Fratting 101: Dressing for Success (Lesson #20)
October 2, 2008 | 1 Comments | Uncategorized
Day to day dressing for a fratdaddy? It doesn’t give even the most amateur fratter cause for a second thought. As long as you’ve got the khakis, the conservative jeans, the polos, the Oxfords, the fraternity/sorority party t-shirts, and the Topsiders or driving mocs, you’re good to go every day when you get up to go to class (and by class, we mean lunch at the club and then the liquor store). But what happens when something more formal is required? As of late, we’ve seen a couple of disturbing trends, which we will herein address.
First of all, the classy fratdaddy has a wide selection of neckties at his disposal. However, those ties need to conform to certain rules. We need not go over these rules again here, as they have already been discussed in detail.
One thing that we would like to immediately address is the sad, but widespread, idea that a blazer and khakis with a shirt and tie is acceptable for all occasions requiring anything over casual dress. Although once confined to younger, naive fratdaddies, we have seen this spread all the way to some post-grad fratters. There’s really no simpler way to say this: if you look like a pledge, people are going to treat you like a pledge. Do you want to be the post-grad fratter that’s getting coffee for the slightly-older-post-grad-fratter who knows how to buy a real suit? Then wear your football game pledge gear to that internship that your dad got you. Want to be entrusted with more than cream/sugar ratios? Get some suits.
What kind of suits? First of all, when it comes to suits, you get what you pay for. If you go to S&K in the mall and get the 2 for $200 special, you will look special. Special in the same way that a douchebag is special when he is able to play Halo 3 for 2 straight days without sleeping, subsisting merely on Grapico and Hot Pockets. The best place to get real suits are local haberdasheries that focus on fine men’s clothing. These establishments will actually tailor suits…which is important, because part of having a good suit is having a good fitting suit. Will it cost more? Yes it will. Have a problem with that? Go eat some ramen noodles and join the Peace Corps. Cost is no object when it comes to assembling the proper fratty wardrobe.
Like all fratty clothing, conservative is the key word with patters and colors. You should have some lighter suits for summer time (advanced fratters: a seersucker suit is a must if you’re going to be attending a mid-summer outdoor wedding) and some darker (especially deep navy) for fall/winter. You should have at least one sharp black suit, and a subtle pin-stripe is alright as well. What is a subtle pin-stripe? Imagine this, minus the assault rifle and the vest:
What is not a subtle pin-stripe?
See the difference? If it’s closer to our friend Chauncy in the immediate pervious picture than it is to 007 in the first picture, leave it on the rack for the 17 year old with the Panic at the Disco fetish to wear to prom.
It’s not a hard lesson, but it’s one that some fratdaddies ignore…much to their detriment. You know you have your casual wardrobe in order. Make sure your more formal attire is up to muster as well.
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