Sharp Dressed Man
Feb. 19th, 2008 01:49 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
the_goren_show((Thanks to LJ having a blip when I tried to resize an image, I'm writing this for the second time today. Hopefully it will be better than the last one and less tasty to LJ.))
This musing owes it's beginning to a forum I stumbled over while looking for the proper quotes and episodes for the post on why I chose the pseudonym I did for LJ. Somewhere out there in the Net, is a forum thread devoted in its entirety to LOCI's Detective Goren and his tie clips. There are various theories as to why he wears a tie clip, some holding more water than others, some that 'wouldn't butter your parsnips', and more than a few fangirl-y type of posts. One of the more interesting theories was that the tie clip represented his need to have some control over his life, starting with his tie. That observation in particular started me thinking about why I dress the way do and why I buy the items I do to wear.
It's not about ostentation for me, even with my love of a good watch. Granted, there's a thrill in owning an expensive watch but I've never felt the need to point out my watch to people. It's a method of telling time and I enjoy owning fine timepieces as the picture I've included gives testament. But price is a piss-poor way of measuring anything and if I could find a less expensive item that offered the same quality as the items I've saved up and purchased over the years, I'd use it. In fact the watches below are just my dress watches - I have a run of the mill Timex I use for everyday wear. I wouldn't have nearly the confidence in a knock off watch as I do wearing one of my collection and along with the watch comes the reason I started thinking about this in the first place - the humble tie bar.
As mentioned briefly elsewhere, I wear a suit and tie to work. I have for years now and I've gotten used to wearing it much as one gets used to wearing any uniform. I could still do my job without the suit and tie, but there is a certain expection of professionalism from a man in a suit. I wouldn't be nearly as effective at what I do if I wore a shirt with my name or a company logo embroidered on the pocket.
The other part of it stems from the fact that the people I work for are, by and large, old enough to remember a time before casual clothes ruled the world. To them, the suit makes the man and luckily for us all, I like the way a suit looks with all the finishing touches. To me, this means a good watch, a neatly pressed shirt, a properly tied silk tie, a pocket square, a cotton handkerchief to offer the ladies if necessary (Kleenex is convenient but not nearly as gentlemanly a gesture) and a tie bar to hold my tie out of my coffee cup or lunch. I am told frequently that I look very dapper, which pleases me. I'm as vain as the next person and if wearing a suit gets me complimented, I'm going to wear a suit. End of story. Full stop.
One of the posters had noticed that Goren was wearing his tie bar askew as of late and postulated that it was a hint of his tenuous mental state. Even though I tend to agree with this statement, I have to wonder at the implications this has if I carry it over to my own love of dressing like a gentleman. My question then is does my love of completing my suit with a proper tie clip to tame my tie equate to a symptom of my mental state? Or is it just my vanity stepping out? Whichever it may be, the rest of the world can have their casual wear.
I'll be the guy in the suit.
This musing owes it's beginning to a forum I stumbled over while looking for the proper quotes and episodes for the post on why I chose the pseudonym I did for LJ. Somewhere out there in the Net, is a forum thread devoted in its entirety to LOCI's Detective Goren and his tie clips. There are various theories as to why he wears a tie clip, some holding more water than others, some that 'wouldn't butter your parsnips', and more than a few fangirl-y type of posts. One of the more interesting theories was that the tie clip represented his need to have some control over his life, starting with his tie. That observation in particular started me thinking about why I dress the way do and why I buy the items I do to wear.
It's not about ostentation for me, even with my love of a good watch. Granted, there's a thrill in owning an expensive watch but I've never felt the need to point out my watch to people. It's a method of telling time and I enjoy owning fine timepieces as the picture I've included gives testament. But price is a piss-poor way of measuring anything and if I could find a less expensive item that offered the same quality as the items I've saved up and purchased over the years, I'd use it. In fact the watches below are just my dress watches - I have a run of the mill Timex I use for everyday wear. I wouldn't have nearly the confidence in a knock off watch as I do wearing one of my collection and along with the watch comes the reason I started thinking about this in the first place - the humble tie bar.
As mentioned briefly elsewhere, I wear a suit and tie to work. I have for years now and I've gotten used to wearing it much as one gets used to wearing any uniform. I could still do my job without the suit and tie, but there is a certain expection of professionalism from a man in a suit. I wouldn't be nearly as effective at what I do if I wore a shirt with my name or a company logo embroidered on the pocket.
The other part of it stems from the fact that the people I work for are, by and large, old enough to remember a time before casual clothes ruled the world. To them, the suit makes the man and luckily for us all, I like the way a suit looks with all the finishing touches. To me, this means a good watch, a neatly pressed shirt, a properly tied silk tie, a pocket square, a cotton handkerchief to offer the ladies if necessary (Kleenex is convenient but not nearly as gentlemanly a gesture) and a tie bar to hold my tie out of my coffee cup or lunch. I am told frequently that I look very dapper, which pleases me. I'm as vain as the next person and if wearing a suit gets me complimented, I'm going to wear a suit. End of story. Full stop.
Sartorial elegance in the making - some of the tools of a well dressed man.
One of the posters had noticed that Goren was wearing his tie bar askew as of late and postulated that it was a hint of his tenuous mental state. Even though I tend to agree with this statement, I have to wonder at the implications this has if I carry it over to my own love of dressing like a gentleman. My question then is does my love of completing my suit with a proper tie clip to tame my tie equate to a symptom of my mental state? Or is it just my vanity stepping out? Whichever it may be, the rest of the world can have their casual wear.
I'll be the guy in the suit.
