"Jim Zeigler" (jimzeigler)
08/06/2016 at 18:00 • Filed to: None
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"Jim Zeigler" (jimzeigler)
08/06/2016 at 18:00 • Filed to: None | 4
| 8 |
For a couple years now, I have been wearing the exact same outfit everyday. And you know what? Nobody gives a shit. I’ve gotten a job, courted women, and generally not been ostracized from society.
Clothing is an outlet of personal expression, and many times a statement of class. But here’s a liberating realization: most people don’t care what you’re wearing (or, really, about anything beyond their IG feed) . Once you get past a certain point of formality, garment choice is a matter of diminishing returns. As long as it is not overtly offensive and mostly covers your shameful, disappointing body, you’re doing better than a large percentage of the population.
I’d been working at home for two years after college before I got my first desk job, and had developed some uncouth habits as a result. These included:
Listening to !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! on repeat for several consecutive weeks
Going barefoot to gas stations to buy energy drinks
Not washing my hair in an attempt to get my locks to stand on end like an anime character
Wearing a pair of shitty cut-off pinstripe slacks and holey tee shirts every day
23 months of isolation had turned me into a feral human. I had never worn dress shirts unironically, and my business-casual choices were limited to the three Wal-Mart shirts I wore to interviews and various child-sized flannel filthrags leftover from high school.
My tastes were unrefined and my budget was, er,
limited
. After a few unsuccessful trips to thrift stores (where I almost bought, no joke, a nice Ralph Lauren Polo shirt with an actual shit stain on it), I took a trip to the last refuge of despondent fathers everywhere: JC Penney, where desperation is always 30% off.
On a Labor Day weekend in 2014, I bought six Stafford no-iron dress shirts in six different colors from the JCP website for approximately $90. These shirts are not cool, nor do they come anywhere close to being on-trend (I guess you could call them norm-core, but that !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! ). They are, however, capable of being picked up off the floor and worn to work after you wake up hungover at 7:35am.
To replace my two sets of baggy slacks, I bought 3 pairs of slim-fit khaki pants from – and this is embarrassing – Zumiez , which from my observation is essentially a branch of Hot Topic created to test the uncharted market of clothes-that-are-not-black. They were $20 each, and I got khaki tan, khaki grey, and blhaki (a blackish khaki). Though the fabric construction resembles the material on a !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , they’re sturdy and don’t unravel after a month like shit from Old Navy does. Think Dickies, but not tailored to fit the average 240lb natural gas pipeline worker physique.
Boom. Wardrobe done for $150. Tuck the shirt in when you want, let it hang when you don’t care. Put on a stupid jacket when you need to be fancy. Roll sleeves up when you need to do work. Wear Jordans. Wear wingtips. Wear it to the beach or shooting guns or changing your struts. Oh, did a shell casing burn a hole in your sleeve? Throw it away and buy a new one for $13. Who gives a shit?
A !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! people (who, it must be noted, were/are brilliant and megalomaniacal assholes) agree with this system, and as of late we’ve seen several thinkpieces on the “willpower-conserving” benefits of limiting your choices. It raises some interesting questions about the nature of decision-making within defined constraints and the relationship of creativity and confinement. And while you may not be Menachem Begin or Lord Zuckerberg, adopting a system like this is a cheap, effective way to go from street-urchin-chic to respectable human with one trip to the mall.
Most importantly, don’t forget that, blue collar or white, hipster or yacht club, we’re all essentially wearing a uniform. Might as well embrace it.
!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!
(Author’s note: I have no idea where else to publish this, but I figured it’s fairly Jalop in spirit. Mods, delete if necessary. Read my other stuff
!!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!!
. IG: jim_zeigler)
NJAnon
> Jim Zeigler
08/06/2016 at 18:08 |
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At work yes to a degree. But people notice even though they may not say anything to you.
DrScientist
> Jim Zeigler
08/06/2016 at 18:21 |
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i use this strategy more or less.
you just laid out 18 different possible outfits. if these are work clothes, that gets you through more than 3 weeks. buy a couple of blazers, carefully chosen to match everything and youve just added a couple multiples of those outfits.
if anyone is paying attention to the revolving clothes in your wardrobe, you need to assign them more work.
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Jim Zeigler
> NJAnon
08/06/2016 at 18:33 |
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Ah yes, but I have since added several more colors.
Funktheduck
> Jim Zeigler
08/06/2016 at 18:43 |
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I wear gym/running attire 99% of the time. I have clothes I haven’t worn in years but keep for the few times I need something made of fabrics that don't advertise quick dry
Short-throw Granny Shifter is 2 #blessed 2b stressed
> Jim Zeigler
08/06/2016 at 18:48 |
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I also subscribe the the uniform approach. It takes little forthought to dress in the morning, and looks sharp as long as the clothes fit.
Bought a dozen OCBD shirts from Lands End 3 years ago in varying patters of light blue and white, and have worn them every day for work since. They seem study, and it’s enough shirts tho get me through a month or more without doing wash. Same approach with my pants, but with 4 pairs of polo regular fit khakis from the mall.
On weekends, either just go business casual, or levis and a grey Tee.
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samssun
> Jim Zeigler
08/06/2016 at 18:49 |
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Counterpoint: slacker outfits don’t make you a billionaire, billionaires have the luxury of dressing like slackers.
Handful of dress pants (non-khakis), double handful of dress shirts that fit decently (default to slim/tapered if you’re not morbidly obese), and you’ll distinguish yourself from the unwashed without going overboard.
Xyl0c41n3
> Jim Zeigler
08/06/2016 at 18:54 |
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I’ll agree with your assertions that nobody notices or cares what you wear if you’re a man, however the same cannot be said for women.
An Australian news anchor wore the same suit for a year to see if anyone would say anything. No one did.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nat…
Meanwhile, heaven forbid a woman wear something sleeveless on air, like this woman, who was interrupted live on air and handed a sweater to cover up with:
http://kdvr.com/2016/05/16/met…
The double standards are even worse if you’re a woman of color, such as this female anchor who was fired after defending her hair, which had been the subject of some racially motivated criticisms from viewers. Her hair.
http://newsone.com/2867261/rhonda…
Now, before you offer a rebuttal that the on-air world is a bit of a different animal and that things in “regular,” off-camera jobs aren’t quite as bad: that’s true and it’s not.
I’ve never met a single woman who hasn’t received a criticism about her clothing, shoes, accessories, makeup (or lack of makeup), or hairstyle.
Not one.
I’ve received several of those comments myself, even down to the shoes I was wearing.
I can’t recall a single instance where my male colleagues have received such criticism (or at least, none where they talked about it, anyway).
So, no, not everyone can just wear (essentially) the same outfit forever.
Manny05x
> Jim Zeigler
08/06/2016 at 20:41 |
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It's true some people are still slave to that cotton.