# Is dressing spiffy overcompensating for something? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 29, 2011, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-dressing-spiffy-overcompensating-for-something/597989 "2011-09-29T05:42:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2011, 6:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-dressing-spiffy-overcompensating-for-something/597989/21 "2011-09-30T06:46:52Z")
> [@Lacunae\_Matata](#): > > As I mentioned, it’s either the same effort (find 2 suit pieces or slacks and blouse,) or less (one dress,) to looked dressed up and spiffy. Looking schlubby all of the time takes an equal amount of work, and often seems more affected than dressing well/appropriately. Not really… I have several coworkers whose dresses and jewelry are spiffier than mine but who totally manage to screw it up. Varicose veins do not go with anything, they rather spoil whatever you’re wearing. By leaving out that pantyhose, they’re turning their spiffy getup into “I’m blind, by the way”. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2011, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-dressing-spiffy-overcompensating-for-something/597989/22 "2011-09-30T13:07:20Z")
> [@Jaledin](#): > > I’m taking some classes at a non-smoking campus, and, walking through the staff parking lot with a (tobacco!) pipe, with dress shoes, scarf, overcoat . . . and was able to introduce myself as “Dr. X. XXXXX, working in ZZZZ departments, but you can call me X.” If I met a man wearing an overcoat and smoking a pipe, who introduced himself with, “Dr. X. XXXXX, working in ZZZZ departments, but you can call me X,” I would fall in love instantly. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2011, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-dressing-spiffy-overcompensating-for-something/597989/23 "2011-09-30T13:51:23Z")
Just think of attire as social camoflage, and dress to fit in with whichever social group and activity it is that you want to be apart of. ---
**Author:** ![overlyverbose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/9dc877/32.png) [@overlyverbose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/overlyverbose)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2011, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-dressing-spiffy-overcompensating-for-something/597989/24 "2011-09-30T14:32:06Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > Well, I don’t think it’s overcompensation, but IME there’s two main schools of thought when it comes to getting dressed: > > School 1 - the Outfitters. My mother, sister in law and The Nephew belong to this one. This skirt goes with this blouse, this jacket, this scarf, this jewelry… Mom has had periods when this tendency was so extreme that once she was hyperventilating because I was wearing a white blouse with navy pleated pants “but it goes with the navy pencil skirt!!!” “Uh, Mom… have you considered Xanax? It’s a white silk blouse! It goes with everything except an Ibiza skirt!” > > School 2 - the Coverers. This would be me, Middlebro and The Niece. So long as we’re legal and the colors aren’t trying to beat each other up, we’re happy. An extreme case would be The Bestest Ex, who bought all his clothes in black so he wouldn’t have to think about color matching. > > Both tend to get more extreme when anxious, sick or nervous. > > Littlebro is the most average in the family, he has some “set outfits” (mostly for work) but when he wears jeans he goes for the “just need to be covered and color-ok” approach. When he wears bermudas, color matching goes out of the window; Mom once remarked upon this and he said “it’s my Englishman On Vacation look”. > > While you don’t speak of “outfits”, it sounds to me like you’re simply more careful about how you dress, closer to the Outfitters side, than most of the people around you. Nothing wrong with that, it simply means you’re The Spiffy One 🙂 I would add a third category: The Statement Makers. You know, the college student types (who sometimes turn into adults making the same statement) who insist that dressing up is wasteful and ridiculous and old-fashioned and “just don’t get it” because people who do it must be trying way too hard to impress people. I went through this stage - ripped jeans, flannel shirts that looked dirty even when clean - and enjoyed my self-righteousness while it lasted. Then I joined the workforce and worked in an office where I was required to wear skirts and stockings. Even when that restriction was no longer in place, I felt better wearing nicer clothes. I can understand comfort. I usually dress for comfort, too. But most of my comfort clothes are still pretty decent, so I don’t have to think a whole lot when I put on an outfit. If they’re comfortable and decent and basic (think casual khaki pants, a tailored T and clean shoes), I can literally just throw something on, put my hair up and leave without feeling sloppy. Most of my work clothes are also comfortable, but made of slightly less functional (though no less comfortable or washable) material and more likely to include a nice sweater or tailored button down. Anyway, I digress. To the OP: I think most people have a certain type of clothing they’re comfortable with, for whatever reason, whether it’s because they’re trying to project a certain image, hide something or feel better about themselves. As long as you’re comfortable in what you’re wearing, whatever your reasons, don’t sweat it. People are usually more concerned with themselves than other people anyway. Unless you’re walking down the street in a tutu, they probably won’t notice or think twice about it. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2011, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-dressing-spiffy-overcompensating-for-something/597989/25 "2011-09-30T14:46:53Z")
> [@Muffin](#): > > Just think of attire as social camoflage, and dress to fit in with whichever social group and activity it is that you want to be apart of. Ru Paul: “We’re all born naked. Everything else is drag.” ---
**Author:** ![CrazyCatLady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dfb087/32.png) [@CrazyCatLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrazyCatLady)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2011, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-dressing-spiffy-overcompensating-for-something/597989/26 "2011-09-30T16:37:15Z")
> [@Lacunae\_Matata](#): > > Wearing a dress is less work, not more! Yeah, but it still tends to read as more dressy. Work involved doesn’t have jack to do with formality–pulling a sundress over your head and zipping it up is every bit as much work as stepping into a ballgown and zipping it up, ya know? Dresses just read more…dressy…than pants of roughly equal formality. It’s just a perception issue. My pet theory is that it goes back a few generations to when pants were acceptable for when you were doing housework or working in a factory, but simply Not Done for social interaction. It’s changing, the same way the “hose is dressier than bare legs” thing has mostly changed, but slowly. ---
**Author:** ![Jaledin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Jaledin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jaledin)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2011, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-dressing-spiffy-overcompensating-for-something/597989/27 "2011-09-30T20:48:53Z")
> [@Eve](#): > > If I met a man wearing an overcoat and smoking a pipe, who introduced himself with, “Dr. X. XXXXX, working in ZZZZ departments, but you can call me X,” I would fall in love instantly. Got a thing for smooth-talking petty grifters, eh? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-dressing-spiffy-overcompensating-for-something/597989.md?page=1)