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This article was written in 1952 at a time when fashions were changing
to casual workplace styles. Since then, many companies have reversed
their casual dress code perhaps realizing that dress definitely effects
work. Some schools have done likewise.
F
rom a material point of view, clothing serves only as a covering. At
most, one can recognize its function of protecting a certain modesty
that sprouts from the depths of instinct.
However,
those who know that man is more than just matter also know that clothing
is not just a covering. According to the natural order of things, it
should also render service to the spirit.
What service? Certain forms, colors, and material qualities produce
definite impressions upon men that are more or less the same for all men.
These are not just conventional or imaginative impressions; but are
deeply rooted in the very essence of reality. They produce impressions,
and, therefore states of spirit, mental attitudes, and in certain cases,
all the strong inclinations toward forming a personality. This is one of
the foundations of art. Thus a man can, through dress, express his moral
personality to a certain point. This is easily perceived in feminine
apparel, so apt to mirror the mental makeup of women.
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More than the mental attitudes of an individual, professional dress tends
to express those proper to a profession. It can be sober like a cassock
of a priest, grave like an academic gown of a professor, imposing like a
mantle of a king, etc.
When an
epoch is characterized by a desire to elevate man or satisfy a thirst
for dignity, grandeur, and seriousness, then the apparel, common or
professional, accentuates the impression of these values in each person.
The clothing of all men of this epoch will be, or tend to be, noble,
dignified, and virile, from the sovereign to the lowest plebeian. This
is but one note in the fashions of former times. We publish on this page
a photograph of a mere doorman of the Bank of England, in his
traditional dress. It would be impossible to express better the modest
but real position of responsibility and authority that this person,
humble but honest, possesses.
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The same
dress in the Museum of the Bank of England |
* * *
  The
other pictures represent modern men as they usually are dressed on the
beaches and in the countryside. They are a category of men who prize
themselves on being in step with “progress.” These clothes tend to
invade all life; already they are frankly admitted to popular use in
some cities, such as Paris in the summer.
What mentality do these clothes reveal? That which one could perhaps
tolerate in a child…and nothing more. Whatever the social class, the
attire should mirror gravity, a sense of responsibility, and an
elevation of spirit. What opportunity do these people give for their
souls to mirror this?
“Tell me how you dress, and I will
tell you what you are.” This maxim, so many times erroneous if we want
to apply it to each person individually, is very true for the various
epochs of history..
Two types of dress, two
mentalities, two styles of life.
What a difference! And who will
dare say that it was for the better?
(*) The
preceding article has been translated and adapted for publication
without the author's revision. –Ed.
American TFP.
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