Dress for Respect, Guys

I wear blue jeans almost everywhere except when going out to a nice dinner and of course for most business. Otherwise I am in them ever since a kid.

The adult generation of the 1940s,50s,and 60s dressed much better than when the hippie and beatnik influence started in the 1960s as a protest to the ‘Nam war. Then protest inspired dressing down was a “cool thing”- and it is what many people at that time did. It showed their freedom to protest the culture and to show others they were different. Of course so many were “different” that they were not.

Even the soup lines of the 1920-30s depression era men dressed as decently as they could. They still had personal and public respect, even though out of work with no money and standing in a soup line.

I remember seeing how kids dressed (older than me) in the 60s when girls still wore dresses and guys still wore decent looking shirts, clean jeans and decent shoes to school. Go into most any high school nowadays and you see cut offs, flip flops and crap shirts-worn generally by those who think is the cool movement.

But it is worse now. Like when a 250 pound 5 foot 2-inch woman who thinks she is hot while wearing crotch stuffed shorts as rolls of pale colored fat escape under her tight fitting shirt and humongous cottage cheese looking legs protrude like tree stumps from her 25-inch two chair wide ass. I’m going to go blind if I see one more of these boastful boatloads of exposed fat on the street!

However,we guys are dressing like total slobs too. It is partially due to the destruction of our culture inspired by some in political power and so many out of power who make money promoting “casual dress.” After all, high-dollar of jeans with the knees factory belt sanded out, frayed bottoms a torn pocket and washed in industrial machines with some bleach and rocks will sell for $500. Likewise a new pair of good looking not screwed with jeans only brings 40 bucks.

Men, who look and dress like the women in the previous fat chick example have simply lost self respect. So for these life’s losers, and they are too-because of how they dress and why they do it. They flaunt their looser appearance to announce to the rest of us, I don’t care (obviously) I am different (how true) and I will dress my way to prove it. I am therefore cool too! Yeah, losers are cool!

I am not advocating we all suit up, but going out to have a meal next to a hulking fat slob of a guy with a tank top and hair leaking out everywhere has damn near got me into several “hey dummy, you look like shit” fights. If I get seated near one of these meal ruining fur balls with my wife I will ask the waitress “quietly loud” enough so the fur ball hears me to move us to another table. Screw him-he is messing with everyone in the restaurant, and don’t think even for a second he is NOT aware of his dress or what and why he is doing that. It is very intentional!

I have noted that even the once really nice up scale shopping centers are getting dressed down and so are the clothes they are selling–and no I can’t afford most of their stuff. Regardless, we are trashing ourselves and killing what is left of our culture.

When most American tourists go overseas they dress like shit and the locals take note of that. Years ago my wife and I went to Mexico (not so safe now for gringos). I asked her to wear a white summer dress and a big bead bright big colored necklace. I wore clean pressed jeans and a decent shirt–our tourist contemporaries dressed in flip flops, cut offs and tank tops.

The effect was striking. We got the best service in the stores and restaurants, friendly greetings from the locals even on the streets; one old gentleman even told my wife she was dressed “very pretty.”-seriously.  The others were looked at with disdain due to their apparent disrespect of the area, the country and the people-and it is disrespectful. Look like crap, get treated like crap! we should take a hint from foreign tourists who come to America-they dress decently because they have respect for themselves and our country.

In Las Vegas when going into any of the name casino stores it is interesting to watch what the sales people look at and how they treat you. First, they see the clothes but more important they check your shoes. Folks with money (certainly not us) might dress casually (not like slobs-it is ingrained against their winner psychology) but they will always wear good footwear. Just an interesting observation to consider–clothes matter.

Look guys, when going out in public wearing flip flops, cut offs and shit shirts you are seen as garbage. Your, and most humans feet are flat out ugly unless you are a professional foot model. A roll of pale exposed hair covered fat hanging out above your belt and outside of your shirt is not only ugly, but disrespectful of those around you.

It is simple, when out in public just wear decent shoes (rather than flip flops), a decent, and they can be low cost, collared shirt or a correctly fitting T-shirt with short or long sleeves and clean jeans or slacks. Come on men, you can do this-and further I ask why wouldn’t you?

Even the big and generally beer swilling bad asses in motorcycle gangs do NOT dress like slobs, if they do, their brothers will adjust their thinking for disrespecting their colors-again it is all a matter of respect.

Unless you really crave the look at me, I am a slob and I want to prove it to you philosophy, this is not rocket science. Get some respect for yourself and show some respect for others. Intentionally dressing like a jackass slob isnot a manly thing, it is a jack off slob thing-so come on guys, man up and be considerate of yourself and others–besides, better clothes get the right chicks!

Reprinted from Man Talk Blog.