there's a very painful period when you see guys start to pay attention to clothes and they start to dress worse than they did before they started paying attention to clothes
i've posted the photo on the left before and people have replied with "the coat is too big!" but the overall outfit has social meaning. it reflects his social identity as just a normal dude in academic. the one on the right has no social meaning. dress is not an art project
another example: peterson sits down with shapiro and netanyahu. how is it possible for the two bens, who aren't interested in clothes, to dress better than the guy interested in clothes?
one of the weird things about twitter is how many accounts post "retvrn to tradition" pictures, but then will like outfits such as peterson's. it's like there's no nuance in how a tailored outfit is supposed to look.
someone asked me for examples of non-traditonial tailored outfits i like. too many to name, so I'll focus on one person: barims. while his dress is creative, it has a language. it references 1970s aesthetics. it's not a two-tone jacket paired with one-tone pants and tan shoes
two other examples of stylish dressers who don't dress traditionally or conservatively: ben cobb and jeffery. you can see how dressing creatively takes an understanding of social language. it's like writing an expressive sentenceβit can be creative, but should still have meaning
@KellyDiels ... but it socially means nothing.
here are two examples. both these pics show outfits that mean something: businessman vs rugged cowboy. this is a result of how these clothes have been used to convey social identity and activity.
here are two examples. both these pics show outfits that mean something: businessman vs rugged cowboy. this is a result of how these clothes have been used to convey social identity and activity.
@KellyDiels now let's change just one element in each outfit: instead of the white shirt with grey suit, imagine a blood-red shirt. instead of blue jeans, imagine red jeans. these outfits would then no longer convey serious businessmen or rugged cowboys. they'd be nonsensical.
@KellyDiels in these earlier examples, you can see how ppl use clothes creatively, but the resulting outfits draw on the collective memory of what clothes mean. you get different impressions of the person: sleazy, creative, partying, artistic, counter-cultural, etc.
@KellyDiels peterson's outfits dont draw on any social history. they are confusing and nonsensical like chomsky's phrase "colorless green ideas sleep furiously"
some people have asked what i mean by "dress is not an art project" and I've tried to explain myself in this thread below. some people put random colors and shapes together (like peterson above). i think this is bad and you should treat dress as language
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