Ken Follett wrote:

Dave Follet to tell me what style clothes they are carrying

DD,

When we moved from Brooklyn, w/ David attending PS 3 in Manhattan, to LI there was for him a significant epiphany over the subtle consiousness of clothing style (city vs. suburb) that I don't think has ever quite left him... how he tells the difference, and the social significance, of one sort of brightly colored mess from another is beyond me

My favorite is when I get on an elevator w/ guys wearing different Turbans-
All I know is that it's not like picking out a Tie, these guys are sending each other messages- to which I am not hip.

 Though I have pencils & pens in my pockets I avoid wearing the ties in my closet, but a sweater or sports jacket can be transformative.

When I started in Manhattan, I mentioned to an aqquaintance [a bigtime rich guy] how freaked I was over buying suits-
he counseled that when I was a carpenter I bought 1st grade tools & that suits were just another tool.
 
 

In the end it gets down to my wanting to wear clothes that I can afford to lose after clambering over the next roof ridge, a less likely event each day that passes, and busting an inseam (but wandering around with your crotch done up in safety pins for the remainder of the day can also be disconcerting).
 
 

Then, even more amazing to me, is when there is very little difference in the manner of dress between professions -- enough that contractors at a workshop do not realize that they may be surrounded by sympathetic architects. - an oxymoron

somewhere I have an essay I wrote about the footwear preferneces of tradesmen in Denver- which is probably hopelessly outdated

I'm also often taken awry by mechanics that dress like rock stars... I mean, if you are going to be breathing mortar dust all day (despite respirators that mess up the make-up and hair) then why should one need to look like Madonna or Prince?

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