The Art of Manliness blog should be on every Southern gentleman’s regular reading list. The post titled 7 Lessons on Appearance Learned in the Marine Corps is a classic. Here are the article’s 7 points:
- Your personal presentation is important
- Do not judge others based on their appearance
- Details define a man’s style
- A respect for protocol
- Always have your equipment ready
- Our appearance and behavior reflects on our associations
- Appreciate your history
A few comments of my own:
“Do not judge others based on their appearance” is both right and wrong. Our outward appearance reflects on our inner self. A person who has tattoos does so in order to say something about his (and, disgusting as it is – her) own beliefs. On the other hand, I have often found myself in the middle of a project and having to make a quick trip to the hardware store. I end up going dressed in badly worn and dirty clothing that I normally would not want to wear out in public and needing more than a quick wash-up. I certainly hope that others would not judge me by the way I looked at that time. The key here is exercising good judgment.
“Appreciate your history” is at the very core of what Confederate Colonel is all about. Appreciate your history. Understand your heritage. Take pride in your past. A well-dressed man wearing a Confederate flag lapel pin or a tasteful Confederate tie does more to further the image of The South than words could ever express. This is closely tied in with “Our appearance and behavior reflects on our associations”.
http://kindredblood.files.wordpress.com/2010/10/nice-tat.jpg
Great examples….
Yes, and I suppose that most of us could come up with examples even worse than that – just as we could all come up with examples of the American flag being displayed in a similar fashion. They would be shocked to learn that what they are doing is degrading and disrespecting what they claim to support. They are an embarrassment to Southern heritage.
Folks like that have, however, one redeeming quality – they are not beaten into submission by political correctness, and they are not embarrassed to display the Confederate flag (although in cases like this, they should be).
For those who are not familiar with Mr. Meyer, he is the owner and publisher of The Blood of My Kindred – a blog that aggressively supports the “South is bad – North is good” line of thinking.
Given how easy it is to find photographs of anything and everything on the Internet with a few clichés of a button I am not sure what Mr. Meyer’s point is. Anyone could find similar pictures of ill dressed people purportedly in the North.
I will not comment on Mr. Meyers Photos as its a waste of time to debat an individual of his nature. I will say apperance is a issue that I have an issue with all the time and struggle to find a balance. I dress in a suit and tie anytime that I attend a formal gathering, concert, theatre etc. Being in a business environment I am supposed to be dressed to deal with customers but yet also be ready to go to the field to deal with a situation. Hence the balancing act, I usually end up wearing nice cowboy boots my stetson, and have a western sport jacket for the office and a outdoor coat for the field. Not sure if this is correct and welcome any thoughts.
I believe that one of the keys to determining what is “correct” is best understood by asking what is appropriate to the circumstances.
What is perfectly appropriate out West would be seen as quite out of place in other parts of the country. It varies even in very local areas. For several years, I lived in a very small rural area (1 stop light in the entire country) where it was not uncommon or viewed as out of place to have men walk into the local restaurant at lunch time wearing boots with spurs, a Western hat, and a well-outfitted gun-belt strapped around the waist. That is less than 150 miles from here, yet it would be very out of place where I am now – even though I am still in a very rural area.
I don’t think that there is any one set of rules that could accurately be called “correct” dress. On the other hand, it is always correct to be clean and well-groomed. It is always correct to be polite and treat others with respect.