You Are How You Look (Appearances II)

[Tempra]

this thread has become only a win!

awesome stuff all around!

and I always thought people looked at me when I was out because I was handsome. in fact it is because I am a hun!

It's probably redundant, but you're actually an uncultured Hun.

[Guest Raidne]

and I always thought people looked at me when I was out because I was handsome. in fact it is because I am a hun!

You know, you say this, but I know for a damn fact that you have actually purchased pants so as to dress in the way you considered appropriate for certain events. And I have also never, ever seen you dressed inappropriately, anywhere.

[Minaku]

No one is preventing you from judging, no one can, I'm just saying that if the some total of your argument is "Do as I say or be judged" you better bring something to the table to justify strong-arming or be prepared to be disappointed. Because as far as I can see there's no moral argument here, just "Obey your classier betters"

I'm sorry, does the fact that I was a performing musician not give me enough credence when I request that anyone who comes to see me at a fancy, world-class venue on a Friday or Saturday to please dress appropriately for the occasion?

[Tempra]

I'm up to slob-shaming men because they want to wear what they want, goddammit, at any kind of venue and any kind of occasion. How dare I presume to know what they really think when they meet the President while wearing cutoffs and a Hawaiian shirt?

Let's drop the sexism, ma'am.

[Mya Stone]

You know what I like about JT? He gets that if you're going to see, say, Beyonce, you gotta dress according to her expectations. :P

:rofl:

Everyone should follow his lead and dress appropriately no matter the situation. Christmas? Dress the part. Puppet show? Dress the part. A Woody Allen premiere? Dress the part.

[Xray the Enforcer]

You know, you say this, but I know for a damn fact that you have actually purchased pants so as to dress in the way you considered appropriate for certain events. And I have also never, ever seen you dressed inappropriately, anywhere.

Motherfucker bought a tie. (Or maybe he stole it -- I can't remember now how he came to possess it, although it pleases me to imagine him five-finger discounting the thing from the house manager.)

I will say that MC looked slightly out of place with a bright green jersey at MDF last year...until he started sweating profusely and bleeding from wounds acquired in the circle pit. Then he fit in just fine.

[Minaku]

The truth comes out, MC. Busted.

[Mlle. Zabzie]

Because you don't know where each person is coming from.

Unless you listen to their story, how do you distinguish someone who shops at Goodwill because that's their only option from someone who could dress up but just can't be bothered?

Yes, but if I'm attending the theater, or a party, or whatever, i'm not going to listen to each person's story (also, I would never be rude enough if I were talking to them to comment on their dress, but that's a different story). I like all of the rest of you, am going to consciously or unconsciously file the various people into categories in large part (honestly) based on how they are dressed. Like I said, if I do talk to the person, the first impression certainly could be overturned based on circumstances. But that doesn't mean that sorting this way isn't a valid way of dealing with massive amounts of information (and, btw, it's something that EACH of us does).

Let's flip it around, shall we. Let's say we are all at a BWB event and there are lots of us. I'm there, and I've just come from work. You'd might think "hmm, overdressed, overprivilged white bitch who probably isn't interested in anything more scintillating than what's going on at fashion week." And if you chose not to come talk to me based on that perception, that's fine. I get it. I signal some stuff by the way I am dressed. On the other hand, if I came up and said hi to you, I would expect courtesy, and I would expect that you would accord me enough respect to listen to what I was saying beyond the clothes. You're free to judge me based on my responses. Make sense?

When I was working and hiring people I did wear that work hat, and look at how someone presented themselves, clothes, manner etc. I guess I have not worked long enough that I just do not care anymore. Yes there are times such as interviews funerals and such that nicer apparel is better, but over all as long as the person is comfy then it is fine with me. I do wonder how these moms are able to deck themselves out to take a kiddo school and I know they do not work. I am lucky if I get a bra on.

Listen - I have a lot (the most) sympathy with this, and I think this goes back to time and place. (Also, I have some super comfy loungewear from Old Navy that is neat and street appropriate (at least I like to think that it is) if it needs to be).

[Robin Of House Hill]

All car salesmen dress the same, Robin. :P

But the customers don't.

