What strange alternate universe have I found myself in?


There exists an article in which a male politician’s fashion choices are judged. It even explains why he looks rather frumpy.

trumpfrump

This should not be. This cannot happen. This is just wrong. I’ve gone through life assuming that my poorly fitting clothes and lack of style would never be used against me because I am not a woman, and here are all my hopes and illusions shattered.

I do not know if I’ll be able to step outside in public ever again.

At least my clothes still have pockets, so I can retain a shred of my sense of superiority. Those feminists are probably going to go after those next, aren’t they?

Comments

  1. Cuttlefish says

    Today, my pharmacist asked me if someone had given me my sweatshirt “as a joke”.

    *sigh*

  2. Silver Fox says

    Have you considered skinny jeans with suspenders? You’ve already got the beard, you could go for the full hipster look.

  3. blf says

    Hum… as it so happens, I bought a nice new jacket today, a classic Italian job. Certainly not sniny, and of course no tie, zips up against the cold, but also has that elegant southern European look (I don’t, which rather spoils the effect). And, of course, plenty of pockets — albeit I haven’t yet decided which one is best for the sonic screwdriver.

    I haven’t been eaten alive by any feminists or kraken, so clearly something is wrong… parallel universe indeed.

  4. gijoel says

    I’m shocked, shocked I tell you, that women would stoop so low and treat this poor man like an object. That we’d judge him on his appearance and sartorial choices. What has this poor man done to deserve this.

    *end sarcasm

  5. mumbles says

    Well…if its fair for Hillary, it’s fair for Trump…

    (although, there are so many better reasons to vote against Trump)

    I’m seriously still disgusted that Hillary Clinton has to stand on stage with him.

  6. Menyambal says

    I’m wearing suspenders over a plain red t-shirt, cargo pants and running shoes. Can I be president?

  7. vucodlak says

    He’s wearing the uniform of our corporate overlords (being one of them, it’s hardly surprising), and it’s something I wish U.S. politicians would stop doing. But, I suppose as long as they’re working for the corpers, they might as well dress the part.

    I was going to go on a much longer rant about how much I despise suits and everything they stand for, but I think “Donald Trump almost always wears a suit, because it’s what ‘respectable’ business people wear,” pretty well sums up my position. I don’t despise the suit because Trump is wearing one, I despise the suit because everyone who wears one is putting on a little bit of Trump.

  8. John Morales says

    Menyambal, the concept of dress codes is an unfortunate stupidity with witch one has to reach an accommodation (depending on cost-benefit considerations, and excluding the concept of personal physically protective equipment); fashion is an ludicrous stupidity which one can safely ignore.

    (Direct answer: no, you can’t; it’s an issue of dress code not of fashion)

  9. John Morales says

    ThorGoLucky, well, yeah. But the very point of the OP (cf. cartomancer’s #9) is the asymmetry of standards applied to men vs. women.

  10. says

    Well, I gave him the ill-fitting suit because that’s how a fat man hides a dumpy figure. Heck, you could see that his shoulders are a good three inches narrower than than the suit jacket. No, what galled me was the tie. It hung at least four inches below his belt. It looked like a limp penis. I imagined Melania saying to him, as she thought about his crotch-grabbing remarks, “No, darling, you look fine!” all the while knowing he was one big red nose away from being the clown in the center ring.

  11. robro says

    I assume his clothes are carefully tailored to enhance his appearance, and mask anything that he thinks is unattractive.

  12. =8)-DX says

    Personally, as a man I need pockets to fit all my feminisms. And everyone needs pockets, where else would you put your Polly Pockets and Pokemans?

  13. Dunc says

    There have been quite a number of articles attacking Jeremy Corbyn’s fashion choices too…

    I don’t despise the suit because Trump is wearing one, I despise the suit because everyone who wears one is putting on a little bit of Trump.

    As someone who enjoys menswear and wears suits recreationally, could I ask you not to do this? Not all suits are boring corporate uniforms, and not everyone who wears one is either a corporate drone or an aspiring Master of the Universe. Some of us just like nice clothes, and you will pry my 15oz forest green worsted 3-piece suit with the velvet collar and shot-silk lining from my cold, dead hands.

  14. Derek Vandivere says

    #6 / YOB: I’ve been wearing Chucks since 1990, and I think they’ve come into and gone out of fashion at least three times since then. The best was four or five years ago, when I hadn’t bothered putting on a matching pair. Fifteen year old girl walked by, noticed, and said this middle-aged guy was cool. First and last time, probably.

    #11 / vucodlak:

    I despise the suit because everyone who wears one is putting on a little bit of Trump.

    That’s just silly.

  15. Brother Ogvorbis, Fully Defenestrated Emperor of Steam, Fire and Absurdity says

    I have looked for it, but cannot find it. In the early days of the Doonesbury cartoons, a reporter for the campus newspaper writes an article about college president King in which she describes his clothing, hair, marital and parental status, and shoes the same way that reporters write about women in public. The editor of the campus newspaper looks at her and asks if she is trying to make a point.

    How many times during this campaign has Hillary Clinton been called out for what she is wearing? or lauded for her clothing? or excoriated or celebrated for her hair style? or choice of shoes? or makeup? While I disagree with the idea that clothing choices reveal our deepest true personality, I do agree with using the same standards for men and women in politics — if the press is going to spend a paragraph for every single public appearance Hillary Clinton makes describing her clothing, hair style, make-up and shoes, hell, yes, we should expect them to do this for Trump.

  16. jrkrideau says

    20 nDunc
    you will pry my 15oz forest green worsted 3-piece suit with the velvet collar and shot-silk lining from my cold, dead hands.

    No, no, shoulders!. One wears gloves on the hands.

  17. says

    Re: Dress Codes:

    I recently skipped my 60th HS reunion because it was held at a private country club where the dress code included “NO DENIM.” I decided I would be out of place in my boxers and tee…

  18. quotetheunquote says

    @Brother Obvorbis #22

    I have looked for it, but cannot find it. In the early days of the Doonesbury cartoons, a reporter for the campus newspaper ….

    Oh, yes, I remember that one. A classic:

    “Mr Taylor, the husband of Mrs. Charles Taylor, and still a svelte 30-32-30, turned more than one head with his sheer, skin-tight socks…”

    I dug it up a few years ago, for a different blog. It ran Sunday, April 23, 1972 (and isn’t it appalling how little has changed in that time!)

    Link to image:
    http://assets.amuniversal.com/f63cbdf0acb5012d63f600163e41dd5b

  19. WhiteHatLurker says

    Well, he has dressed better in the past. Perhaps his current clothing choice is a reflection of his drop in the polls.

  20. rietpluim says

    IMNSHO the easiest way to look ridiculous in a suit is to wear a tie that’s either too short or too long. Clowns can do that, but businessmen and presidential candidates certainly can not.

  21. Menyambal says

    It’s been mentioned above, but what is it with those shoulder pads? I don’t know how much padding is in suit shoulders these days, but Trump is packing a lot. It looks like one-inch foam slabs curved over front and back, and sticking out a couple of inches over where his arms aren’t.

    With thicker material it might not show, but his arms go in a ways, not straight up to the shoulder of the jacket. I’ve never seen him without a jacket, a padded-shoulder jacket. What would he look like without it? Less imposing, probably.