Whenever you’re faced
with the obligation
to dress up,
do you feel
burdened or excited?
There was a time in my life where I ran screaming from situations where I had to wear anything other than blue jeans and a black T-shirt. Part of it was the discomfort of stepping out in anything other than an outfit that I knew looked okay most of the time and the other part was my belief that I just wasn’t a dress-up guy.
Fast forward to today and I’m the jerk at work who doesn’t wear jeans on Friday because he doesn’t even own a pair. While I still enjoy donning the occasional amusing T-shirt, I reserve that kooky extravagance for weekends. Now, I actually enjoy the opportunity to throw on a suit–even if I tend to always look a bit rumpled no matter how hard I try.
I’m not fashionable, nor do I possess a body that ever looks anything but short and round in whatever I clad it in, but I find that more formal clothes give me a certain amount of confidence I never previously possessed. Sure, I’ll accessorize them with my Wonder Woman converse, but that’s because I still gotta be me.
How about you? Do you spend any time thinking about what you wear? Do you hate having to dress outside your comfort soon? Or do you enjoy the chance to show off a little?
I somehow missed this article this morning… I really enjoy a well-tailored suit on a man made from great fabric. I wish I could get away with wearing one, but for whatever reason, they make me feel like a lesbian, even though I think they’re super comfortable. I think dressing up also adds to how serious you take whatever it is you’re dressing up to or for.
I find the opposite – my clothing normally has little to do with my confidence, and formal clothing undermines it, by suggesting that I need to hide who I am behind society’s uniform. Plus, formal clothes are complete non-functional. The shoes are horrifically uncomfortable and have no tread, the pants are so thin and flimsy that I find myself worrying they’ll tear at any moment, the shirts restrict range of motion horribly, and ties are just a safety hazard. Plus none of it can be cleaned of any of my usual stains – plants, dirt, mud, blood, cadaver juices, rotted… Read more »