Sunday, November 30, 2008

Why men dress themselves ugly when they get old

I'm not talking about others, cos I don't know what other men's stories are. I'm talking about myself. Well, I'm not yet forty, but I think I'm kinda give up myself in terms of making myself look good with clothes.

Well, I do buy clothes, but most of them are for work. Cos, I still have to look decent to go to work. I'm not a salesperson, I still have to visit clients every now and then. Also, I couldn't dress too bad in my working environment.

However, for after hours, I really giving up in terms of dressing up or for occasions. Perhaps, there is not much 'occasions' that I need to dress up. I don't think I need to dress up to go grocery shopping, or just dine out in neighborhood eateries. As such, I just put on my old clothes.

As I was poor when I was a kid, I didn't have the money to buy nice clothes, just new clothes would make me happy. Brand name stuffs were largely off limit. As I grow up, I learn more about economy and business, knowing that large share of money that we pay on brand names stuff are for the 'name' rather than the clothes itself. Also, learning that fashion is not evil, but just not my cup of tea. I do buy brand name clothes every now and then, for their quality when they are on serious sales or just for going to work purpose. Mostly, I don't really have the 'urge' to buy clothes to dress up, to make myself look good, or like most women claim: make themselves more confident.

For men, as we get older, we just have seen too much and know enough that we don't need the clothes to make us confident. We know that if we have money, we will be confident. Or, if we are a knowledgeable person, we will have confident. Clothes can help, but it is more like the 'garnish' decoration on the dishes, like those roses that made of carrots. No matter how fresh and tasty the carrots are, not matter how beautiful that rose is, if the main dish tastes bad, the dish sucks! it fails, that's it. So, we would rather devote our time and resources on other things that make us more confident.

Also, if we have family, especially with kid(s), the expenses will be high. As we only have only so much 'ammunition', personal clothing usually is low in priority. Unless, the men is very into clothing, or like designs, or kinda artistic, etc. I think most grown men just don't put much thought in their own clothes.

On my personal level, I don't have a big closet, as more space has been provided to my wife to put her own clothes. I just don't have the urge or incentive or simply 'space' to buy new clothes. Yes, I can throw old clothes away, or like my wife said, 'retire' them. However, I'm just brought up in a frugal lifestyle. When I know there are so many people in the world that doesn't have decent clothes, and clothing industry is just an environmental unfriendly industry, I just don't want to 'retire' my clothes if they still fit and clean. So, their 'retirement' age have been pushed back, and the 'immigration' into my closet has been really slow. Only, those that are 'job-related' have faster entries.

Don't know if that's the same or similar case for other grown men......

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I recently wrote a post called "Older, wiser and poorer" about how, in my 20s, I had manicures, expensive clothes and an expensive lifestyle. Now in my 30s, I don't spend as much time and money on these things, even though I earn more. So I think you're right that age has something to do with it.

Also the costs of getting married and buying a flat. (We don't have kids yet, but if we do, we'll need to be even more careful.)

Of course, I'm sure I like dressing up more than you do. I think that's just how girls are. I take up more closet space than my husband, too!

Your blog reminded me of my dad, who also grew up quite poor in Hong Kong.

Several years ago, I bought him a pair of trousers from an expensive store. He's worn them a million times. When the bottoms got ragged, he cut them off with a pair of scissors. When the belt broke, he replaced it with a rope.

OK, I think I'm mom will make him throw them away soon. It's Christmas, so maybe time to buy him another pair!

Anonymous said...

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Finest: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part One

Worst: A Nightmare on Elm Street


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