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The Dumbest Comment I Ever Heard

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Marc Chevalier

Gone Home
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BigSleep said:
Why is it that a co worker or stranger would even make it a topic of conversation? In other words, "Why do you care what I wear?!"

Fair enough; but I suspect that at least a few of us hat-wearers muttered something to our partners when we first saw a guy or gal wearing a nose ring, or facial tattoos ...

Fedoras make a statement. They are no longer a common item in society. To some, they are as "in-your-face" as facial piercings used to be.


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Marc Chevalier

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BigSleep said:
Could they really be that confused by [the sight of someone wearing a fedora in public]?

Absolutely. Wouldn't you be surprised (if not confused) by the sight of someone wearing a pair of spats in public? Or an inverness cape? Or a monocle?

All of the above are iconographic menswear items (spats = gangster; inverness cape = Sherlock Holmes; Monocle = British twit, or the Planter's peanut man) that are hardly worn today. Though fedoras and homburgs are not quite as rare, they still belong to this group.

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Kevin Popejoy

One of the Regulars
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106
Location
Columbia, MO
Hi all, my first post here. Not too long ago while wearing my akubra, a teenage girl met me on the street and gave me a sotto voce "yeehaa". Got my back right up...especially considering what she was wearing; one of those belly shirts with kind of a muffin top thing going. Yikes! k
 

Hemingway Jones

I'll Lock Up
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Acton, Massachusetts
[QUOTE="Doc" Devereux]Do you work in the bank's Treasury Department? :p

[/QUOTE]
:cheers1:

And Marc, if you get "Freddie Krueger," I would consider that you start using a moisturizer. ;)
 

Michaelson

One Too Many
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1,840
Location
Tennessee
Most recent? I was asked if I was a Minnonite.:eusa_doh:

Now, if the Minnonite's have started wearing jeans, tennis shoes, and have cell phones on their belts, then ok, I can understand ...but come on.:rolleyes:

Regards! Michaelson
 

Radioflyer

New in Town
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27
Location
Lafayette, IN
Being from Indiana I get more than my share of 'Indiana Jones' comments, which I take as a compliment anyway. Being an outdoor camping/flyfishing guy I usually wear one of my two Akubra's (Snowy River with a cut down brim, and a Jackaroo) and get called 'Dundee' alot. I don't mind it as it's become my trademark at Boyscout camp. Shows I have the guts to wear what I want to.

rf
 

Joel Tunnah

Practically Family
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Location
Brooklyn, NY
Feraud said:
A woman walks up to us and asks me, "excuse me, are you religious?" ...Crazy New Yorkers...

Actually, it sounds like she was a jew, and she was asking you if you are a "religious" (ie. orthodox) jew. What direction the conversation would've taken from there, I have no idea (my wife's reformed) - but there's nothing "crazy" about it.

Joel
 

The Wingnut

One Too Many
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Powerhouse said:
I just love it when my clothing is referred to as a COSTUME!!!! ~!@#~!@#~!@#$:rage: :rage: lol


Yeah, that kills me. Or rather, makes me want to do terrible things to the speaker.

COSTUME:

1: the attire worn in a play or at a fancy dress ball; "he won the prize for best costume" 2: unusual or period attire not characteristic of or appropriate to the time and place; "in spite of the heat he insisted on his woolen costume" 3: the prevalent fashion of dress (including accessories and hair style as well as garments) 4: the attire characteristic of a country or a time or a social class; "he wore his national costume" v 1: dress in a costume; "We dressed up for Halloween as pumpkins" [syn: dress up] 2: furnish with costumes; as for a film or play


ATTIRE:

at¬?tire ( P ) Pronunciation Key (-tr)
tr.v. at¬?tired, at¬?tir¬?ing, at¬?tires
To dress or clothe, especially in fine or elaborate garments.


HRMPH! Costume implies I'm wearing it for some special occasion or that it's not regular attire for me, that I'm trying to be someone I'm not. I'm sorry, no, this is my regular attire...
 

Marc Chevalier

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The Wingnut said:
COSTUME:

2: unusual or period attire not characteristic of or appropriate to the time and place.

HRMPH! Costume implies ... that it's not regular attire for me, ...

Er, no. According to the definition above, "costume" implies that it's not regular attire for the time -- which happens to be 2006, not the golden era.
So yes, your clothing is costume ... and that's not a good or bad thing, it just is.

.
 

