# Clothes suck **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 15, 2013, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clothes-suck/668890 "2013-09-15T04:39:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2013, 5:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clothes-suck/668890/41 "2013-09-16T05:53:26Z")
Yeah! (I mean, No! I mean, yes, your answer was valid!) “I keep just about everything in my purse” is a perfectly valid answer to the question: one can be a nudist and still carry a purse! Someone mentioned fanny packs. There are also people who use ankle packs, because they intrude less upon the overall appearance of nudity. ---
**Author:** ![Mnemnosyne](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mnemnosyne/32/3347_2.png) [@Mnemnosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mnemnosyne)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2013, 6:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clothes-suck/668890/42 "2013-09-16T06:27:38Z")
I think clothing shouldn’t really be mandated, but I also think that the situation shouldn’t be reversed. We shouldn’t look down on someone (or prohibit them from) wearing clothes if they want to, just because they feel like it. Some of **Gateway’s** statements sound like the situation would be reversed and those who do choose to wear clothes should feel as though that’s a wrong choice, which is the impression I felt from some of those comments. So, I would support no regulations at all and no societal pressure either way on whether someone can be clothed or not. And yes, I acknowledge that most people, I don’t really **want** to see naked, but I don’t think my desire not to see people naked should override their choice of what to actually place (or not place) upon their bodies. If I have to get used to seeing hideously corpulent people wandering around, so be it, but I don’t think it’s appropriate for me to impose my choices on them just because I might see them. Obviously though, this is entirely unrealistic to propose for any actual implementation. Even countries and areas where it’s not against the law for either gender to go topless don’t see a lot of topless women (and frankly topless men aren’t common in any environment other than beaches and other places where it’s specifically expected, even if it is permitted in many other places). Part of this is undoubtedly due to societal pressure, which there’s no easy way to reverse. ---
**Author:** ![Gateway](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/dbc845/32.png) [@Gateway](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gateway)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2013, 7:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clothes-suck/668890/43 "2013-09-16T07:14:57Z")
**I think clothing shouldn’t really be mandated, but I also think that the situation shouldn’t be reversed.** This IS one of my points. I don’t think clothes in and of themselves should be looked down on. **And yes, I acknowledge that most people, I don’t really _want_ to see naked, but I don’t think my desire not to see people naked should override their choice of what to actually place (or not place) upon their bodies.** Agreed. I think it possible that would fade though. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2013, 7:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clothes-suck/668890/44 "2013-09-16T07:20:34Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > Yeah! (I mean, No! I mean, yes, your answer was valid!) “I keep just about everything in my purse” is a perfectly valid answer to the question: one can be a nudist and still carry a purse! > > Someone mentioned fanny packs. There are also people who use ankle packs, because they intrude less upon the overall appearance of nudity. I think that I’m going to have a problem with putting my nook into an ankle pack. My ID and my debit and credit cards will fit into an ankle pack nicely, but I refuse to leave the house without reading material as well. Larry Niven used to write about nudists, and apparently a shoulder pack/bag was the nudist’s bag of choice. I generally carry a purse with a shoulder strap on it, for all the little incidentals that I need when I’m out wandering around. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2013, 8:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clothes-suck/668890/45 "2013-09-16T08:31:34Z")
> [@ZipperJJ](#): > > Do you think that every single post on this board is directed at you, or just all of the posts in all of the threads that you participate in? Seriously? The question was obviously a general one aimed at all readers of the thread. Why is it a problem for you that Lynn answered it? As for myself - I’d probably go for a utility belt of sorts with some sort of pouch for things like keys, money, ID, etc. ---
**Author:** ![sandra\_nz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eada6e/32.png) [@sandra\_nz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sandra_nz)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2013, 8:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clothes-suck/668890/46 "2013-09-16T08:33:45Z")
> [@Gateway](#): > > Plus too often we see the clothose and not the person. I disagree. I think people use clothes to communicate the type of person they are. Think of how a goth dresses versus a football fan. Or a greenie wearing a shirt with an environmental message. Or a fashionable 20-something wearing a ‘geek’ tshirt. OK, maybe not that last one, those people annoy me. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2013, 10:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clothes-suck/668890/47 "2013-09-16T10:11:05Z")
I always dress above my station. It tricks the servants into treating me with more respect. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2013, 10:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clothes-suck/668890/48 "2013-09-16T10:31:07Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > [QUOTE=Gateway] > > 1 b 2 b/c NE1 u r clothose prolly n ppl b a y ppl r Does this communicate anything to you? [/QUOTE] 14 K of G in a F P D ? ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2013, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clothes-suck/668890/49 "2013-09-16T20:53:36Z")
> [@Lynn\_Bodoni](#): > > . . . Larry Niven used to write about nudists, and apparently a shoulder pack/bag was the nudist’s bag of choice. I generally carry a purse with a shoulder strap on it, for all the little incidentals that I need when I’m out wandering around. Those were some pretty good stories. I kind of liked that world! Nudists had to be licensed…but it was as easy to get as a driver license today. And nobody much cared. People can get used to anything! I also wish there weren’t the social stigma against men carrying purses. Purses are handy! Like you said about carrying your Nook. We guys get frowned at if we carry purses (even if we call 'em “carryalls.” Doesn’t that sound so macho?) One of the few instances where “male privilege” fails completely. ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2013, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clothes-suck/668890/50 "2013-09-16T22:06:42Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > Seriously? The question was obviously a general one aimed at all readers of the thread. Why is it a problem for you that Lynn answered it? Because she answered it like this: > [@Lynn\_Bodoni](#): > > Are you talking to me? > > Are YOU talking to me? > > Oh, they’re talking to YOU. Like you said, it was a general question aimed at everyone, so I don’t know why she felt personally offended by several replies. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2013, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clothes-suck/668890/51 "2013-09-17T02:52:58Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > Those were some pretty good stories. I kind of liked that world! Nudists had to be licensed…but it was as easy to get as a driver license today. And nobody much cared. People can get used to anything! > > I also wish there weren’t the social stigma against men carrying purses. Purses are handy! Like you said about carrying your Nook. We guys get frowned at if we carry purses (even if we call 'em “carryalls.” Doesn’t that sound so macho?) One of the few instances where “male privilege” fails completely. I bought myself one of those small laptop carriers to use as a purse. My husband appropriated it, saying it was just the thing for his laptop needs. It’s got room for his tablet as well as his laptop. And yes, I’d like to see it become more socially acceptable for men to carry a purse, or a bag, or whatever. Back in the day, men just handed everything to their wives to put in the wife’s purse. I had to teach my husband, very early on, that if I carried his cigarettes, then they were mine to do with as I please. Including loading them. I think that we will get more accustomed to seeing men with some sort of bag on a daily basis. Tablets and ereaders are definitely too big for the average clothing pocket, and even smart phones can be a tight fit. > [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#): > > Because she answered it like this: > > Like you said, it was a general question aimed at everyone, so I don’t know why she felt personally offended by several replies. I wasn’t personally offended…I was trying to make a joke. Obviously, some people didn’t read it as a joke. If I’d been offended, it would have been very clear. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clothes-suck/668890.md?page=2)