[Minaku]

I'm at a stage currently where the most comfortable article of clothing is a pair of stretched-out fleece pajama pants that are 10 years old. God, I wish I could wear them to work, and the symphony. Do you think polar bear PJ pants with my free Winter is Coming HBO shirt is up to par for mom standards, or Walmart standards?

[Opisthokont]

I am shocked and saddened that so many of my fellow Board members seem to be the kind of people who would wear brown shoes in the city, take photos at an orgy, or pass the port the wrong way round the table.

We're having to pass the port now? I thought that's what you had your man for.

A good mnemonic for this is that you pass the port around the table in the same direction as you pass your man around at orgies.

[Minaku]

A good mnemonic for this is that you pass the port around the table in the same direction as you pass your man around at orgies.

Shit. I have not the required experience.

[Fragile Bird]

This is getting almost as good as the sex-addict cat thread. Where is Trisky with a story? :P

[Robin Of House Hill]

I'm at a stage currently where the most comfortable article of clothing is a pair of stretched-out fleece pajama pants that are 10 years old. God, I wish I could wear them to work, and the symphony. Do you think polar bear PJ pants with my free Winter is Coming HBO shirt is up to par for mom standards, or Walmart standards?

You just made me think of something so awful I might just have to rethink my position. What if those Walmart people showed up at the symphony?

[Call me Odie]

Is it okay to go to church dressed like a slob?

When I was in the cathedral of Santiago de Compostela last summer, I saw lots of churchgoers who were dressed worse than beggars who sat outside the cathedral, and churchgoers were not beggars but pilgrims.

[Jaime L]

I find it ironic that those who insist on going casual everywhere are now throwing around the term "snob", because in my mind it's way more snobbish to say you can't be bothered to dress according to the expectations of the people hosting the event. People who dress appropriately for the venue are trying to show respect to the performers and the establishment by acceding to the unspoken expectation of the place. They're signifying it's kind of a big deal and it is something worth getting dressed up for. When you don't dress up, you're saying that your comfort, which must be maintained 100% of the time, is more important than anything else.

It's super rare there isn't a situation where I wouldn't prefer to wear jeans, but there are certain circumstances I get that it's not about me and so I try to show respect by dressing the part. Like I would at a funeral or a wedding...or the opera. Because that is what is expected of me.

[Larry of the Lawn]

And not at all - in the case of the Kennedy Center, I would bet that the majority of the time the people slumming it in $200 jeans with rhinestones on them belong to a class where people get trust funds, and that is a class in every way elevated above the class I belong to. They just have no class.

I went to GW, and coming from a blue-collar background, the money that people there spent on clothing was baffling to me. I can't understand paying that much money for clothes, but other than the fact that it seems like a waste of money it doesn't bother me. The social expectations of what-to-wear-when just fly right over my head. I'll try to fit into whatever situation I'm going to be in, but I'm still completely ignorant when it comes to why anyone cares what I'm wearing. I just don't understand the jeans as lack-of-respect angle.

I can completely understand the distaste for snobby douches that are texting at the Kennedy Center, but like you said it's because of the elitist attitude, not the rhinestoned $200 jeans.

[Robin Of House Hill]

Jaime L,

How should the poor dress at a funeral?

[Minaku]

You just made me think of something so awful I might just have to rethink my position. What if those Walmart people showed up at the symphony?

We'd have to put it out of our minds as soon as the performance starts. Bad form to snicker at one's own audience, you know. You have to pretend like you're completely invested in your performance. In the case of Wal-mart dress, 200% invested.

[Tempra]

I find it ironic that those who insist on going casual everywhere are now throwing around the term "snob", because in my mind it's way more snobbish to say you can't be bothered to dress according to the expectations of the people hosting the event. People who dress appropriately for the venue are trying to show respect to the performers and the establishment by acceding to the unspoken expectation of the place. They're signifying it's kind of a big deal and it is something worth getting dressed up for. When you don't dress up, you're saying that your comfort, which must be maintained 100% of the time, is more important than anything else.

It's super rare there isn't a situation where I wouldn't prefer to wear jeans, but there are certain circumstances I get that it's not about me and so I try to show respect by dressing the part. Like I would at a funeral or a wedding...or the opera. Because that is what is expected of me.

You have turned the meaning of snob on its head.