Yeah, clothing makes the musician.
Posted on 12/01/2025 6:13:57 AM PST by WhiteHatBobby0701
A while back, a married couple asked for the time of the morning service at my church, promising to show up the following Sunday. They did, and enjoyed the service, but an observation by the wife surprised me.
“Everyone’s dressed up,” was the essence of her comment. Even the ladies, she noticed, were wearing skirts and dresses instead of pants, something she seemed to think was refreshing. Apparently, I’ve been in my own church bubble for too long to realize that dressing up for special occasions and places is no longer a thing.
It’s a pity that it isn’t. Because the way we dress is really a subtle message about how we see ourselves and others.
Clothes, English philosopher Roger Scruton once said, are worn to preserve our modesty and protect our body from the elements. But that’s not the only reason we wear various bits of cloth cut in different shapes and patterns.
People live in their clothes and, therefore, see their clothes not in terms of any narrow sartorial [tailoring, style] function but in terms of the aims and accidents incidental to their lives. Their clothes come to represent them, in the sense of heralding the nature which they wish to claim as their own. [Emphasis added.]
Scruton offers the example of a denim suit of clothes, which many claim to wear because it is “functional.” Yet as Scruton explains,
The ‘functional [denim] suit’ acquires its character not because of its utility (for it is not particularly useful), nor because of its cheapness (for it is far from cheap), but because it both expresses a certain outlook and, in the course of doing so, anticipates the experience of the person who wears it.
What kind of experience and outlook does denim give the wearer? For the average American, I would guess it gives them a rugged, down-to-earth, independent feel – perhaps even a sexy persona (remember the Sydney Sweeney jeans ad that caused so much ruckus a while ago?!). This is all fine – that is, if we’re out working in the yard, riding horses on the ranch, or hiking on backwoods trails.
But what if we wear that same denim suit of clothes to a corporate job interview, church, funeral, or wedding? Do we want to walk into those situations with the carefree, simplistic attitude that denim clothes project onto the wearer and those who observe him?
Probably not … yet we do this repeatedly in our culture today.
Recall my opening story of the couple surprised by the dressed-up appearance at my church. That surprise is likely because today’s religious congregants often look like they threw on their yardwork clothes from the preceding Saturday. This appearance often extends to the preacher, who walks around the congregation wearing jeans, an untucked t-shirt, and sneakers. It continues into the workplace, where the button-down shirts, dress pants, and pencil skirts have given way to the yoga pants and sweatshirts so many got used to wearing during the pandemic, work-from-home era. And parties? Forget the days when everyone had a formal dress or suit in the back of their closet to wear to special occasions! We’re just doing well if we show up in something that looks like it’s clean and well-fitting!
“Who cares?” some may say. “I’m comfortable and I’m just blending in with the rest of society – what’s so wrong with that?”
Nothing … if we want to be consigned to being one of the faceless masses.
Sadly, that’s exactly what many want to do in our “democratic” society, a fact C. S. Lewis highlighted through the words of his demon creation “Screwtape.”
“I am credibly informed that young humans now sometimes suppress an incipient taste for classical music or good literature because it might prevent their Being Like Folks,” Screwtape says. He continues by saying “that people who would really wish to be – and are offered the Grace which would enable them to be – honest, chaste, or temperate refuse it. … They might (horror of horrors!) become individuals.”
While Screwtape uses music and books as examples, he undoubtedly could have added clothing to the mix, for do we not all continue to diminish our dress in order that we might “fit in” and not stand out from the crowd? Yet this is exactly what the forces of evil seek – to make us “equal,” and in doing so, bring us all down to the lowest common denominator, leveling our ambitions and aspirations toward goodness and successful living.
Screwtape points this out when he says the following:
What I want to fix your attention on is the vast, overall movement towards the discrediting, and finally the elimination, of every kind of human excellence – moral, cultural, social, or intellectual. And is it not pretty to notice how ‘democracy’ (in the incantatory sense) is now doing for us the work that was once done by the most ancient Dictatorships, and by the same methods? … Let no man live who is wiser or better or more famous or even handsomer than the mass. Cut them all down to a level: all slaves, all ciphers, all nobodies. All equals.
In other words, if we want to float through life as a nobody, then we should absolutely continue wearing our jeans, sweatshirts, and sneakers to all occasions – church, work, and special events.
But I suspect none of us want that “nobody” label slapped on our backs.
If that’s the case, then take the challenge. Go to church but do so in a dress or a suit. Go to work but pull that collared shirt and dress pants on before jumping into the car for the morning commute. Attend that special event, but do it dressed to the nines. None of these actions are because we’re trying to be hoity-toity; rather they stem from a desire to raise our own attitudes and radiate respect for ourselves, others, and the true, good, and beautiful things in life in the process.
