Personally, I think blue jeans on an older man look ridiculous—the French call it vieux jeune homme, which literally means “old young guy”—but that’s a separate issue. I’m also not all that crazy about the sweater vest, which makes you look like you’re running for student council at a college no one has ever heard of. But my real beef is: Would it kill these guys to wear a tie every once in a while? Dress shirts literally scream: Please, please complete me with a tie. Please, please festoon me.
OK, OK, if you’re running your mouth on a beach or in a factory or while attending the Daytona 500, the tieless look is tolerable. Same deal if you’re visiting a swamp or a filling station or the Bronx. But if you’re up there on a dais and there’s a podium right in front of you, and there’s some sense that what you’re saying might be important, could you please put on a dress tie to go with your dress shirt? Or a shirt that doesn’t require a tie? I think they still make these things…
Critics will object that Barack Obama regularly appears in public wearing a dress shirt with no tie. This is true, and it is to be deplored. But Barack Obama already has the job the other guys are seeking. Once you get yourself elected president of the United States, you can wear fright wigs and Day-Glo track suits if you want. Moreover, Democrats are expected to dress down, because so many of their constituents are working class and have let their subscriptions to GQ lapse. Republicans, by contrast, are supposed to dress like Republicans. Back where I come from, Republicans wear ties.
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