I'm 61 and I do care how I look, but I'm hardly fashion forward. I wear cargo shorts or pants because they're comfortable and practical. I wear tight-fitting Polo shirts and Henleys because they show off my physique and muscular arms, which is pretty much all I have because I'm only 5'9" (formerly 5'10") and average looking. I'm happily married, though, so why do I care? I guess it's just ego and perceived respect and admiration. I do wear cheap necklaces and bracelets to enhance my style and my $20 wooden watch gets me more compliments than my $900 Orvis, so I wear the cheap one. Sometimes I wonder why I even bother messing with my clothes, accessories, or hair, but then I just do it anyway. Am I alone?
My impression is that people who cared about their looks when they were young continue doing that in quite old age. My aunt got herself a charming long dress when she turned 80 and was visibly happy in it; even though she was 80, among the 80-year-olds, she was the most elegant and proud of it.
My mom is 90 and still dresses up every day, regardless of her plans. She always looks like a million bucks. She still works as an interior decorator and appearances are super important to her.
What do you mean by this? Maybe we should assume 80-year-olds are quite as beautiful as 30-year-olds? As a not-very-young woman myself, I tell you, we are not this delusional. My aunt, for one, said something like "I'm not happy about turning 80; who would like to turn 80?" But she was happy about her dress.
I think the extra muscle Bezos is showing off is as much a signifier to other men as it is to women. Men are often showing off their muscles to other men, some sort of dominance thing.
In these past few years I have been buying most of my clothes from Patagonia- hemp as an ingredient makes them more durable and they feel better than heavy cotton.
Function. Aesthetic. Signaling. Path Dependency. Long ago, the four layers of fashion lived together in harmony. Then, everything changed when the Signaling Nation attacked.
Interesting article (as always!) I started a small business making western wear for women who compete in horse shows... and it supported us for 40 years and is still going strong with a new owner.
Not only did we have to come up with clothes for the rider, but they needed to flatter the horse as well... and the horse had a physically much bigger effect on the overall picture than the rider, especially as only their face showed.
I invented a color wheel to help riders choose outfit colors based on the primary color of their horse, either brown (bay, black, etc.) or red (sorrel, red roan, etc.) then they'd use that color and a trim silhouette to create a winning look... using the saddle blanket's color and pattern to tie horse and rider together into a visually connected team.
Another important tip is that light colors maximize and dark colors minimize. We would quite often suggest a light colored western hat (say, tan) with an outfit that was shades of chocolate brown and teal accents, because that light colored hat added light around the rider's face and made them appear to be tall in the saddle.
It all worked! We were able to help turn shoppers into buyers by empowering them to find confidence and a winning look by using color, silhouette and a bit of planning to come up with a winning look with clothing we produced. It was a lot of fun!
I appreciate this take, and that you tend to approach the topics you discuss from a well rounded place.
If I can make a correction/suggestion here, it would be the bit about corsets. The corset has an entrenched mythology. I work in textiles and part of that includes studying historic dress. Women did work and did all manner of living their lives in corsets and its variations (earlier on, stays and bodies). Dress historians have a lot to say regarding this - there’s well researched videos you can find on YouTube - highly recommend checking some out!
One fascinating aspect of wearing a uniform is that it not only figuratively, but literally, changes „who you are and what you know“. There is an example by Dave Snowden (no reference, I’m afraid) talking about complexity and how changing for example into surgical attire (and entering the context of the operating room) is essential to unearth and bring to use the surgical knowledge. It’s neither strictly functional nor signalling, yet it is an essential feature of the attire and the process of changing into it. Maybe there’s a fifth aspect, that of the liminality of the space between attire?
Yes like it brings about some sort of mindset shift in the wearer, like religious robes or how some Native American tribes wore animal skins when heading into battle. Not sure if it does change what you know, perhaps if you are a shaman. Sometimes the clothes do make the man. Or the pagan costumes that some European groups still have, like in Sardinia.
I'm an advocate for nuclear power, which is environmentally beneficial. I was also a long-distance runner. A few years ago, I started wearing a green headband as a visual identifier. This choice was highlighted in a new nonfiction book about advocates for extended operation of Diablo Canyon Power Plant near San Luis Obispo, California, USA. The book is Atomic Dreams: The New Nuclear Evangelists and the Fight for the Future of Energy by Rebecca Tuhus-Dubrow. https://www.amazon.com/Atomic-Dreams-Nuclear-Evangelists-Future-ebook/dp/B0DFW7H1GQ/ The chapter that highlights me is titled, "The Guy in the Headband."
I love your essays. I save them to read again and again. You’re the only author I recommend to everyone. I’m telling you all this so that you won’t misunderstand my next point. Derek Guy is streets ahead of you. He understands the subject at levels you’re not even aware of… yep he is the top dog on clothing.
Honestly, I thought those outfits at the beginning of the 'aesthetics' section looked good (except the righmost one). Am I just wrong? How can this theory of fashion account for this?
Hi Tomas! It looks like the image and article on Polish dress you linked is AI-generated - I know it’s not central to your point but I think it’s worth noting/removing, it doesn’t look like the information is particularly trustworthy.
Fashion has always perplexed me, this was helpful.
The golfer I believe is Arnold Palmer, not Daniel Craig.
Though an article on James Bond clothing would be intriguing!
Best essay ever, Mr. Pueyo - loved it.
