Fashion: the courage to stay at the surface

[GoldenOstrich]

In Seneca's letters to Lucilius he talks to his friend about the conformity of the philosopher: 

"Quod pertinaciter studes et omnibus omissis hoc unum agis, ut te meliorem cotidie facias, et probo et gaudeo, nec tantum hortor, ut perseveres, sed etiam rogo. Illud autem te admoneo, ne eorum more, qui non proficere sed conspici cupiunt, facias aliqua, quae in habitu tuo aut genere vitae notabilia sint;
asperum cultum et intonsum caput et neglegentiorem barbam et indictum argento odium et cubile humi positum et, quidquid aliud ambitionem perversa via sequitur, evita. Satis ipsum nomen philosophiae, etiam si modeste tractetur, invidiosum est: quid, si nos hominum consuetudini coeperimus excerpere? Intus omnia dissimilia sint, frons populo nostra conveniat."

I would loosely translate:
"I praise and rejoice that you persevere and strive to improve every day; I exhort and beg you to continue in this way. Only do not be conspicuous in your behavior and way of life, like certain people who are not concerned with making progress in good, but who want to be seen. Sloppy suits, untrimmed hair, scruffy beards, contempt for money on display, lying on the bare floor, and whatever else vanity does that is wrong: avoid it! The word "philosophy" in and of itself is not gladly heard, no matter how modestly one appears; how would it be if we began to withdraw from the way of life of the rest of the people? Inside, everything must be completely different; but our appearance must conform to the world." (epist. 5, 1 &2)

I agree with this sentiment and I hate how especially niggers, troons and deranged antifas worldwide are "expressing" their "self" with their ostentatious clothes - it is funny insofar as capitalism commodifies their "self" and their symbols. But I am suspicious of every sort of leveling. 

Fashion is power. There is money in dressing well - so called "Lookism" / "lookist bias" is gaining traction in economic research. Loose cultural standards, coming also from women gaining political power and the "liberation" of the female gaze in culture, around clothing are indicative of decline. The agonal spirit should also be in the realm of clothing, always supplementing the best of the naturals and not just hiding the ugliness of most. For that to happen a people need standards. We have currently a sort of bioleninism for clothes led by modern designers, universal cheapness and fake frugality (also inspired by greens).

Nietzsche has some nice words on the courage to stay at the surface:
"Oh. those Greeks! They knew how to live. What is required for that is to stop courageously at the surface. the fold, the skin. to adore appearance, to believe in forms, tones, words, in the whole Olympus of appearance. Those Greeks were superficial-out of profundity." (The Gay Science, p.38, Walter Kaufmann)

Michael Anton wrote a nice book about fashion and it's machiavellian purposes, here is an excerpt: (emphases mine)

Of the Young Man

"It remains now only to reason about young men. All difficulties regarding them come from others' perceptions. These alone have bodies and cannot adorn them; they have pleasing shapes, and cannot profit from them; they arouse expectations because of their youth, causing anger when it is perceived that they are not attired correctly; and when well attired, arousing resentment. Thus only these men are subject to rules not based on reasoned aesthetics. But as they are not a specific body type but can be any of those discussed above, I will omit speaking of them. Nonetheless, if someone were to inquire of me how it comes about that they arouse this hatred even though those whom they upset are so much more eminent--and yet can be driven to fits of apoplexy by the attire of someone half heir age though this is known, it does not seem superfluous to me to recall a good part of it to memory.

And I say that the cause is envy. For it is very ordinary and reasonable that the old should envy the young, to whom it is given to enjoy so many more pleasures, so much more intensely, for so much longer. Truly, we would marvel if they did not envy them. And this envy extends to dress, because old men wish to reserve to themselves the few pleasures which remain to them to enjoy. Thus they get angry when they see young men wearing double-breasted suits and French cuff shirts. It does not seem reasonable to them that young men should enjoy the trappings of eminence before attaining the reality. Michael Lewis writes in his book Liar's Poker of being warned by an older colleague not to wear suspenders to Wall Street because these were considered reserved for men above
a certain rank.

