Sartorial splendour

I’m not known for my sartorial splendour and have largely spent my life dressing down for occasions of all kinds. Dress: informal has always suited me, as I'm a casual sort of guy. Friends have remarked, how can this be so when your brother Tony has specialised in upmarket men’s clothing. Easy, we have lived and worked in different worlds. My indifference to clothes goes back to my university days, to the times when I brushed up with the alternative life. It seems that my blood hasn't diluted much since my hippy days.

Shakespeare was perhaps speaking tongue in cheek, in Hamlet, when his character, Polonius, pompously said to his son Laertes, “Clothes maketh the man.”  Straighten that collar son. How can you expect to make a deal dressed like that. 

I’ve been fortunate and have never had to dress up for work. I was an English teacher for over 30 years and only ever wore a tie once when I was sent by my organisation, as a Vietnam War veteran, to represent them in an ANZAC Day memorial. The tie didn’t stay on for long as I have a sensitive neck that doesn't like being restricted in any way. Acute claustrophobia of the neck I call it. I had colleagues who admitted to wearing ties when they weren’t sure what they were doing. To disguise their incompetence as it were.

I spent many years working with overseas-trained professionals preparing them for employment in Australia, and that included preparing them for job interviews. Dressing for one interview may be overdressing for another. IT professionals don’t need a tie when writing code but may keep one handy for meeting a client who drops in u.nexpected. Foreign correspondents are only seen wearing ties when interviewing leaders of a country or VIPs.So why should I bother.

And would you wear a collar and tie to a BBQ? 

On the other hand, many detectives wear ties, they stand out in court, and if you work in finance you simply have to front up in a suit and tie, the dress code for trustworthy, believe it or not.

I fondly recall an IT professional I taught preparing for a job interview and getting advice from fellow IT professionals on how to knot his tie. There was debate and confusion as ties weren’t required in their previous jobs. I have an app that shows me how to tie a number of fancy knots like Windsor, but I've never used it. I also recall attending Computer Shows with hardly a tie in sight. 

First in, best dressed. Bah, humbug! Everyone has their own style and we shouldn't be slaves to fashion discarding perfectly good clothes to the latest wave.

Which reminds me of an encounter many years ago with a then-famous wedding dress designer, Maria Hardwick. An old university friend, Barry, turned up at our house in the Blue Mountains in a dusty ute and with his latest partner. They walked in barefoot and in scrappy, or should that be crappy, clothing. A lovely couple indeed and Mariana Hardwick not long after become Barry's 3rd wife. I haven't seen Barry for many years and hope that this is still the case. It's been remarked that clothes designers often purposely dress down whenever possible. 

C’est la vie it all says.

When you watch football match replays from the 50s and 60s every man wore a tie. Have a look at the Melbourne street scenes in that 60s classic movie On The beach, the same. Without ties people felt undressed, now they feel overdressed wearing them, which may explain why some companies have plain clothes days. perhaps Fridays, and schools have mufti days when uniforms are discarded. For many people, they only button up for business meetings, births, weddings, and funerals.

It was interesting seeing Special Investigator, Robert Mueller taking an oath before a congressional committee: he stood up, buttoned up his jacket, single button only, and then raised his arm to solemnly swear the appropriate oath. It's become fashionable to leave your shirt out but my wife always asks me to tuck my shirt in. 

I enjoy freedom around my neck, waist, and feet. There's nothing like kicking your shoes off when walking in the door. Clothes cramp my style. I'm not a fancy dresser.