I'm 61 and I do care how I look, but I'm hardly fashion forward. I wear cargo shorts or pants because they're comfortable and practical. I wear tight-fitting Polo shirts and Henleys because they show off my physique and muscular arms, which is pretty much all I have because I'm only 5'9" (formerly 5'10") and average looking. I'm happily married, though, so why do I care? I guess it's just ego and perceived respect and admiration. I do wear cheap necklaces and bracelets to enhance my style and my $20 wooden watch gets me more compliments than my $900 Orvis, so I wear the cheap one. Sometimes I wonder why I even bother messing with my clothes, accessories, or hair, but then I just do it anyway. Am I alone?
My impression is that people who cared about their looks when they were young continue doing that in quite old age. My aunt got herself a charming long dress when she turned 80 and was visibly happy in it; even though she was 80, among the 80-year-olds, she was the most elegant and proud of it.
My mom is 90 and still dresses up every day, regardless of her plans. She always looks like a million bucks. She still works as an interior decorator and appearances are super important to her.
"even though"? might want to rethink that...
What do you mean by this? Maybe we should assume 80-year-olds are quite as beautiful as 30-year-olds? As a not-very-young woman myself, I tell you, we are not this delusional. My aunt, for one, said something like "I'm not happy about turning 80; who would like to turn 80?" But she was happy about her dress.
I think the extra muscle Bezos is showing off is as much a signifier to other men as it is to women. Men are often showing off their muscles to other men, some sort of dominance thing.
They are linked. It’s the fact that a man can physically prevail over other men that gives him status, which is attractive to women.
In these past few years I have been buying most of my clothes from Patagonia- hemp as an ingredient makes them more durable and they feel better than heavy cotton.
And maybe there's some signaling from the fact that Patagonia cares about the environment?
Yeah, a very strong signal about that issue.
Function. Aesthetic. Signaling. Path Dependency. Long ago, the four layers of fashion lived together in harmony. Then, everything changed when the Signaling Nation attacked.
Interesting article (as always!) I started a small business making western wear for women who compete in horse shows... and it supported us for 40 years and is still going strong with a new owner.
Not only did we have to come up with clothes for the rider, but they needed to flatter the horse as well... and the horse had a physically much bigger effect on the overall picture than the rider, especially as only their face showed.
I invented a color wheel to help riders choose outfit colors based on the primary color of their horse, either brown (bay, black, etc.) or red (sorrel, red roan, etc.) then they'd use that color and a trim silhouette to create a winning look... using the saddle blanket's color and pattern to tie horse and rider together into a visually connected team.
Another important tip is that light colors maximize and dark colors minimize. We would quite often suggest a light colored western hat (say, tan) with an outfit that was shades of chocolate brown and teal accents, because that light colored hat added light around the rider's face and made them appear to be tall in the saddle.
It all worked! We were able to help turn shoppers into buyers by empowering them to find confidence and a winning look by using color, silhouette and a bit of planning to come up with a winning look with clothing we produced. It was a lot of fun!
I appreciate this take, and that you tend to approach the topics you discuss from a well rounded place.
If I can make a correction/suggestion here, it would be the bit about corsets. The corset has an entrenched mythology. I work in textiles and part of that includes studying historic dress. Women did work and did all manner of living their lives in corsets and its variations (earlier on, stays and bodies). Dress historians have a lot to say regarding this - there’s well researched videos you can find on YouTube - highly recommend checking some out!
i’ve often wondered why ripped jeans, frequently with very large and multiple tears, has survived as fashionable
for decades. Does anyone have any credible ideas about this?
One fascinating aspect of wearing a uniform is that it not only figuratively, but literally, changes „who you are and what you know“. There is an example by Dave Snowden (no reference, I’m afraid) talking about complexity and how changing for example into surgical attire (and entering the context of the operating room) is essential to unearth and bring to use the surgical knowledge. It’s neither strictly functional nor signalling, yet it is an essential feature of the attire and the process of changing into it. Maybe there’s a fifth aspect, that of the liminality of the space between attire?
Yes like it brings about some sort of mindset shift in the wearer, like religious robes or how some Native American tribes wore animal skins when heading into battle. Not sure if it does change what you know, perhaps if you are a shaman. Sometimes the clothes do make the man. Or the pagan costumes that some European groups still have, like in Sardinia.
I'm an advocate for nuclear power, which is environmentally beneficial. I was also a long-distance runner. A few years ago, I started wearing a green headband as a visual identifier. This choice was highlighted in a new nonfiction book about advocates for extended operation of Diablo Canyon Power Plant near San Luis Obispo, California, USA. The book is Atomic Dreams: The New Nuclear Evangelists and the Fight for the Future of Energy by Rebecca Tuhus-Dubrow. https://www.amazon.com/Atomic-Dreams-Nuclear-Evangelists-Future-ebook/dp/B0DFW7H1GQ/ The chapter that highlights me is titled, "The Guy in the Headband."
gilles lipovetsky and roland barthes can help
amazing lesson!
but polo shirts are never attractive, period LOL
I love your essays. I save them to read again and again. You’re the only author I recommend to everyone. I’m telling you all this so that you won’t misunderstand my next point. Derek Guy is streets ahead of you. He understands the subject at levels you’re not even aware of… yep he is the top dog on clothing.
Honestly, I thought those outfits at the beginning of the 'aesthetics' section looked good (except the righmost one). Am I just wrong? How can this theory of fashion account for this?
Hi Tomas! It looks like the image and article on Polish dress you linked is AI-generated - I know it’s not central to your point but I think it’s worth noting/removing, it doesn’t look like the information is particularly trustworthy.