SHOP AT THRIFT STORES AND ROSS. It's bullshit to say you can't dress well if you aren't rich.

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I was surprised by how normal most peple looked (except everyone wore black -- ev*ery*one -- which strikes me as boring and too easy, fashion-wise). There were some hideously-dressed Parisians, fashionable Parisians, ordinary, unremarkably-dressed Parisians... just like HOME!

Unlike home, every dog was incredibly well-behaved and the coffee was always fantastic.

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I think a lot of this depends where you live. In L.A. I dressed a lot more casually than I did when I lived in NYC.

Now I live in Rome.

I never leave the house in sweats/track pants unless I'm actually working out. People here are just not as sloppy. Even the men. It might be a cliche but it's what I've noticed. I won't go to the store for a quick errand without putting on some lipstick.

In L.A. I would roll to the grocery store with my wet work out clothes, a bandana on my head and not give a crap about how I looked (maybe because I was depressed. ha). I would see fellow shoppers wearing Uggs and pj bottoms. I think I used to confuse sloppy with comfort. You can be comfy and not look like you rolled out of bed.

Also getting older I want to look more put together. I think there is a time and place for everything. I don't think it's cute when men wear baseball caps all the time even to movie premieres or a nice restaurant.

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[www.newsweek.com]

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Fashion is less important in most modern Amercan's life BECAUSE most current fashion designers now are so pathetic at their job and in their art that they can only make thin and skeletal looking models look good in their creations.

It takes a real artist and dress-maker--someone who is very good in the craft and design of dress-making to make the average slightly overweight person look more attractive, at least enough more attractive to justify that huge price tag!

I just think most modern designers are lazy, myself. I would love to put them back in the days of Worth or Poiret or Schiaparelli and see them succeed. Can you say bankruptcy?

Also fostering Self-hate and self-disgust is a huge growth industry! (Like the diet industry, self-help books, womens magazines, etc.) Fashion justifies its huge price tag by limiting itself to the elite. It used to be that the elite were whomsover were able to pay (usually over 40 matrons). The elite are now the rich stick-insects who are willing to justify that kind of price tag to themselves because "they deserve it!"

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Unlike other people's. I'm assuming he was not given the benefit of the etiquette lesson where you keep petty remarks to private conversations? Or where you seek to gently comment in a manner that is conversational rather than critical when observing a mistake in manners or dress? And that such criticisms should be made for the betterment of character rather than boosting one's feeling of superiority?

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Sameer Reddy, I throw my shoe at you!

(See what I did there? See that? Ah, I kill me!)

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Sure, he's infatuated with the leisure class, but I don't think that necessarily means he hates poor people. I think that his point was rather that a lot of Americans (rich and poor) look as if they have given up on elegance, which can be simple and comfortable.

He says of women's clothing, "And nothing represents the classic Platonic ideal of American fashion than the wrap dress invented by Diane von Furstenberg... Functional yet feminine, it's ingeniously simple-and doesn't wrinkle." And for men, he recommends "pima-cotton sweatshirts and thin-wale corduroys guaranteeing comfort without the taste trade-off of athletic shorts." All of which is pretty much a rehash of "What Not To Wear" values.

Personally, I don't think people should feel pressured to dress for anyone but themselves. Your value should be based on your actions, not your appearance.

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Was it not George Bush Sr. who said "The American way of life is not up for negotiation?" He wasn't referring to our security, but more about us being accustomed to luxury goods that make our life so easy that we can't be bothered to lift a finger anymore. That's sad. Think of all the useless stuff sold on QVC. They all promote ease of life - comfort. That leads to us getting larger. And the more we buy, the more debt we get into. It's our own fault, but these things are related.

Think of his credit-crisis statement in a different way. Many Americans no longer want to spend time cooking, it's easie, therefore more comfortable, to get a burger and fries from Mickey Ds. We buy bags of Doritos because it's easier than cutting up a watermelon. Our eating habits are centered around comfort. We buy useless goods from discount stores, because we think it'll help us do things faster.

While his attitude seems to be anti-fat people, it actually makes sense. Maybe not complete sense, but he does have points in there.

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However....has dumbass rich american male columnist ever considered that many of these so-called fat unstylish people don't exactly have access to a wide range of flattering, stylish, affordable clothes because few people actually design, make or sell them?

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