Confidence is overrated
Plus the power of styling, *that's* how you freak a 1/4 zip, a good seam is like a magic trick & more
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In today’s sletter:
Confidence is overrated
“Sick Striped Longsleeve Tee Watch” continues with three new gems,
Now that’s how you freak a 1/4-zip, a.k.a. the power of styling…
…plus: Clothes that style themselves for you??
And more unbeatable recon!
Let’s get to it —
We got a compelling comment from a reader on last week’s sletter, in which we argued that Rules for Getting Dressed are, in fact, Cool:
“I love fashion rules. The whole ‘wear what you love’ and ‘the most attractive thing you can wear is confidence’ advice just doesn’t cut it for me.” — Mary
It’s a counterintuitive take, and we’re inclined to agree. So many style bromides like these ones are unsatisfying, if not outright misleading.
We’ve argued, for instance, that “Be yourself” is bad advice for getting dressed. We’ve written about how people will tell you that “If you feel uncomfortable in a garment you will ipso facto look bad in it” — but this is a simplistic falsehood that sets you up to walk around with your pants looking like Centaur Haunches, among other pitfalls!
“Wear what you love” and “The most attractive thing you can wear is confidence” are, of course, big fat clichés. They contain inarguable truths, which is why people repeat them like gospel. And yet they don’t actually illuminate much about the art nor science of Putting S--t On, and that’s why you can hear them a million times and still… want some good style advice.
You are a very important judge of what you look good in. But the vexing truth is that — since clothes are a social language — other people are very important judges of what you look good in, too. What’s more, we are notoriously unreliable narrators, and unreliable perceivers, of our own appearances, vulnerable to the distorting effects of our own funky moods and of funky psychological phenomena such as pants dysmorphia, where trousers we could have sworn were enormous 3 years ago strike us as slim-fit today. Etc.
What these style-advice bromides do have to recommend them is that they can assist us in achieving a kind of oblivious happiness as relates to clothes. On one level, that’s great. We’re a pro-happiness newsletter, and there are instances where we’re pro-obliviousness, too.
But if you care about clothes, and if your aim, is to be happy while also dressing well, then “Wear clothes that you love” and “Make sure you feel confident and the rest will sort itself out” might put some wind in your sails, but they aren’t gonna get you past the finish line. They might even lead you off-course.
You could say that love and confidence are necessary but insufficient conditions conditions for sauce. Rules — even rules you wind up rejecting — can help you to figure out the rest.
Speaking of which: Now this is how you wear a 1/4 zip —