Is men’s everyday-fashion circling the drain? I’m not talking about runway fashion -- you know, those huge-pectoral dudes that never smile. I mean everyday guys like me.
There is a very nice older couple in my town, and I’ve seen them on several different occasions and in several different settings. No matter where or what time of day, the elderly husband is always dressed to the nines in a nice men’s suit. A bygone generation of classy gentlemen -- guys who even wore dress-hats, like Fedoras. When I see him, I wonder if my generation has lost something in the realm of fashion. Frankly, we don’t know how to dress up any more.
Now, I’ve gotta be honest – I don’t really like dressing up. I had a job in retail once, and I had to wear a tie every day. Since then, I only wear a tie when it is absolutely necessary. Just the same, I wonder: have guys gotten too casual? Young pastors dress like they’re at Starbucks, young dads pretty much dress like teenagers, etc.
I know that in the grand scheme of things, our outward appearance is pretty low on the list of earth-changing events. Still, my older gentleman friend naturally exudes something that is unfortunately rare among men my age -- class. No doubt it is more than his clothing that makes him classy; but he sure does make a heck of a first impression.
I don’t believe that the clothes make the man or anything like that. And truth be known, most of us simply don’t have the money to dress in Armani suits and shoes made from dead animals. But surely there’s a happy-medium -- somewhere between the aforementioned older gentleman’s suit and hat and the computer tech’s Birkenstocks and Transformers t-shirt.
A couple of decades ago, we all started “casual Fridays.” Maybe now that the pendulum has swung the other way, we need to reinstate a special day to actually dress up. So here’s to “dressy Tuesdays.”
Anyway, gotta go. I want a Mountain Dew, and I’m gonna head to the Mini-Mart in my pajamas. . .
