Flutterby™! : Grey Sweatsuit Revolution 2004-12-04 08:29:03.282429+00

Grey Sweatsuit Revolution

2004-12-04 08:29:03.282429+00 by Dan Lyke 14 comments

The battle against fashion needs to be fought differently. We cannot simply dress weirder than the mainstream in an attempt dull our sense of complicity with western consumer society. Dissent through conscious differentiation simply feeds the fashion system by providing it with fresh expression to appropriate.

(Thanks, Lyn)

Meh. I honestly don't see anything different between making a statement through pictures you take (and publish), words you write, bumper stickers, etc. and the clothes you wear. Obviously, the fashion industry is "a parasite on the body of authenticity", but the way to answer that is to ignore it.

Wear what you want, for the reasons you want - to make a statement or otherwise. The Grey Sweatsuit Revolution simply continues to fuel the fire by acknowledging and validating the power and influence of the system.

Besides, fashion is only a small part of the larger problem - the bastardization of capitalism through consumer manipulation marketing. The parasite exists in all things we consume - across the board - not just clothing.

While I don't mind nudity, December is not a good time for that where I live and winters are very mild here in the South.

Naked makes a different statement... Today, I was dressed completely in black, Black jeans, black T-Shirt (Mad Scientists Union), Black fleece jacket, black fleece hat, black running shoes. I got asked 3 times if I was 'security' while out shopping with Nancy. - People make interesting assumptions based on your clothing.

If I see you occaisionally wearing a grey sweatsuit.. I assume you are in 'comfort mode'.. If I see you in it all the time, I'll assume you have either no taste, or don't care about your external appearance. Most of my geek-ish friend fall into BOTH categories.

The joke where I am working now, where I wear just about anything I want, even get dressed up some days.. is: "Mike, we're just glad you are wearing clothes...".

Want to make a statement? Clothing and appearance is a very easy and communicative way to do it quickly. But I think you need to make your own choices, for your own reasons without regard to the "three queer guys and the trollop' what to wear TV shows, or that truly clueless, yet convincing, sales clerk at the mall.

It all depends on what you're trying to achieve. Normally, I try to dress to be a "respectable businessman". My goals are to avoid law enforcement hassles, to get other people to do what I want (salesclerks, etc), and to attract a mate. In the context of North American middle class culture, that uniform is most likely to help me achieve those goals. In other contexts, it would not be appropriate (such as a rock concert, or a biker bar).

Crasch, although I try to avoid law enforcement hassles (no Blunt t-shirts for me), I have to say, that I've worn what I want and how I want and pulled it off. I am very proud of a large picture of me, on the front page of the local business section of the newspaper, wearing grubby jeans, a kewl geeky t-shirt and sandals. Dan blew away some local big business IT types away while wearing the brightest tie-dye's, cut-off jeans and sandals. And in mate attraction mode: hitting the bars or social scene dressed 'not like everyone else' works wonders. Dress sharp.. be yourself, and a little

flash is a great thing in those situations. The 'uniform' of Khaki's and a blue shirt.. Aaack!

Aaaagh! Now I come up with the perfect title for this post: "Pants, pants, revolution."

Well, okay, I thought it was funny, and I got at least three and a half hours of sleep last night.

I don't care about how I dress. I want to devote as little time to it as I can. It's easier for me to choose a "uniform" that blends in as wide a range of circumstances as possible. It also helps to appear "boring and safe" when the ideas you espouse are anything but.

eewww...crasch, "boring and safe"? i dressed for me and damn the torpedoes in the 60's/70's, then it was how sexy can i go in the 80's, then the 90's kind of got lost due to neck injury (had to deal with alot of pain, drugs for pain, ect). hmmm, now that i think about it, i partied a lot during the 90's while on pain meds, i dressed real sexy then, lol. now? art teacher of the 2000's? it's whatever feels good and i find myself leaning back towards what i wore in the 60/70's. with a nod to meuon, i lean heavy to the blacks too, lol.

boring and safe? had a husband who followed that moto. we didn't stay married very long, the sex was boring and safe.

When arguing that it's a good thing to cut off granny's head and freeze it after she dies, in the hopes that it she will eventually be revived, I find it's best to present as conservative an image as possible. That my clothes are boring says nothing about how exciting the rest of my life may be (and vice versa).

"Pants Pants Revolution" makes me giggle. But then I'm the guy about which they say "there's somethin' wrong with that boy."

"When I was young I found out that the big toe always ends up making a hole in a sock. So I stopped wearing socks. "

"If most of us are ashamed of shabby clothes and shoddy furniture, let us be more ashamed of shabby ideas and shoddy philosophies.... It would be a sad situation if the wrapper were better than the meat wrapped inside it. "

"They want to see me, here I am. If they want to see my clothes, open my closet and show them my suits." - when his wife asked him to change clothes to meet the German Ambassador