So the young must take great care not to offend with fanciness. This is difficult for them, for by nature they prefer the loud and garish, thinking that these will help them rise above the multitude, or will best attract girls. And while ostentation can indeed make them notorious, rare is the young swell who survives into middle age with his reputation unsullied. Benjamin Disraeli made himself famous through his clothes; yet when he wanted to enter politics, he knew that he had to give up red shoes and purple trousers and yellow waistcoats. And these excesses of his youth delayed his rise, for he did not become prime minister until age 64 (dressed head-to-toe in black). Had he been more prudent as a young
man, he might have beaten the record set by the younger Pitt, The safer course is to dress plainly when young, and then cut loose once you are older or have attained so much reputation that none but the most insolent would dare rebuke you." (p. 40-42)

Again the tension between style and herd- or in this case the opinion of the resentful (old) is high-lighted.

Wearing suits or even semi-normal clothing is now shunned among teenagers and young adults in all classes and in most contexts. Not just ebonics but also negrolatrous clothing is adopted instead. 

People have lost vision. The greek love of vision and the spirit that gives profundity to superficiality has to return.

[august]

It does not seem reasonable to them that young men should enjoy the trappings of eminence before attaining the reality. Michael Lewis writes in his book Liar's Poker of being warned by an older colleague not to wear suspenders to Wall Street because these were considered reserved for men above
a certain rank.

You aren't supposed to wear a nice watch or pair of shoes either, lest you'll be labelled a dickhead who hasn't even 'put in his time' to be able to have things like that yet. On one hand, there is a nod to their respect and enforcement of established hierarchy. But I also think that we are witnessing the Total Death of professional dress in real time. Obviously, your average retard walking down the street dresses like a disgusting slob compared to what you'd see only some decades ago, but there at least remained standards for white collar / office setting attire. The introduction of "business-casual" is one easy thing to point to. Another might be the mass influx of women into these types of workplaces. Female "dressing up" or professional dress has quickly devolved into dyke pantsuits but more commonly now just some even worse iteration of those, if even. You know that shitty girlboss type look. Regardless, there's very little effort needed for them to meet the low bar that is the current acceptable standard. Even in school settings, it's totally fine to show up to class in front of your professors wearing PJs. My guess is that young men dressing nicely will still be looked down upon but for a different reason. As the last vestiges of White men at these institutions die off and leave them totally in the hands of secular jewish and brown women, you'll be viewed with disgust not because you're dressing out of rank, but because you're daring to revolt against the ugliness around you. "Just be normal, bro."

[Guest]

There are interesting stories from the advertising world about fashion, dress etc. Ogilvy (who made Ogilvy and Mather, one of the biggest if not biggest ad agency of all time) arrived in New York as a former door-to-door salesman. He set up shop as an ad firm with just this behind him.

When he went to meetings to pitch his services, he wore a cape, which no one else did at the time. People were struck "Who is this guy in the cape?" Etc. It was his "in". Similar to peacock theory in PUA (not sure if this is still known I am older than the general forum probably.)

Another guy wore a baseball hat everywhere he went despite being the top guy in the freelance world for probably a decade or so (one of his companies was sold and became ancestry.com). There is a low-brow version too is the point of this, especially if it contrasts and is true to the person.

The old adage "look good, feel good" also applies.

I think there is a certain lack of decorum in the world for proper dress. There is nowhere to really go that fits a nice suit. Even orchestra halls are cheap in their feeling.

Perhaps divergence leads to another break here too. A more military style coming back among one party. Or perhaps a more barbaric one. Who knows? But as it is, there are precious few places to go. Most places feel like they are stage plays, everyone is acting, it is a clown show. Thus, it makes one who recognizes it feel averse to giving such a place his splendid figure cut in precious cloth.

But cynically deploying it is intelligent. People will listen more to anyone in a suit, there is gravitas even still. I (rarely) go out in a suit sometimes to watering holes etc. Generally, I do not get a negative response for this, and I would even say there is a somewhat positive response. It could be my own feelings coloring things however.

[JohnTrent]

As the last vestiges of White men at these institutions die off and leave them totally in the hands of secular jewish and brown women, you'll be viewed with disgust not because you're dressing out of rank, but because you're daring to revolt against the ugliness around you. "Just be normal, bro."

100% agreed. Even already the wearing of suits or appropriate clothing is considered by most a cutesy anachronism: the person will be deemed a "classy" guy, but it's the visual equivalent of reciting an Old English text by memory. There are those who remain indifferent, and those who praise it only because it is a skill forgotten to the West. Unfortunately, the latter's tendency isn't to emulate the conduct, but to observe it as an eccentric habit.