Nathaniel’s Recent Comments

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  Not all nice clothing is trendy

  "if somebody sees you wearing a nice suit, s/he will think about the suit instead of your minute arguments on land use: s/he will then think, oh, this is nice, but hey, where can i purchase a suit?  where can i own a suit?"

  I am going to echo Dasein in saying that the exact opposite is true. People are going to be far more distracted by dreads, clogs and worn clothes that don't fit quite right, than a fitted suit. By dressing like your typical enviro activist you are letting your clothing speak for you. Unfortunately it doesn't always tell your story exactly as you would want to put it. In a nice suit the only message you send is that you care about your appearance. This is a message that doesn't subvert or distract from your voice, which is a much more precise tool for getting your point across.

  You have to pick your battle here. Are you fighting for the environment, or against social conventions?

  "Because when we give up our ethics and pay our hard earned money for an arbitrary trend that relies on scaring the population through fashion, brought to you (copyrighted) by the world's poor, through sweatshop labor, then we will truly have made it!"

  The clothes you should be buying to look nice and professional are not trendy, they are classic. Classic cuts and styles take a very long time to go out of fashion, possibly a lifetime. Unless your body type is changing often, these are the sort of clothes you don't have to buy very often (if you take care of them that is). Not exactly selling your soul to rampant consumerism then. In fact, I would argue that this sort of buying is exactly the type of consumption we should be promoting.

  These days you can also buy well made clothing that wasn't made in a sweatshop with harmful chemicals and such. Sure, buying quality clothing that is environmentally conscious is not cheap, but being that you will be able to wear them for many years to come they are a good investment.On Yes, clothes really do make the activist posted 4 years, 8 months ago 24 Responses