Forgetting your Wardrobe

A gentleman should carefully consider what he is wearing, until he is wearing it, at which point he should forget. I wrote in my last post that Casual Friday is an abomination. Since then, I've received several comments questioning my motives and reasoning. I will take a moment to explain.

Samuel Clements wrote that "Clothes make the man. Naked people have little or no influence on society." As usual, Mr. Twain used comedy to express a serious point. The purpose of a gentleman's wardrobe is to open doors and it is designed to do that. What some call permanent style is established as the gentleman's universe of acceptable clothes because it is universally accepted. It increases one's potential in this way and I feel that it makes a gentleman feel more successful and capable as well.

If you are thinking about your clothes all day, either because you feel self-conscious or because you are more concerned about your appearance than your accomplishments, you will not be your best. And being your best is what being accepted and showing your success is about. Thus, the purpose of being well dresses is as much about forgetting what you are wearing as showing others you know.

Consider a cyclist. Any real cyclist will wear spandex head-to-toe whenever she is on a bike. In races, this has real value because of aerodynamics and efficiency. But during workouts, it would make sense to wear bulkier clothes to increase drag and have to work harder--this is what swimmers do. Yet she will not do that, even if she is somewhat self-conscious about appearance, because bike shorts and a bike jersey are what cyclists wear. To do otherwise would distract the athlete from what should be her focus.

Properly tailored, a gentleman's wardrobe is comfortable and stylish. A shirt's collar should not feel restricting, the shoulders should allow full range of movement, and et cetera. There is an old joke that British military uniforms are tightly tailored to prevent impulsive acts of surrender--that is, one cannot lift his arms over his head without unbuttoning the jacket, something an English gentleman would only do after careful reflection. However, this underlines the point because proper tailoring should not restrict appropriate types of motions--of course one cannot pole-vault in a suit.

A gentleman's wardrobe should open doors and not close minds. Clothes cannot make you a gentleman, but properly regarded they can make you feel and function like one.

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