Forgive me, but I think we're comparing apples to oranges in that this advice is probably best suited for the gentleman who is not used to dressing well.Originally Posted by GBREAL
If you dress well regularly, you will have little need for this advice because confidence will bring this effect naturally.
"We all die. The goal isn't to live forever, the goal is to create something that will." ~ C. Palahniuk
I don't know. I look at people on TV who can't seem to get the tie knot up high enough or centered and I think, how sloppy. It doesn't take much to just pull up and center it. And I don't know if it's deliberate or not. Because if it's not deliberate then it's the aforementioned sloppiness, and if it is deliberate, then it's an attitude that is the opposite of how I like to dress, if not my values.
I would never tell anyone how to dress or knot their tie. I just do it my way. Live and let live, ya know?
'There is a fine line between art and fondling.'
- J.H.P.
+1
Case in point:
I recently watched a short film about a gentleman who was portrayed as having reached enlightenment (in a vaguely Zen Buddhist sense), and he was dressed like this:
I think they were going for this idea of nonchalance, that someone who had reached enlightenment would dress well, but carefree.
However, consider another character who seems (much more subtly) to be portrayed as having reached enlightenment; namely, Agent Dale Cooper from Twin Peaks. He dresses like this:
Note that Agent Cooper looks just as nonchalant--this is even more obvious when you watch the show. It's all about attitude.
EDIT: Changed picture for the first reference for a medium shot, to mirror the second.
"In other words, we are either Englishmen or nothing whatever." — H.P. Lovecraft
I do agree to a certain extent; I never have it loose nor un-centred when I go out, and I do tighten and re-centre during the day...but perfectly dimpled Windsor knots that have been achieved after much trial and error in front of a mirror before heading out just isn't my thing. Similarly, and much like FFF, I press my shirts (-ish) but I don't wear collar stays. I'm not sure how to sum it up best, but the nearest I can put it is "I'm wearing a tie as I think it as article of clothing one wears" rather then "I'm dressed up for the day".
Horses for courses, I suppose
Last edited by Cobden; 04-30-2012 at 02:50 PM.
It's an old concept called "sprezzatura" that goes beyond just how your dress:
Coined by Baldassare Castiglione in The Book of the Courtier (1528): "[T]o avoid affectation in every way possible . . . and (to pronounce a new word perhaps) to practice in all things a certain Sprezzatura [nonchalance], so as to conceal all art and make whatever is done or said appear to be without effort and almost without any thought about it."
Yeah, I'll go for that, myself.
'There is a fine line between art and fondling.'
- J.H.P.
As much as I love to make sure that all the little details are in place, there is something undeniably cool about looking like you just rolled out of bed and put on whatever was lying around.
I think Matt Deckard is the master of nonchalance in his dress. Just look at the pictures of him, and read up on his ideas. Mr. Deckard has said again and again that clothing should be made for action. Clothing should be able to take a beating, take whatever you throw at it. For a boring day at the office, it's okay to wear your soft shirt collar without the stays, so it flops around slightly as you move. Instead of folding your handkerchief into a neat square, try loosely stuffing it into your breast pocket, so that the points loosely stick out. The uneven Four-in-Hand knot is more playful than the perfectly symmetrical Half-Windsor. Get a slick haircut that still looks good when strands are knocked loose and dangle at the sides of your head.
It's these types of things that can keep you from looking fussy and unwilling to get your hands dirty. But like someone said above, the key to looking like you don't care is to not try so hard.
Last edited by Brevetti; 05-02-2012 at 11:48 AM.
I think of myself as being chalant.
If it matters at all to you what you see looking back at you when you look into a plate glass window when you walk along a city street, you will soon enough learn to dress without giving it a great deal of thought. It's a matter of what you do habitually. Do you remember what is was like to learn how to ride a bicycle? I bet you don't think about keeping your balance now. You just get on the thing and ride.
If the man looking back at you is making a face like he is making a sound like, oh, say, "feh", then you can benefit from being more chalant.
Dressing and grooming are like that, too.
i'm also more of a "sprezzaturist" than an immaculately neat chap. i don't think i could even be immaculately neat if i tried. any of my 40s shirts that had celluloid collar stays have had them removed.
i favour the four in hand over the windsor. i roll my shirt sleeves up over the elbow and usually have stubble. i like to mix rugged with elegant.
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