remember men, Michael Moore is NOT a fashion icon!

[saliotthomas]

My mother been fashion designer,i grew up surounded by it,and hate every bit of it.I just wanted plain normal closes not the stuff people where supposed to wear in 2 or 3 years.I was one of the very first to have those timberland shoes(28 years ago) in Paris,and been called a wood cutter for several month.Hated it.
I came to like having my cloth made on size,in India,first,then in Morocco .Plenty of tailors,one has to try a few then stick to a good one.It does cost more than the Fashion uniformes,i never understood the delight in being dress like the guy sitting next to you.I also love clothes that age well,"old is gold" the India says and how true.

[Mirabell]

I am naked as much as possible. I like trousers that flatter my butt.
I used to wear makeup. Don't anymore. Wear black a lot. T-Shirt and Jeans as much as possible.

[Irene Wilde]

There are times when dressing like a lumberjack is not inappropriate, just as there are times when the black t-shirt, black jeans, black boots are just fine (I wear that ensemble at times myself), but rarely are they appropriate for a night at the theater or dinner in a nice restaurant, yet I've seen it, many times. And I'm not talking trendy designer duds, just clothes appropriate for the occasion that look like some thought was put into them and reflect some pride of appearance. Is it too much to ask?

[Irene Wilde]

Well, since Stewart very smartly moved this conversation to its own thread, perhaps we can give this topic a more literary bent.

For instance, does what you read influence how you dress? I have to confess to a little bit of this, but I think it's as much a reaction to current fashion as it is the subliminal influence of literature. I don't think anyone wants to see the straps of a thong emerging from my 46-year-old butt crack above the top of a pair of low-riding jeans, so soft fluttery skirts with a vague '20s feel to them it is.

[Mirabell]

does what you read influence how you dress?

nope.

[Irene Wilde]

Originally Posted by Mirabell

nope.

Makes sense. I can't think of any famous nudist authors off the top of my head.

[saliotthomas]

American psycho was quite sharp about dress code,specialy the memorable bit about dress shoes with tassels(is this the right word),and about hygienes product for men.My budget however kept me from even thinking about it.
I bought a pale green polo shirt after reading San francisco chronicles,that's about it.

[Patrick Murtha]

Originally Posted by Irene Wilde

Well, since Stewart very smartly moved this conversation to its own thread, perhaps we can give this topic a more literary bent.

On my blog, I do a series of posts called "Menswear Moments," capturing interesting fashion elements of fiction and film.