Feraud

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Hardlucksville, NY
Marc Chevalier said:
You should have said, "It depends on how attractive the asker is." ;)

.
Not when my wife is standing right there! ;)



Joel Tunnah said:
Actually, it sounds like she was a jew, and she was asking you if you are a "religious" (ie. orthodox) jew. What direction the conversation would've taken from there, I have no idea (my wife's reformed) - but there's nothing "crazy" about it.

Joel
We figured as much. Here is my thinking... I am a Catholic and I know what an Orthodox Jew looks like. For the most part they wear particular clothes, hair, etc. If she were Jewish, how could she not realize this? What I find crazy is to ask a question like that and not say something like, "oh sorry, I thought ______ ." Maybe rude is a better word. ;)
 

The Wingnut

One Too Many
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Marc Chevalier said:
Er, no. According to the definition above, "costume" implies that it's not regular attire for the time -- which happens to be 2006, not the golden era.
So yes, your clothing is costume ... and that's not a good or bad thing, it just is.

.

I picked a lousy definition.

..you get my point, though. It's not a damn costume. I'm not acting in a play, I'm not trying to be something I'm not...I'm dressed the way I'm dressed because what's commonly available and accepted as normal does not appeal to me, and I've chosen something that suits my tastes.
 

Marc Chevalier

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The Wingnut said:
..you get my point, though. It's not a damn costume.

I do get your point, and I agree with you. Technically, our clothes may be "costumes"; but we know that when people throw the term at us, they're implying that we're wearing a sandwich board with "Halloween Forever!" on it. And that's not the case. Our clothes are not so different from those being worn today; we look a bit different, yes, but not outlandish.

I wear a vintage suit because I like the way it looks on me, not because I think that others will -- or won't -- like it. I wear the suit for my own pleasure, not to give others jollies.

.
 

Mojave Jack

One Too Many
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1,785
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Yucca Valley, California
Marc Chevalier said:
Absolutely. Wouldn't you be surprised (if not confused) by the sight of someone wearing a pair of spats in public? Or an inverness cape? Or a monocle?

All of the above are iconographic menswear items (spats = gangster; inverness cape = Sherlock Holmes; Monocle = British twit, or the Planter's peanut man) that are hardly worn today. Though fedoras and homburgs are not quite as rare, they still belong to this group.

.
Very true. There are several items in my wardrobe that will most likely never see the light of day, simply because they are too out of the norm, and disrupt my own comfort factor.

Strictly speaking, negative comments should not reflect on the wearer but rather the speaker, since it displays ignorance, intolerance, and a a complete lack of respect. That is not a tenet of the majority of Floungers, however, which is why Kevin couldn't respond in kind to the Muffin Top Girl, or why Powerhouse will never use that (clever and quite droll) line about protection! And why if we saw someone wearing a monocle we might do a take, but not make a negative comment. In our minds, though, we may be thinking, "Well, that's a bit much!" I can't imagine walking around in jeans that are seven sizes too big and showing six inches of my boxers, but hey, it's all a matter of degree.
 
Hemingway Jones said:
That is a stupid comment. But, Columbo did wear a hat, a ruffled stingy brim fedora that he carried more than he wore.

You are kidding right? I never saw the hat in all the episodes I have seen. Man I must be looking in the wrong places. It was actually funny because I told him Columbo didn't wear a hat and the people around me agreed. :p :eusa_doh:

Regards,

J
 

Haversack

One Too Many
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1,194
Location
Clipperton Island
Well, I received a comment last Saturday while in a local hardware store looking for a particular hinge. It was, "Hey! Chester A. Arthur!". It took me a moment to realize that it was directed to me as I wasn't wearing anything outr?©. (A pair of Carhartt work pants and a hickory shirt. Being indoors, my flat cap was rolled up in a trouser pocket.) Then I recalled that my facial hair is somewhat reminiscent of the 21st president and acknowledged the speaker. The fellow was older than myself, balding, with a waist-length beard, and very long hair. He looked like many of the original back-to-the-land hippies you can still see in places like Takilma and the Oregon Country Fair. He could have been too as he was wearing workboots, jeans, and a cambric shirt. His hands had that polished, calloused look that long-years of work with handtools will give. Well, I thanked him for his comment and complemented him of his knowledge of US history and let it go. His comment was more to amuse than belittle.

As far as hat-comments go, if they aren't complements, they're usually similar to thoses received by Michaelson, only the Amish are invoked. This on a city bus in San Francisco...

Haversack.
 
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