Put This On: Why We Wear What We Wear
Put This On, Episode 3: Work from Put This On on Vimeo.
I didn’t have high standards for a show that describes itself as a “web series about dressing like a grown up.” My own aversion to fashion rules and how-to-dress lists, combined with turning twenty earlier this year (leaving behind the security of my teen years for good!) left me with a resentment towards anybody telling me I should dress my age. However, web video series Put This On has elected towards an approach towards style that is less What Not to Wear and more a venue for genuine discussion on the status of clothing in the world today.
In the third episode of the series, host Jesse Thorn chats with Freaks and Geeks creator Paul Feig about why he wears what he does to work - a conversation that, although brief, touches on the way clothing can command respect the ways people dress to conform or separate themselves from their peers.
I was a bit less interested during the second half of the video that focuses on where to buy appropriate work attire. Despite my clothing idealism, I understand that it is often necessary to conform a set of fashion rules, especially when it comes to work (in an I-may-not-like-them-but-I’ll-follow-them-if-it-means-having-money-for-groceries kind of way). It’s not to say that the advice given isn’t practical or useful, but the conversation here that interests me is the one that focuses more on the why and less on the how.
- Anna Fitzpatrick
Tags: anna fitzpatrick, Freaks and Geeks, Jesse Thorn, Paul Feig, Put This On
September 9th, 2010 at 9:02 am
The interview is pretty nice but the rest is disappointing and dull. The how-to-dress-thing has been done to death yet there’s hardly any interesting info out there on the why of this set of rules. These rules are eventually flexible, so I think the obvious vantage point would be to question our current rules and also why some people can get away with breaking these rules in unexpected places. So why do people keep highlighting the ‘how to dress according to these bullshit rules’ anyway? Since when do people like to be dictated?
I am so frustrated by the dullness of this point of view, damn it!
September 9th, 2010 at 5:57 pm
I heart Paul Feig so hard, and it makes me very very happy to listen to him talk about clothes. I like it so much I’m willing to ignore the annoying second part.
September 9th, 2010 at 6:02 pm
Kim Kelly’s jacket is pretty iconic too.
September 10th, 2010 at 11:43 am
I have to preface this by saying I could not access the video, so I’m just responding to what I’ve read…
I’d like to see a discussion on why so many people need (and embrace) the conventions we have, rather than keep building “conform to” or “rail against” teams.
Part of my work is done in an office. There are days I come in to work in full-on secretary mode (heels, conservative blouses or dresses, skirts, etc) and other days I show up in bubble shorts and combat boots. There are people I work with who are always the picture of office-appropriate and people who wear jeans or tee shirts nonstop. Whether or not this is frowned upon, almost no one is going to lose their job over it. (Not the case the late 80s when I first started in the job market.)
It makes sense to question our devotion to certain things, but in 2010 (where jersey, denim, spandex and rubber soled shoes are king) I think we might be past questioning expectations. (What we consider expectations are often projection.) The notion of “appropriate” dress is no longer anywhere close to empiric, and people who conform to clothing rules are clearly making a choice.
People can talk “clothing rules” all day, but they wouldn’t have a bit of power if people didn’t secretly like to be told.
It’s the why that, to me, is the interesting question.
September 12th, 2010 at 4:32 pm
Aw freaks and geeks in one of my favorite shows. I wasn’t expecting the director to be so prim and proper. i like how he addresses the misconception of what a “creative type” looks like.