Suiting Ourselves

[20thCenturyTim]

I work in a university, so I sometimes read the Chronicle of Higher Education online. I found this article this morning and thought it might be good to share in the Lounge. I cannot say I agree with everything the writer talks about.[huh] In fact, I am tempted to write a critique on my blog, Gentleman Agitator. Anyway here is an excerpt and the link to the full piece.

Suiting Ourselves

"Suiting Ourselves

By EDWARD TENNER

America's classic suited-up zone is surely the two square miles or so north of the New York Public Library at Fifth Avenue and 42nd Street in New York, a district home not only to old-line men's retailers but also to many of the financial, legal, and media headquarters where coats and ties are still de rigueur.

The library now features a delightful exhibition, "A Rakish History of Men's Wear," on view until May 6. What unites it is an improbable story: the rise and persistence of the male suit, a garment that shows how cultural evolution can be as bizarre, yet weirdly logical, as biological selection.

Suits are, in fact, unnatural. The peoples of antiquity, the early Middle Ages, and traditional Asia, Africa, and the pre-Columbian Americas dressed beautifully with a minimum of cutting and sewing. Togas, kimonos, pre-Columbian mantles, dashikis — however luxurious or elegant — were not constructed as second skins...

"...In today's office, the rakish dresser is the tall poppy, standing out to be downsized — raked away. Even violators of the corporate dress code echo conservative stereotypes: Steve Jobs's blue jeans, black turtlenecks, and rimless glasses combine to mark him as the officiating worker-priest of design...

...Rather, suits are more useful than ever for shielding people's true selves."

 

[Orgetorix]

Suits are, in fact, unnatural. The peoples of antiquity, the early Middle Ages, and traditional Asia, Africa, and the pre-Columbian Americas dressed beautifully with a minimum of cutting and sewing. Togas, kimonos, pre-Columbian mantles, dashikis — however luxurious or elegant — were not constructed as second skins...

Unnatural, maybe, but nothing new. Men in the West have been wearing close-fitting garments for at least three or four hundred years.

 

[The Wingnut]

Suits 'unnatural', eh? I suppose we should get 'natual' and make like Bluto?

toga...Toga...TOGA...TOGA!!!

How 'bout we all don some huraches and quit showering while we're at it?

 

[Orgetorix]

Nah. Go naked--it's the original natural.

 

[20thCenturyTim]

Suits 'unnatural', eh? I suppose we should get 'natual' and make like Bluto?

toga...Toga...TOGA...TOGA!!!

How 'bout we all don some huraches and quit showering while we're at it?

Food fight!

Do you know what they wear sometimes on campus now? Pyjamas! No need to get dressed, just go right from the bed to the classroom. You see this mostly on women. Unbelievable!

 

[Frederick Chook]

It's hard to say what sorts of clothes are 'natural' or 'unnatural', but a good kimono, or sari, or mantle, or robe, or shrug, does look absolutely wonderful.

 

[Orgetorix]

These folks would say that "non-bifurcated garments" are more natural, at least for men.

 

[Paisley]

It's hard to say what sorts of clothes are 'natural' or 'unnatural', but a good kimono, or sari, or mantle, or robe, or shrug, does look absolutely wonderful.

They're all unnatural (meaning, man-made). But natural is overrated.

 

[Frederick Chook]

I've read a convincing argument that, as they are nothing more than products of evolution, human intelligence, society and creativity are all as natural as fur and antlers. The divide between nature and culture, then, is a false one, and the only 'unnatural' human behaviour is that which goes against our survival as a species and turns us into an evolutionary dead end - in the context I read it in, the big example was environmental degradation.

What ramifacations does that have for the topic? Not many. Can a natural aesthetic be divined? Perhaps. Pet topic of mine at the moment, actually. Working on it.

 

[scotrace]

It's hard to say what sorts of clothes are 'natural' or 'unnatural', but a good kimono, or sari, or mantle, or robe, or shrug, does look absolutely wonderful.

However, weareth not the muumuu.

 

[Feng_Li]

Do you know what they wear sometimes on campus now? Pyjamas! No need to get dressed, just go right from the bed to the classroom. You see this mostly on women. Unbelievable!

The really funny part is that many of these girls go to the trouble of ironing said pajamas. Of course, if I were wearing mine to class, I think the least I could do is see that they were pressed...

When I taught middle school in the morning and went to class in the afternoon, people thought I was overdressed in chinos and a button-down. It never bothered me, though there was one day when both I and my professor were wearing identical blue knit ties...

 

[Paisley]

The really funny part is that many of these girls go to the trouble of ironing said pajamas. Of course, if I were wearing mine to class, I think the least I could do is see that they were pressed...

They own an iron? I wouldn't have guessed that.

 

[20thCenturyTim]

Remember if it's not Scotch, it's crap!

These folks would say that "non-bifurcated garments" are more natural, at least for men.

They go MacNaturale underneath the kilt. lol

 

[Jovan]

Wouldn't this thread belong more in Suits sub-forum?

Re: the button down and chinos, the dressiest anyone got teaching at my middle school was that and a tie. I can't remember, but maybe one of my teachers ever wore a sport coat or blazer, much less a suit. On the flipside, one of my professors here is pretty traditional, always wearing a sport coat, blouse, and skirt.

 

[Jovan]

...Rather, suits are more useful than ever for shielding people's true selves."

I have to strongly disagree here. More and more people are finding inexpensive MTM and bespoke, and showing personality through it with things like cut, ticket pockets, double vents, type of breast pocket and lower pockets, peaked lapels, etc.

A lot of young men are also finding it to be as cool as it was back in the heyday of suits, the '60s and earlier. It heartens me that people like this are making it cool to wear a suit again too, his tagline being, "For those who don't need to wear a suit, but want to."