When does it become a costume?

[Creeping Past]

I like Richard Warren's analytical approach.

CB, if you regard work clothes as costume, then yes.

All clowns wear costumes to work; all clown costumes are work wear; therefore all clown workwear is costume.

Surely, in the world of performance, the clothes becomes a costume by dint of being worn by a performer. Hence all Springsteen's stage clothing is costume, albeit not your showbiz standard spangles-n-glitz.

 

[Carlisle Blues]

I like Richard Warren's analytical approach.

CB, if you regard work clothes as costume, then yes.

All clowns wear costumes to work; all clown costumes are work wear; therefore all clown workwear is costume.

Surely, in the world of performance, the clothes becomes a costume by dint of being worn by a performer. Hence all Springsteen's stage clothing is costume, albeit not your showbiz standard spangles-n-glitz.

Now we will split hairs ....the clown "suit" is a uniform......

 

[Creeping Past]

Splitting hairs? Heaven forfend.

 

[tonypaj]

Hence all Springsteen's stage clothing is costume,

I could take this a bit further. Springsteen and the E Street Band pretty much always wear black on black. Thus all black clothing is costume...

The Boss is cool, though, saw him twice last summer in concert. 60 years old, and the energy levels of a 30-year-old. An inspiration to anyone, costume or not.

 

[tonyb]

IMO, not in the eyes of most non-style-aware beholders. To most people, we're showy dressers-up. Costumed ones.

I don't know if this is necessarily accurate, seeing how our ways of dressing are likely quite varied, but I don't dispute the point. The sort of attire that would draw favorable commentary around here might well be perceived as a bit much by the larger public.

But then, so what if it is? How much ought it matter? I see some of our guys dressed in full-on vintage in the "What are you wearing today?" thread and think, yup, this guy can really pull it off. If I were to see, in my regular comings and goings, a person similarly well turned out, I'd likely think, huh, now there's a well-dressed man. And I don't think my tastes are so outside the mainstream that many others wouldn't share that view.

What I'd like to avoid -- for myself, anyway -- is being perceived as some guy playing dress-up. That can leave a person seeming, I dunno, unsubstantial, I suppose, and even a tad on the juvenile side. That might not be a fair or accurate assessment of a person's character, seeing how it's based on nothing more than what he happens to be wearing at a particular moment, but what a person wears says something about him. The hope is that what a person wishes for it to say is what other people are likely to hear.

 

[Carlisle Blues]

I could take this a bit further. Springsteen and the E Street Band pretty much always wear black on black. Thus all black clothing is costume...

yea but if it can be worn in everyday life is it a costume or just a set of clothing that they all wear on and off stage.

This is what I wear on stage....I am not comparing myself to the Boss at all; I am saying what I as a performer wear this on stage and it can be worn off stage.

 

[Edward]

Nice guitar, CB! Is that a... uh, I forget the name, but the 'downsized 335' model? Looks sharp. Gibson do know how to build a very nicely finished guitar, even if I am more of a Fender guy (both by style and by wallet! ).

^
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Some believe the NYC transit strike of 1980 ushered in the running shoes-business attire look.....

Possible, I suppose.... I can understand the ladies who slip into gym shoes for the commute, not wanting to travel in the spike heels they may favour for the office. Actually, a friend of mine pulls this off in a very classy way with the use of several pairs of little pumps that match her various outfits. Gives her the comfort of flats for travelling to and from a night out, but still the look of something that matches her outfit and looks as if it could, in fact, be what she had intended to wear all night. The men, on the other hand... meh. I've seen a growing trend in the last few months of men wearing training shoes with suits while travelling on the tube. This smacks of those who maintain either the sullen temperament of the child who refuses to wear "boring, old-man shoes", or someone who has purchased ill-fitting and uncomfortable shoes, being either unaware that an alternative exists, or that a well-fitting, dress leather shoe can very often prove considerably more comfortable than some ghastly space-ship looking creation, fit only for gathering sweat in the gym.

