In defense of looking like shit

Or, why Senator Fetterman is doing something actually interesting and good

New dress norms for the Senate are not the sort of thing that you might expect to have an opinion on. In the news, however, is a new, more relaxed dress code for America’s upper house — and people are mad.

Saving you the chore of reading the commentary, the following from the NYPost is illustrative:

The Post is angry that Senator Fetterman, one of the most powerful individuals in the country, has his own idea of what to wear when at work. The bastard.

There’s a very interesting line of illiberalism that spouts from modern conservatives who love to shout about freedom when an act or right in question fits their personal ideology, and decline when it does not. Much of the criticism of the junior Senator from Pennsylvania flows neatly in this vein.

The comically large legislator from PA is doing a bit more than just making it possible to look human while in the Senate, he’s pushing back against dated dress norms that are used as a way to allow people to self-define as serious and credible even if they are not. It’s costume garb, adult playacting, and bullshit; hard and sharp dress codes are silly.

Let me explain. Suits and ties are not good. They are too hot, and too inflexible, and too much, all around. Do not blame my views on poor tailoring — I have had a custom suit made for me before and was once a believer in more formal attire. The former for my wedding and the latter because I was a child and wanted to be more grown up.

Later, however, I learned that the truly wealthy wear whatever they want and a suit does not an adult make. Even more, as I have become more aged my ability to do things simply for the sake of appearances has diminished from limited, to zero. This has turned from a happy slob into a more militant slacker. I demand the right to look like shit, and do not care if you do not approve.

The things that matter in a person — or colleague, more specifically — are ethics, work ability, and kindness. Not the ability to follow a dress code that is enforced simply thanks to institutional inertia. (One of the most useful critiques of conservatism is that it struggles to differentiate between bits of culture that are worth keeping because they are good, and those that it simply wants to keep as it fears change.)

If you want to know who wears a suit, I can write up a list of names for you: Vladimir Putin, Donald Trump, and Xi Jinping. Two of them are able to wear suits that fit, to their credit, but all three are big suit believers. And if for no other reasons than that we should applaud the Senate for realizing that norms can change, and often for the better.

(Long live tank tops!)