Talk About Tennis 2.0

derek guy
@dieworkwear
A central difference between me and the many people who will reply angrily to this thread is that I don't think suits are automatically "good" and casualwear is automatically "bad." A good casualwear outfit is better than a bad suit (and this happens often). I don't hold disdain for everyday people, so I don't use suits as a political cudgel.

Jeff Bezos and Donald Trump—two figures featured in that original thread—both dress badly to me. It matters none that one is a suit.

I mainly take umbrage with the idea that Trump's style can be in any way described as "aristocratic" or "noblesse oblige." These words refer to specific classes of people who had specific dress habits. Trump's attire has nothing to do with that practice.

You can say he never dresses down, which is true, but you can then just make that point without acting as though there's anything aristocratic about his dress. He's simply a businessman entertainer. Suit salesmen also never dress down, and if their dress habits were similar to Trump's, their style would also have no relationship to "aristocratic style."

"Twitter trads" often want to be patted on the back for simply liking suits (I doubt many of them wear them with much regularity), despite not appreciating the fine details or nuances of various styles. Yet, they also complain about the slipping of standards in schools—people are graded on a slipping curve, they say.

But is this not also just a slipping of standards? You want to label anything with revers and three pockets as "aristocratic?" Put on any old suit and suddenly you're King Charles. Give me a break.

Just make your point: Trump doesn't dress down (this is true). And you hate the modern world. You fancy yourself as being above other people, despite the fact that, the very signaling of this thing, shows you are irreparablely (sic) middle-class.

To state the obvious, you can like suits, tailoring, and Old Money style without LARPing in this way (I know many menswear enthusiasts who love Old Money style and are very forthright about their class status and hold no grudge against everyday citizens). If you must LARP, at least know what you're talking about.

mmmm8 wrote: ↑Tue Oct 22, 2024 12:55 pm As a side note, I've really enjoyed you posting the info on menswear here - I found the history so interesting.