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I have no interest in your crotch, Sparkles. Nobody does.
Yeah, clothing makes the musician.
And yet YOU posted to me.
Ironically, they might be restraining themselves from going up to you and asking the same question.
You still seem butthurt about being a slob. You’ll still be posting to this thread days from now about how you’re not insecure about walking around like a toddler in a stained bibby with your hat on backwards.
Ha ha. You have no idea how I dress, and you attack the messenger because you don't like the message that conflicts with YOUR worldview.
You know who even hired the designer Hugo Boss to make them look "better"?
Sean Duffy doesn’t have to sit in a small seat and be considered cattle. When they treat travelers like they did in the 1970’s where you had a decent seat, and a great meal, then maybe people will dress up. Until then, go fly a kite.
I have wondered why people don’t dress up to go to church anymore.
When I was a little boy, everybody was dressed up.
Is it fallout from the social changes of the ‘60s and ‘70s that people in big numbers decided not to dress up to go to church?
For all of my life, I wore a suit, sports coat, or choir robe in our church service. Now, we’ve moved to Florida and attend our kid’s contemporary church where many wear shorts. I wore an NFL jersey yesterday. I still felt the spirit.
I like the solemnity of a traditional service. But if dressing down will keep young people attending, I can live with it.
Thank you.
No thank you.
I dont know completely, but church attendance was dropping across the board. So many churches adopted the ‘come as you are’ approach as one way to encourage more attendance.
one of the young gals at a relatives for Thanksgiving was wearing those awful torn up jeans - just disgusting. I started noticing this trend a couple of decades ago - two things tipped me off. Golfers from California wearing their shirts outside their golf shorts and people going into nice restaurants with jeans tees and sneakers.
I’m not consistent on this issue - to many of the elements of “dressing up”, I say - good riddance. Ties and creased pants for men - high heels and lipstick for women - they always seemed like random vestiges of some past fashion that somehow became compulsory - or even symptoms of misplaced military regimentation.
On the other hand - I hate the sweat pants (pajamas), the falling-off pants, the deliberate holes and tears, the logos and memes on T shirts.
But.. flipping to the “other side” of the argument again - I like denim, leather and some other materials to be somewhat faded, worn or “broken in” - certainly not dirty or falling apart - it’s just that in nature, smooth and shiny are not always most beautiful - the bark of a tree, the variations and shades in stone, etc..
Flipping yet again, I’d rather most people stopped tucking their shirts in - especially a tight fitting shirt - which I also don’t like. Speaking of fitting - a “well tailored” men’s suit looks ridiculously tight around the shoulders and too big around the hips - it’s as if they are trying to downplay the masculine traits of wide shoulders and narrow hips.
When it comes to church - my issue is a different one - people were always perfectly silent in the churches I went to - except when singing or reading aloud. When visitors would come and talk as if they were at a hockey game it seemed very rude - that bothered me a lot more than the way people dress in church.
I realize I can’t have it both ways - I do have my standards - but I think the formal attire wore out its welcome and now we have a pendulum swing that will also hopefully wear out its welcome - but I sure never want to wear a tie again.
The beatniks and hippies were right about a few things, one of them being that conformity and social manipulation toward groupthink enabled globalists to have not one but two world wars and then continue right into forever wars afterwards.
is 100% better than jeans and a t shirt
Want to visit a church in Italy?
To visit churches in Italy, you must cover your shoulders and knees out of respect. Avoid revealing clothing like tank tops, crop tops, short shorts, and mini-skirts. Men should also remove hats indoors, and it’s advisable to carry a scarf or shawl to cover up as needed.
Shoulders: Cover them with a top that has sleeves or wear a shawl/cardigan to cover bare shoulders.
Knees: Pants, capris, or skirts/dresses that go below the knee are required. Avoid shorts and mini-skirts.
Torso: No low-cut tops or bare midriffs are allowed.
Hats: Men must remove hats upon entering.
Other: Make sure any tattoos with offensive images are covered.
I dress in khakis or dress pants with a button down shirt for church, as most of the time it is too warm to wear a jacket.
On a lighter note, if churches kept the sanctuary in the low 60s, women would wear less revealing clothes.
We have a judge here who threw a guy out of his court because of his attire. “Don’t ever appear in my courtroom like that again!”
He was given 30 minutes to return properly dressed...or face contempt of court.
Sounds like a government employee attempting to establish a state religion.
The defendant should have shown up dressed in a judge's robe.
“I saw a guy in shorts, flipflops and a Hawaiian shirt.”
That was our deacons’ attire when we lived on Maui. They were an embarrassment!
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