Some have postulated that a certain pandemic is responsible for a palpable shift towards dressing down and generally caring less about what one puts on. Indeed, the shift to working from home has beckoned forth many heart-felt displays of concern and distress from the blogs and vlogs of the well-dressed. Will classic menswear survive it? Will people go outside again? Will we all start wearing fleece onesies and ankle-length socks?
This position, that this is really the case, seems to me somewhat apocryphal. Surely there is a significant cohort of men for whom dressing well is not a matter of place, but a matter of pride, and therefore being confined to the home has little effect on his toilet. Dressing to stay sharp should be valued not only for its external virtues, but for the effect that it has on the spirit.
Or, as David Coggins wrote in a recent piece, ‘Dressing badly implies the world has happened to you. Wouldn’t you prefer to assert yourself?’
Quite.
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