It's Like Worrying About What Leaf Would Look Best On Adonis

I realized the other day that I have almost no perception of what other people think of me. I don't mean as far as whether or not they like me - I'm sufficiently narcissistic to just assume everyone finds me as witty and charming as I do. Rather, I realized that at some point, I stopped concerning myself with what people thought of me physically, as far as my looks or how I dress.

You know, when I was growing up, there was all this attention on how people dressed (which in my case was unfortunate). As I get older though, I find that if people don't see something really unusual or inappropriate, they don't really comment on how someone else is dressed. Even when they do, it's something brief, like a curt memo about casual Fridays not extending to cosplay, with not so much as a mention of admiration for the amount of work I put into that Star Trek uniform, right down to Uhura's earpiece and black boots. Haters.

Anyway, let me give you an recent example. The other day I wore a pair of dress pants and nice shirt, an activity usually relegated to those occasions when I've gotten behind on the laundry and have run out of jeans. My lovely wife asked what I was dressed up for, as did a co-worker. I took these comments as compliments at the time, but the more I think about them, the more insidious they become. I mean, the statement "What are you all dressed up for?" sort of comes with the implied completion of "I only ask because you typically dress like the clerk of a video game store who's given up on the idea that he'll ever find love outside of MMORGPGs". Okay, maybe that's a bit of a ridiculous statement. I mean really, who finds love in MMORPGs?



Maybe this is only an issue because I'm a guy. I see women comment on what their friends are wearing on occasion, but with men, that doesn't really happen unless one of your friends is wearing something worth making fun of. I think this is based on the concern that saying something nice about something another man is wearing can be perceived as gay, which is a baseless fear unless your commenting on how well his underwear shows off his package, and even then it may just be a kind individual paying a compliment before realizing that maybe the gym locker room isn't the best place to meet new friends.

Either way, it's not like I'm henceforth planning on fretting over my fashion sense. I'm reasonably comfortable that no one is going to tell me that I look like a goof, even if I consistently look like a goof. Besides, perhaps it's better this way. I get to go along in life assuming that everyone considers me, if not a fashion mogul, at least a reasonable dresser, assuming they notice how I dress at all.

And really, once presented with this kind of pretty, who's going to notice what kind of clothes I'm wearing?