"What is the aesthetic you want to create? Classic? Counter cultural? Outdoorsy? Streetwear? These all operate on their own language."

 Derek Guy explains pants.

About those shorts.

Link.

"To me, 'he looks homeless' is loaded with classism. But it's true that Bernie looks like he doesn't care—and that's what makes his outfits great."

"The irony is that the more you chase this quality, the more affected you can look. And certainly, not everyone who 'doesn't care' looks great (Fetterman comes to mind). This is why style writers are so obsessed with this quality. To me, if you constantly chase the idea of middle class respectability, you can end up looking a bit stiff an uninspired. But if you open your mind to wider expressions of style, you'll not only enjoy what you see around you, but you'll be more stylish as a result."

Writes Derek Guy, at X, after writing this Politico article — "Congress Is Falling Apart /But These 5 Guys Look Good Doing It" — which caused Meghan McCain's husband (Ben Domenech) to say that he once saw Bernie Sanders and mistook him for a homeless man.

For the annals of Things I Asked Grok: "Tell me about the idea, expressed by fashion writers, that looking like you don't care how you look is actually a great look to pursue."

You're not dressing like Cary Grant.

I disagree that you dress like Cary Grant. In this thread, I will list some of the ways in which your dress differs and why such important details matter. 🧵 https://t.co/6hTiPgpxSX

— derek guy (@dieworkwear) April 28, 2024

Read the whole detailed thread. Quite aside from the fantasy of dressing like men did in 1548, Guy shows it's also a fantasy to believe that men in suits these days are dressing like Cary Grant in 1948.

I was especially interested in Guy's attention to the problem of a collar gap, because I was troubled to see that Biden was allowed to go on close-up camera last night at the Correspondents' Dinner with a giant gap between his shirt and his neck:

  

It's reminiscent of a ventriloquist dummy, notably Charlie McCarthy, who dressed in white tie: