Being Normal

One thing I've always found pretty neat is Jane Austen-era collar-and-cravat combos – you know, like Colin Firth in Pride and Prejudice. Every so often I think of buying this getup and wearing it around. It's not that weird, I tell myself – at the end of the day, it's a white neckerchief on a white shirt.

But this is obviously lies. If I wore this in public in 2026, people would notice and question it. Which makes dressing like this (or any other kind of interesting way) a bundle of two preferences:

1) do I like how this style feels/looks?, and
2) do I like the amount of attention it would get me?

Similarly I have lived for a time in places where it's common for men to wear skirt-like wraps, and I have worn those wraps, and they are far more comfortable than pants.[^1] And then I have returned to pantsylvania and immediately ditched my wrap, because my desire to be normal is greater than my desire to be comfortable.

This is reasonable! You can very reasonably decide that, even though you like the style, the attention that goes with it isn't worth it for you. And therefore go back to wear khakis and plain-colored tshirts.

Of course, other people who would like to wear non-normative items but don't like being a cynosure will also constrict themselves as a result, and therefore the Overton window never expands, and we will remain collectively in the gutter. I therefore think it is an act of supererogation to dress (where possible) further towards the edge of weirdness that your personal comfort level allows, thereby nudging the window open, and encouraging the world towards freedom.

[^1]: cf David Foster Wallace on the Cool and Genitally Unsquishy American Tomorrow, skip to halfway down p.14, A key point..... Now that I look it up that whole essay basically prior-arts basically everything in this blogpost, oh well.