On Style and Self-Respect

The Peacock’s Convention:

I spent time recently at the menswear shows in New York and Chicago. You dress well at these events. It’s a peacock’s convention: the finery is polished, every stylistic choice on full display. Sometimes it’s over the top, occasionally ridiculous, but it’s a safe space to express unconventional style without apology. What struck me wasn’t the extremity of the fashion, but rather what happens to the people wearing it.

Michael Fassbender in Black Bag

There’s a psychology to dressing well that extends far beyond vanity. Researchers call it “enclothed cognition”: the systematic influence that clothes have on the wearer’s mental processes. But the academic term doesn’t capture the full texture of it. When you’re dressed with intention, you carry yourself differently. Your words become more exacting. You hold yourself with more dignity and grace. You begin to see your time as more valuable. You’re not just a cog in a wheel; you’re a protagonist. Life takes on a different color.