Dressing...

I have recently had a conversation with a dear friend of mine. (yes, I have friends) And it leads me to this… What and why is appropriate dress? Of course we were talking about female attire, but I think this could go off to cover everyone. (ha ha.. I said cover)

Example: How much “skin” is appropriate? Should guys wear their pants below their butts? (sagging) What makes a particular outfit look nice and another obscene? Should we dress in accordance as to how we feel others will view us?

I was curious as to how the rest of the community viewed this particular topic as to how we are all so diverse!

PS: Of course, dressing for the occasion is to be considered. And I will play “Devils Advocate” to at least some of the replies!

Stimulating question ...

Should the Devil's Advocate really have a case, we should first raise the issue of convention/obscenity. This is of course cultural, and whatever our Western-biased optimistic openness wishes to believe, we would have a difficult time accepting the answer "just enough clothing to be practical." In our culture, in the case of total or partial nudity, we would have a hard time not having comparative, judgemental or perverse thoughts. Our current cousins still living in the rain forests or in the vicinity of Lake Turkana do not wear very much, but they do not seem complexed by body-image nor carry themselves as sex fiends. They may wear 'something', a small covering or perhaps a bag to carry things in (in most cases, skin has no pockets -- unless one is a marsupial), but whatever they wear or do not wear is purely practical.

For those living in temperate climates, logic dictates that one should be more nude in the summer and more covered in the winter. Clothing should be for comfort and practicality. Though this is somewhat the case, these are not the main factors of what determines dress ...

For the past few hundred generations, clothing has taken on a different function : fashion. This was the result of sedentarisation and the rise of social class. And with social class -- moral. Neither comfortable nor practical, apparel has become a symbol of one's place in the society, and in these modern times, of how we disguise ourselves according to self-image.

So, as it were, one cannot avoid comparative, judgemental or perversive thoughts. We do not even have to be naked ! The bloke with his arse sagging out of his trousers probably has a less than friendly judgement for his neighbour in a smartly pressed suit (especially if they do not know one another). Even by a heat index of 45°C, a girl who dresses comfortably (as if by heat like that any clothing would be comfortable), she'll be looked at as an object of desire. If she's not built like a model, she'll be regarded as though she thinks she is and ridiculed.

In summary, humans compare, judge and perversify, whether dressed or not, whether smartly or poorly dressed and by some manipulation of market-economy called "mode" (fashion). Given this singular phenomenon that takes so many avenues to feel worthy of self or to vilify another, how much is the question of appropriateness truly dependent on clothing ?

... how we feel others will view us ? I go to receptions at Hôtel de Ville (City Hall) dressed in my old philosopher (old Jedi) hooded robe. Funny how many people come up to me to discuss metaphysics.

A/O

Well, I can only speak to me. Dress changes with the times, locations and generations. Old pictures, a guy wouldn't be caught dead outside without his fedora. Now, they are only for hipsters and rappers. You wouldn't see full body bathing suits like at the turn of the century either. When I was a kid, we all wore ridiculously baggy skater gear. We thought we were so cool. Looking back, it was ridiculous.

At this moment, I am wearing jeans and an underarmor. I will put a polo over it and go to the office after lunch. Tomorrow or the next day, I have to go to some lobbyist orientation, so I will be wearing a suit.

All that to ask, what is appropriate and in whose eyes? If I wore that same suit into the hood here, I would get my ass beat on general principle. And if some thug tried to wander into the lobbyist meeting, he would be summarily ejected. So its relative.

I do not disagree with anything that Alexandre or Desolous has said.

On that note, I will say that I was raised in Texas. I come from a country upbringing and was taught that there are things that are and are not acceptable. Personally, I don’t care what people wear.

I dress in anything from a three piece suit to nothing! (Given the situation presents itself) But, for day to day dress my job dictates what I wear for at least ten hours a day, five days a week. When I am left to my own devices and in the urban public I can be spotted wearing anything from camo shorts and a T-shirt to riding boots and jeans. Depends on how hot it is!

But, when I imagine what would be appropriate dress, it differs from what is the social norm. Sagging, I feel it looks ridiculous. That being said, I do like to see women look like “women” and for men to dress like “men.” And there are few things in life nicer to see then a woman dressed smartly in a dress or skirt. That does not mean that there has to be “skin” showing. And I would think that the men in this would be dressed in pants (slacks) a T-shirt with a button down over it. Perhaps it is just the way I was raised, but a guy wearing a button down shirt with NO undershirt is just tacky! I would guess that the people in my urban utopia would be dressed according to the weather, occasion and without concern of what others may think of their attire.

Of course, how I picture men and women to look or dress would be different from how others may envision it.

PS: flip-flops are NOT sexy, nice, cool or even kind of attractive! And socks with flip-flops or sandals... oh no! :ohmy:

I think that we should start the jedi style dress .Your on something by (slack)clothing.
This week I started to sow a jedi cost winter .I probable take a picture of it and put it on this site.

Ultimately you should act in a way that makes you feel comfortable and confident

But that can be applied to almost anywhere. If you were talking to a customer or client you probably wouldn't start talking to them like you would a friend. You wouldn't make small jokes etc, because that would probably be misunderstood or misinterpreted and they might take offence

The same goes with dressing

We should all be perfectly capable of acting in a way that will not make other people feel unduly awkward or uncomfortable without greatly sacrificing our own enjoyment of what we do or wear

Even if you think their judgements are unjustified, do you challenge them on everything you disagree on or do you go "Ok, you (which could be as many people as society itself) think that this is inappropriate and wrong. Well I think you're wrong, but instead of just fighting against that, it is hardly damaging and impossible for me to not just go 'Alright then, I think your beliefs are absurd but for the sake of reducing conflict I guess I could not wear socks with my sandals'"

It is sometimes just easier to go a little out of your way to make things far far easier (even if those things shouldn't even matter in your view). You aren't going to convince everyone so lets just try to get a long as best we can

You ought to still be able to dress comfortably and politely

And I can't wait until winter! I will totally be buying this coat:

We should make this compulsory dress, screw robes!

Akkarin wrote: And I can't wait until winter! I will totally be buying this coat:

We should make this compulsory dress, screw robes!

Sure, let's ! I've got one of those ...

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1575928604721.74758.1430769074&type=3#!/photo.php?fbid=1575932204811&set=a.1575928604721.74758.1430769074&type=3&theater

I have a brown trench coat that I wear in the winter as well. And if I do say so myself… it looks really good!

But, a few years back we had a group of people in the U.S. that gave the whole trench coat thing a bad taste. The Trench Coat Mafia . So I don’t know how well wearing them would be received State side.

Of course, if we aren’t hurting anyone and still dressed in a polite manner, do we really need to concern ourselves with how others might see it? I mean, why call ourselves Jedi if we are going to worry with what the masses may think?

:blink:

I agree with your intention Wes, that we shouldn't mind what other people think and in most instances that should be fine. But if we're annoyingly realistic for a moment, we cannot hold others up to the standards we expect ourselves and other Jedi to hold up i.e. non judgemental etc

For some people it really can be an issue even if you don't see the reasoning

Your opinion that what you're wearing is nice is just as valid as their opinion that what you're wearing is not nice

The only thing we can do is show respect

While it would be great if we could sit down and talk with them about why they don't like what you're wearing or saying or what have you, we simply don't have the time nor perhaps the ability to explain our own position to them

In these cases it is just easier to try and not offend