The dressed and styled human body is irresistible to analyse. Framed by the idea that people’s dress and engagement with Fashion is a fundamental component of how we all conceive, create and convey personal and shared histories, the following ‘mini-essays’ are my attempt to unpick the cultural threads that hold our wardrobes together. Aide-mémoires, tongue-in-cheek, discursive, works-in-progress, I began writing them in 2013 in the spirit of Roland Barthes’ Mythologies and Umberto Eco’s Travels in Hyper Reality, although rarely with the same perspicacity, precision and pace.
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5. The Sag
This homeless guy was wearing his underwear outside his pants. I’m guessing his resume ain’t all up to date; I’m predicting some problems during the interview process. I’m pretty sure even MacDonalds has an underwear go inside the pants policy; not that they enforce it very strictly, but technically, I’m sure it’s on the books.…
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4. The Right Colour
The question of colour seems to present even the most sartorially savvy gent with innumerable dilemmas; hence the ubiquity of brown, navy, black and gray in most men’s wardrobes. As I am colour blind, the hues of my dress – whether they complement or clash – pose particular difficulties, but what I’m really referring to…
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3. The Receipt
…I would add that he should decide for himself what appearance he wants to have and what sort of man he wants to seem, and then dress accordingly, so that his clothes help him to be taken for such, even by those who do not hear him speak or see him perform anything at all.[i]…
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2. The Boot
I was rather impressed, and pleasantly surprised, when I first saw photographs of Tommy Hilfiger’s Fall collection. In an aptly chosen, if somewhat uninspiring autumnal woodland landscape, men and women are wearing (generally) slim-fitting boots in beautiful shades of brown leather. Men in Biker boots, steel-capped boots and Wellington boots are, somewhat regrettably, reasonably…
Dr Benjamin Wild 