North Star Writers Group

Standing in line to check my luggage, one of my fellow classmates made similar remarks about my suitcase. "I don’t need to pack much," she said, "I am not trying to impress anyone."

At that moment I ran out of cheeks to turn, and thought I would clarify some things.

Paying attention to how you look is not a reflection of superficiality or detachment from others. It is a form of self-expression. When you travel, it is not only an expression of your attitude toward others but also a representation of the place from which you came. The current American trend to dress down as a sign of nonchalance and superiority implies that the few and the proud who still remember how to wear a dress and heels are compensating for something. Yeah, for you. While it is cute to wear your ¨NOT MY PRESIDENT¨ t-shirt at home, dressing well when you travel is a sign of respect for the people and place you are visiting.

For example, Buenos Aires, the Paris of South America, is not a living room. You don’t go to visit a national museum wearing cut-off shorts. If you want to give America a good name, drop the anti-Bush paraphernalia and instead don’t look like the typical, sloppy American.

To present yourself well to the world is to declare to others that their presence is important. Instead of dress to impress, think dress to honor. After all, manner of dress is a form of cultural aesthetic and cultural communication. The skills of matching fabric quality, balancing separates and framing the body in the best way possible is an art. Sadly, in the U.S., the materialist culture has stripped it of its mystery and replaced it with carelessness. Fashion as passion is now associated with spoiled teenage girls in a mall, not appreciation of the human body and attention to detail. Maybe that is why I feel like I have to defend my approach or feel ashamed to admit that I read more of In-Style than of The Economist, that I know nothing about Dylan and pretty much everything about Balenciaga.

Looking at the dressy, casual apparel of Argentines and the delicate balance they strike between formal wear and comfort, I came to understand that the commitment to dressing well is nothing to be ashamed of. What I have learned from them is that come hell or high water, military dictatorship or economic crisis, maintaining appearances is not shallow, but a way of retaining stability and social norms. Sound bourgie? Perhaps. But come the revolution, we’ll be dressed to kill.

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This is Column # LB42. Request permission to publish here.