Here at OC, we are struck by how often we end up in everyday conundrums. The ones that land you in the thick of semi (or full-blown) awkwardness, or maybe, the doghouse.
So, we turned to Simon Collins, the dean of the School of Fashion at Parsons. Collins recently penned a TOME that explores how and why people get to be so dang successful. To glean a bit of that for ourselves, we're launching the weekly series Simon Says, in which Collins lends tongue-in-cheek, Brit-bloke advice to our pain-point questions and social entanglements.
So, we turned to Simon Collins, the dean of the School of Fashion at Parsons. Collins recently penned a TOME that explores how and why people get to be so dang successful. To glean a bit of that for ourselves, we're launching the weekly series Simon Says, in which Collins lends tongue-in-cheek, Brit-bloke advice to our pain-point questions and social entanglements.
Q: Is it better to be under- or overdressed?
Never knowingly underdress.
The thing is, if you arrive at a less formal party and you’re wearing a correct evening costume, you can simply remove the tie, undo a couple of buttons on the shirt, and roll up your sleeves. Easy. And, if everyone else is wearing suits, they will have just the faintest concern that they didn’t read the invitation and maybe you’ve got it right. Or, they’ll think you’re off to a smarter party afterwards. (If, however, it’s black tie and you show up in jeans, you will be handed a broom and instructed to pick up the crumbs that a correctly attired guest just dropped.)
It’s easy to lighten the formality of your outfit with a few minor adjustments, but it’s very difficult to turn the formality up. And, your outfit is your armor. Until you speak it is your personality and the means by which people will judge you. It might be all they have to go on if you don’t get a chance to chat, so what image do you want to portray?
For the fairer sex—and those of us who prefer to dress like them—it’s pretty easy to smarten up that fabulous black dress by restyling your shawl, switching your flats for Blahniks, and redoing your lippy.
Or vice versa if it’s the walk of shame. Easy.
If your parents were right about one (itsy-bitsy) thing in life, what would it be?
It was said by someone very clever, that as a teenager, his father knew practically nothing; however, by his twenties, his father had learned an enormous amount. The point being that you’re not supposed to agree with your parents when you’re a child. Then, you spend your adult life both realizing they were too often right and trying not to turn into them yourself. Oscar Wilde said that all women become their mothers (that is their tragedy) and no men do (that is theirs). So boys, listen to your mums, and girls, listen to your dads. [Editor's Note: Really?! Isn't this a John Mayer lyric?]
In my case, my mum was a saint and my dad, a secondhand car dealer. Both taught me to smile no matter what, and to live each day as though it were my last. I do both, because one day it will be.
Never knowingly underdress.
The thing is, if you arrive at a less formal party and you’re wearing a correct evening costume, you can simply remove the tie, undo a couple of buttons on the shirt, and roll up your sleeves. Easy. And, if everyone else is wearing suits, they will have just the faintest concern that they didn’t read the invitation and maybe you’ve got it right. Or, they’ll think you’re off to a smarter party afterwards. (If, however, it’s black tie and you show up in jeans, you will be handed a broom and instructed to pick up the crumbs that a correctly attired guest just dropped.)
It’s easy to lighten the formality of your outfit with a few minor adjustments, but it’s very difficult to turn the formality up. And, your outfit is your armor. Until you speak it is your personality and the means by which people will judge you. It might be all they have to go on if you don’t get a chance to chat, so what image do you want to portray?
For the fairer sex—and those of us who prefer to dress like them—it’s pretty easy to smarten up that fabulous black dress by restyling your shawl, switching your flats for Blahniks, and redoing your lippy.
Or vice versa if it’s the walk of shame. Easy.
If your parents were right about one (itsy-bitsy) thing in life, what would it be?
It was said by someone very clever, that as a teenager, his father knew practically nothing; however, by his twenties, his father had learned an enormous amount. The point being that you’re not supposed to agree with your parents when you’re a child. Then, you spend your adult life both realizing they were too often right and trying not to turn into them yourself. Oscar Wilde said that all women become their mothers (that is their tragedy) and no men do (that is theirs). So boys, listen to your mums, and girls, listen to your dads. [Editor's Note: Really?! Isn't this a John Mayer lyric?]
In my case, my mum was a saint and my dad, a secondhand car dealer. Both taught me to smile no matter what, and to live each day as though it were my last. I do both, because one day it will be.
Simon Collins