Category: Sartorial Matters
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Sartorial Incongruity and TDS
There’s President Trump in his expensive bespoke suit with a ridiculous red cap on his head, a “prole cap” — one size fits all! — emblazoned with “Trump was right about everything.” Gaucherie, braggadocio, exaggeration. Lefties and never-Trumping righties are ‘triggered,’ albeit in different ways, by these low-class characteristics and hate him in consequence. Their…
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The Message of Visible Tattoos
Top o' the Stack. Me? I sport no tattoos and never will. My dress is functional and tailored to the needs of the occasion. No one could accuse me of being a Sharp-Dressed Man
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Saturday Night at the Oldies: Sartorial Songs
In Chapter 42 of his Essays, Montaigne remarks that We praise a horse for its strength and speed, not on account of its harness; a greyhound for its swiftness and not its collar; a hawk for its wing and not for its jesses and bells. Why then do we not value a man for what is his? .…
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Of Beards and Cloaks, Philosophers and Fops
Barba non facit philosophum, neque vile gerere pallium. A beard does not a philosopher make, nor does wearing a shabby cloak. True, but it is also the case that an excess of grooming and over-attention to raiment are reliable but defeasible indicators of a fop, not a philosopher. Filed under: Sartorial Matters
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The Sartorial Functionalist Speaks
Substack latest.
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Clothes and the Man
"Clothes make the man!" said the mother to the son. "If clothes make the man, then the kind of man that clothes make is not the kind of man I want to be," said the son to the mother. Firm is the distaff grip on the truth of Der Schein regiert die Welt. Listen to…
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Is the Burqa a Mere Fashion Accessory?
William Kilpatrick: You may look upon the wearing of the burqa as a civil rights issue, but many Muslims look upon it as key element in the Islamization process. Like the Ku Klux Klan hood or the Guy Fawkes mask, the burqa works, in part, through intimidation. Suppose a burqa clad woman (or is she…
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Camille Paglia on Pussy Hats
She approved — of all things — of the Women’s March. “I think it’s important that women rediscover solidarity with themselves,” she said. “It really wasn’t about feminism. It’s really not about Trump. It’s not about any of that. It was all of a sudden, Oh, wow, to be with all the women.” Still, the…
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The Message of Visible Tattoos
All visible tattoos deliver the same message: I am not interested in being hired for any position that involves interacting with the public. Tattoos on the neck and face deliver the message in capital letters. Time was when tattoos were found mainly only among the demimonde of grifters, members of outlaw motorcycle gangs, rough trade,…
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Going Flat
After a mastectomy, some women choose to go flat. Should these flat chesters be allowed shirtless in public? I can't see why not. On the other hand, there is some small case for requiring top-heavy men to wear the mansiere in public, though I won't press the point.
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The Pussy Cat Bows of the Yap-and-Scribble Bow Tie Milquetoasts
Pussy Bow is elliptical for 'Pussy Cat Bow,' the latter a well-established term in the world of women's fashion. Melania Trump sported one at the second debate. Was she out to implant some sly suggestion? I have no idea. But it occurred to me this morning that boy tie boys such as George Will also…
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Epictetus Advises Imelda Marcos
Epictetus, Enchiridion, tr. E. Carter, XXXIX: The body is to everyone the measure of the possessions proper for it, as the foot is of the shoe. If, therefore, you stop at this, you will keep the measure; but if you move beyond it, you must necessarily be carried forward, as down a precipice; as in…
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Saturday Night at the Oldies: Sartorial Songs
In Chapter 42 of his Essays, Montaigne remarks that We praise a horse for its strength and speed, not on account of its harness; a greyhound for its swiftness and not its collar; a hawk for its wing and not for its jesses and bells. Why then do we not value a man for what…
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Why Saggy Pants?
Peter proffered a theory over Sunday breakfast a while back. 'Gangsta' rappers and their imitators are aping the sartorial disarray of prison inductees. When you arrive at the slammer, the Man takes away your belt, so your pants fall down. So 'gangsta' rappers and their imitators are preparing themselves for prison life or else showing their…
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Why Do We Judge People By Their Attire?
In Chapter 42 of his Essays, Montaigne remarks that We praise a horse for its strength and speed, not on account of its harness; a greyhound for its swiftness and not its collar; a hawk for its wing and not for its jesses and bells. Why then do we not value a man for what…