Avoiding Extremes - Snobbery and Slobbery PART I

Photographs of our not-so-distant forefathers, with their ties, jackets and well cared for shoes, reveal a serious slide into the realm slobbery when we see photographs of our compatriots. It's hard to tell from clothing alone which era of our lives our photographs are from, because we're always dressed like a high school gym class. We may by guilty of slobbery.

Slobbery is the exact opposite and equally disordered sister of Snobbery. The snobberist tries in vain to have his material surroundings define him as a quality man. The slobberist tries in vain to say that no material surroundings define his quality. Both men are silly, wrong and lamentably laughable. Both are rooted in self-absorption.

Mark Twain noted that clothes may not make a man, but naked people rarely hold power. Thomas Carlyle warned not to trust a man that doesn't consider old clothes venerable. Now, I would avoid the religious temperaments of both men, but I think they got it spot on with that advice.

The slobs rule of life is comfort. He blames his far less than "wedding ready" clothing on the fact that "fancy" clothes are uncomfortable, because everyone knows that Wal Mart jeans are sooo comfy - you can just where them for months (the normal lifetime of sweatshop clothes). He is not the same as the man simply deprived of the basic manly etiquette of dressing well, although both need some instruction on the basics of life. I was both - ignorant and slothful - in my early young adult life.

Even if comfort really was the culprit (I suspect otherwise), is man made for comfort? If clothes give at least a glimpse into the thoughts and ethos of a man, what do the descriptors of comfy clothes reveal? Do the descriptions of "soft, comfy, stretchy and synthetic" reveal something? Sadly, those words probably mean quite a bit. It's like taking the concept of the house slipper and making it's rubrics the norm for everything that touches the body. Look at the average "man room", it's nothing but a reincarnated college dorm room of stupid posters, mystery-stained couches and screens of all kinds for all kinds "entertainment" - and comfort. (As an aside, Scarface is not a hero and dies at the end!)

If this sounds judgmental, be weary of judging this judgment as the evidence has been weighed. When a man comes out of the average "man room", is he a better man? The men of these "man rooms" might just be soft, comfy, stretchy and synthetic.

(Another aside, I love good manly rooms.)

The culprit here is not comfort, but sloth. The man who retreats eagerly to a room away from things like family, responsibility and the demands of life, is a man running from uncomfortable things (Aquinas says sloth results from lacking magnanimity - not living up to a greatness of soul). Sloth is rightly a capital sin as it permeates our world, instead of just corrupting one's own sole. Love, marriage, children and a healthy ascetic rhythm nearly always involve discomfort but always provide fulfillment and true happiness.

Clothing requires some effort and even a little discomfort. But as we cover our bodies, we consider not only ourselves but those we are sure to encounter. While trying to avoid being costumy or off-putting, dressing well invites those around us to feel that we indeed care about their company and believe that we prepare for their presence. Many men done khakis only when they have to (like a visit from a Queen), but it takes just as long to pull up a pair of cutoff sweatpants as it does to pull up khakis - how 'bout just start with khakis as the basics? And a nice pair of all cotton khakis is far from comfortable than polysomethingate sweats.

If you are merely avoiding dressing like a man because it's uncomfortable, requires a little study and effort or because you like your jean shorts too much... it's time to grow up and shake off the shackles. If you just honestly don't know how to dress like a man from deprivation of this sort of life lesson, it's also time to learn. Now that you know... well, you know what they say about willful ignorance.

Part II will discuss the extreme of snobbery which is a possible fall as you slip into a realm of adulthood.