 

[Carlisle Blues]

Nice guitar, CB! Is that a... uh, I forget the name, but the 'downsized 335' model? Looks sharp. Gibson do know how to build a very nicely finished guitar, even if I am more of a Fender guy (both by style and by wallet! ).

fftopic: yes it is a CS 356 with Bigsby i also have Fender Am deluxe Fat strat FMT

However, as far as sneakers it became "custom" to wear them after that strike.

Me I will wear my spit shined Allen Edmonds Cap-toes. I simply do n ot feel comfortable wearing athletic shoes when I am dressed for business. It is a psychological thing for me. When I mean business I wear "battle" dress; so to speak.

 

[tonypaj]

yea but if it can be worn in everyday life is it a costume or just a set of clothing that they all wear on and off stage.

This is what I wear on stage....I am not comparing myself to the Boss at all; I am saying what I as a performer wear this on stage and it can be worn off stage.

I don't mind black on black at all, I do it all the time. I was simply taking an idea to an extreme for the sake of an argument...

My son would like your guitar, though. He just got a Telecaster 52 re-issue after saving a long time. And he likes to wear black. Like you. And the Boss.

 

[Carlisle Blues]

I don't mind black on black at all, I do it all the time. I was simply taking an idea to an extreme for the sake of an argument...

My son would like your guitar, though. He just got a Telecaster 52 re-issue after saving a long time. And he likes to wear black. Like you. And the Boss.

I know that is the beauty of this discussion it "breathes" and expands. I do not think anyone is wrong. I enjoy challenging my own thoughts with the infusion of other ideas such as yours.

Thanks for the compliment regarding the guitars.

 

[Seb Lucas]

The question is wrong

You can't answer this question. Asking when is it a costume is like asking when is it justice? Context, timing, situation, perception all come together to form a multitude of possibilities.

The real question is this. When does what I'm wearing get me into trouble? I.e. when does it make people want to fight me, spit on me, or (if an employer) give me a reprimand, or be fired. Common sense is probably all we have to sort this one out.

 

[Spitfire]

It becomes a costume, when you can not walk down the street without repeating that excuse you are practising in your head, as to why you look like that.

 

[filfoster]

Excuses, Excuses

It becomes a costume, when you can not walk down the street without repeating that excuse you are practising in your head, as to why you look like that.

This seems like a good, practical definition.

Now, let's put this down and go for a drink.

 

[Spitfire]

:cheers1:

 

[Richard Warren]

Equivocation warning

It seems to me that the original poster used "costume" to mean a strong aspect of the inauthentic, unnatural, or even theatrical in an otherwise ordinary person's clothing. There is a contrary usage of the word that means clothes that are particularly or specially suited to the occasion, such as the archaic phrase "bathing costume." It can also refer to the characteristic clothing of a population, which is obviously not what the original poster (nor I in responding) meant by "costume."

I stick with the sad observation that you cannot deviate very much at all from the herd (whatever herd you may be in) without it being noticed.

 

[tonypaj]

I stick with the sad observation that you cannot deviate very much at all from the herd (whatever herd you may be in) without it being noticed.

Then again, anybody who bothers to post here, or read the posts here, probably does not mind being noticed. So, if that is a correct assumption and your observation is correct, we all wear costumes.

 

[filfoster]

Then again, anybody who bothers to post here, or read the posts here, probably does not mind being noticed. So, if that is a correct assumption and your observation is correct, we all wear costumes.

There must be truth in this.

 

[Torpedo]

It becomes a costume, when you can not walk down the street without repeating that excuse you are practising in your head, as to why you look like that.

I really like this one! :eusa_clap

 

[Peacoat]

Nice guitar, CB! Is that a... uh, I forget the name, but the 'downsized 335' model? Looks sharp. Gibson do know how to build a very nicely finished guitar, even if I am more of a Fender guy (both by style and by wallet! ).

Fender makes a nice guitar, but nothing can touch the Gibson for a nice fat and warm tone.fftopic:

 

[Carlisle Blues]

Fender makes a nice guitar, but nothing can touch the Gibson for a nice fat and warm tone.fftopic:

Thank you and yes you are so right Peacoat!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Nice to see you !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!