I can understand this position a lot more for Americans because of their history. It's the "European" Brits that amuse me, they rarely if ever speak another European language, let alone live and work there.
Douglas Murray recalls a conversation with someone who admitted that when he was little he thought vanilla was just the base of ice cream, with no flavour of its own but existed to have flavours added to it.
As an adult he realised vanilla was a delicious flavour in its own right. And we fall into the trap of thinking our English-speaking cultures have no culture, like this misconception of vanilla.
When we live abroad we realise there are infinite wonderful things about our own cultures that are not universal, and we may have completely taken for granted. We are just blinded to them through not knowing anything different.
> A good example of this is the almost total global monopoly on ‘prestige male dress’ of the Western business suit, which in no way ‘works’ for the climatic conditions of most of the planet. What works are things like traditional Chinese silk robes or the Arab thawb. The business suit can be made to work anywhere via air conditioning, but inherently it’s an inferior garment for warm climates. If China had industrialised before the West, Europeans would probably be shivering in silk robes and cranking up the heating to compensate.
This is not how it works. It could and did get quite cold in northern China during the winter--Beijing gets an average of 11 snowy days every year, and most winter nights drop below freezing. And furthermore, a Western business suit absolutely will not protect you against any sort of serious cold. Pre-20th century people in cold climates wore clothing in multiple layers. A 19th century bourgeois man in winter didn't just have a suit (which was usually much more practical than a modern one--for instance the lapels could often be buttoned together to form a closed collar to retain heat), he had an overcoat (which could be of fur if he was rich enough), a hat, gloves, maybe even a cape or cloak on top of all of that. A Chinese person likewise who felt cold would simply put on more clothes on top of the clothes they were already wearing. The modern Western suit is made for the "climate" of a dry, air-conditioned or heated indoor space, and basically nowhere else. It is hot in the summer, cold in the winter, and provides no protection against wind or rain. It superficially resembles the clothes Europeans used to wear, but the resemblance doesn't go much further than that. It has virtually no utilitarian value at all and is pure decoration. I think that if Chinese or Arabic clothes became the bourgeois uniform, much the same process would have happened (and in the case of Chinese clothes, only the most expensive would be silk; you'd be better off imagining polyester robes!). Industrialization makes climate far less important and everyday clothing ceases to have much relationship to the weather. "Prestige" clothing does this most of all because the whole point of prestige clothing is signaling that you do not have to work outside or exert yourself.
I agree that the Western business suit is for an indoor climate and isn't designed with the elements in mind. However while the suit was designed for a (sometimes) heated indoor environment, it became widespread long before air conditioning so I can't see it having been developed somewhere where the climate is much hotter like say India. North east Asia though yes is not the best example as it's not as hot.
But the suits made before air conditioning were very different from modern ones, and came in various styles that were specifically suited to different climates! Before AC, it was common for men in the southern US to wear seersucker suits in the summer (imagine the stereotypical image of a racist southern politician the early 20th century and the light-colored striped suit he’s wearing, that’s a seersucker suit), which were much cooler and more breathable than the wool suits commonly seen up north. Likewise, if a culture from a warmer climate had developed an international bourgeoisie first, Europeans would not have “shivered in silk robes”, they would have adapted the clothing to their own climates, until the spread of climate control and motor vehicles caused international clothes to converge on what works in a dry room at ~20°C.
Yes there was some adaptation to climate but I'm thinking of figures like say Colonel Nasser of Egypt, always pictured in what looks like a traditional Western business suit. I doubt there was much air conditioning in Egypt in the 50s and 60s.
I can understand this position a lot more for Americans because of their history. It's the "European" Brits that amuse me, they rarely if ever speak another European language, let alone live and work there.
Even for Americans though I think it's delusional. Like the idea that their conception of Irish or Italians is a culture but general American is not.
Douglas Murray recalls a conversation with someone who admitted that when he was little he thought vanilla was just the base of ice cream, with no flavour of its own but existed to have flavours added to it.
As an adult he realised vanilla was a delicious flavour in its own right. And we fall into the trap of thinking our English-speaking cultures have no culture, like this misconception of vanilla.
When we live abroad we realise there are infinite wonderful things about our own cultures that are not universal, and we may have completely taken for granted. We are just blinded to them through not knowing anything different.
> A good example of this is the almost total global monopoly on ‘prestige male dress’ of the Western business suit, which in no way ‘works’ for the climatic conditions of most of the planet. What works are things like traditional Chinese silk robes or the Arab thawb. The business suit can be made to work anywhere via air conditioning, but inherently it’s an inferior garment for warm climates. If China had industrialised before the West, Europeans would probably be shivering in silk robes and cranking up the heating to compensate.
This is not how it works. It could and did get quite cold in northern China during the winter--Beijing gets an average of 11 snowy days every year, and most winter nights drop below freezing. And furthermore, a Western business suit absolutely will not protect you against any sort of serious cold. Pre-20th century people in cold climates wore clothing in multiple layers. A 19th century bourgeois man in winter didn't just have a suit (which was usually much more practical than a modern one--for instance the lapels could often be buttoned together to form a closed collar to retain heat), he had an overcoat (which could be of fur if he was rich enough), a hat, gloves, maybe even a cape or cloak on top of all of that. A Chinese person likewise who felt cold would simply put on more clothes on top of the clothes they were already wearing. The modern Western suit is made for the "climate" of a dry, air-conditioned or heated indoor space, and basically nowhere else. It is hot in the summer, cold in the winter, and provides no protection against wind or rain. It superficially resembles the clothes Europeans used to wear, but the resemblance doesn't go much further than that. It has virtually no utilitarian value at all and is pure decoration. I think that if Chinese or Arabic clothes became the bourgeois uniform, much the same process would have happened (and in the case of Chinese clothes, only the most expensive would be silk; you'd be better off imagining polyester robes!). Industrialization makes climate far less important and everyday clothing ceases to have much relationship to the weather. "Prestige" clothing does this most of all because the whole point of prestige clothing is signaling that you do not have to work outside or exert yourself.
I agree that the Western business suit is for an indoor climate and isn't designed with the elements in mind. However while the suit was designed for a (sometimes) heated indoor environment, it became widespread long before air conditioning so I can't see it having been developed somewhere where the climate is much hotter like say India. North east Asia though yes is not the best example as it's not as hot.
But the suits made before air conditioning were very different from modern ones, and came in various styles that were specifically suited to different climates! Before AC, it was common for men in the southern US to wear seersucker suits in the summer (imagine the stereotypical image of a racist southern politician the early 20th century and the light-colored striped suit he’s wearing, that’s a seersucker suit), which were much cooler and more breathable than the wool suits commonly seen up north. Likewise, if a culture from a warmer climate had developed an international bourgeoisie first, Europeans would not have “shivered in silk robes”, they would have adapted the clothing to their own climates, until the spread of climate control and motor vehicles caused international clothes to converge on what works in a dry room at ~20°C.
Yes there was some adaptation to climate but I'm thinking of figures like say Colonel Nasser of Egypt, always pictured in what looks like a traditional Western business suit. I doubt there was much air conditioning in Egypt in the 50s and 60s.