3 ms·

I think he might be refering to tendencies some people have to look at accessories to get hints at a person. For instance it is an old people’s saying in Japan

by hrktb 6y ago

I think he might be refering to tendencies some people have to look at accessories to get hints at a person. For instance it is an old people’s saying in Japan to look at someone’s shoes to know if they are rich/value good objects (the basis of that was that poor/undiscerning people would have poor shoes maintenance, or plain bad shoes). Or you would tell someone’s rank in a company by the amount of stuff he (was about men, yes) was carrying every morning (basis was higher ranked people would have less manual roles) Of course these saying become pointless and people find other stupid stuff to look at to rank other people on a scale. But yeah, in my short experience it’s a thing people train to do, and is valued as useful skill. Also as people tend to dress rather uniformly, so you need a decent amount of effort to stand out without being flashy, which means trying to prove good taste with exotic and expensive but plain looking goods, that you justify owning by touting their good quality and not their high price.

3pt14159 6y ago
Social signalling is important. I fully admit that. I wear completely different clothes when I'm meeting a minister of Canada than when I'm hanging out at a think tank beers night. That said, I think there is a correlation between the amount of social signalling one must do to be successful in a society and the amount of wealth that that society allocates to those that are capable of navigating organizations. It's one of the reasons I think the tech sector is mostly jeans and sneakers. Fancy shoes don't mean you're capable of knowing what a gin index is or when to use it. While I have many qualms with modern tech, this is not one of them.
- watwut 6y ago
  You can wear jeans and sneakers in tech, but suit and cravate makes you suspect.
  - Zippogriff 6y ago
    The right jeans and sneakers (and hoodie, and "tech pants", et c., et c.) can even help. There's definitely a techie look, and it's not the same as poor-people/low-class clothes (which some of the same categories of items can fall into, like jeans and sneakers).
    - wincy 6y ago
      I've heard Arc'teryx is all the rage in SV? Is that true? Out here in the midwest the only person I've seen wearing it is a hipster doctor of mine.
      - Zippogriff 6y ago
        I think any expensive, unnecessarily-rugged-for-what-you-actually-do outdoor clothing counts, but yes, that name comes up a lot. I think it should be regarded as a mid-prestige brand to wear, for tech fashion, above, say, REI store brand, which is at the bottom edge of (and perhaps hanging somewhat over) acceptably hip. The top-end you probably can't find stocked in normal outdoors stores in the US (they're invariably European). Ideally your rain jacket is appropriate for weeks-long alpine or warmer-weather arctic expeditions, and costs at least $250. It should pack down unbelievably small so you can excuse/brag-about the expense as an expression of "minimalism". You wear it on your $1000 bike for your 2km commute to the coffee shop to work on your MacBook. Shoes should be ready for many kilometers of hard, high-performance trail running, and should have been priced to match. Or else rock climbing or bouldering. No activity is more hip-tech-culture-approved and laudable than rock climbing, at least for now (the trends come and go). There's that stuff, then there's the hipster-mimicking tech-fashion sect in $200 Japanese selvedge jeans and $300ish Red Wing Heritage workboots. There's plenty of overlap and mixing of the styles, though. Don't forget the right hoodie. If the aglets aren't metal and the zipper's not a heavy, smooth-but-crunchy-feeling YKK, you've screwed up. If in doubt, just shop REI and Patagonia. Little they stock will be too far off the mark.
- hrktb 6y ago
  I’d say we shifted our signaling to laptop stickers, Vessi snickers or “life long” classic style worker boots that were only used to go from and to the office in the old times. I kinda like some attention is still on shoes, somewhat.

by hrktb 6y ago

3pt14159 6y ago

Social signalling is important. I fully admit that. I wear completely different clothes when I'm meeting a minister of Canada than when I'm hanging out at a think tank beers night. That said, I think there is a correlation between the amount of social signalling one must do to be successful in a society and the amount of wealth that that society allocates to those that are capable of navigating organizations. It's one of the reasons I think the tech sector is mostly jeans and sneakers. Fancy shoes don't mean you're capable of knowing what a gin index is or when to use it. While I have many qualms with modern tech, this is not one of them.

watwut 6y ago
You can wear jeans and sneakers in tech, but suit and cravate makes you suspect.
- Zippogriff 6y ago
  The right jeans and sneakers (and hoodie, and "tech pants", et c., et c.) can even help. There's definitely a techie look, and it's not the same as poor-people/low-class clothes (which some of the same categories of items can fall into, like jeans and sneakers).
  - wincy 6y ago
    I've heard Arc'teryx is all the rage in SV? Is that true? Out here in the midwest the only person I've seen wearing it is a hipster doctor of mine.
    - Zippogriff 6y ago
      I think any expensive, unnecessarily-rugged-for-what-you-actually-do outdoor clothing counts, but yes, that name comes up a lot. I think it should be regarded as a mid-prestige brand to wear, for tech fashion, above, say, REI store brand, which is at the bottom edge of (and perhaps hanging somewhat over) acceptably hip. The top-end you probably can't find stocked in normal outdoors stores in the US (they're invariably European). Ideally your rain jacket is appropriate for weeks-long alpine or warmer-weather arctic expeditions, and costs at least $250. It should pack down unbelievably small so you can excuse/brag-about the expense as an expression of "minimalism". You wear it on your $1000 bike for your 2km commute to the coffee shop to work on your MacBook. Shoes should be ready for many kilometers of hard, high-performance trail running, and should have been priced to match. Or else rock climbing or bouldering. No activity is more hip-tech-culture-approved and laudable than rock climbing, at least for now (the trends come and go). There's that stuff, then there's the hipster-mimicking tech-fashion sect in $200 Japanese selvedge jeans and $300ish Red Wing Heritage workboots. There's plenty of overlap and mixing of the styles, though. Don't forget the right hoodie. If the aglets aren't metal and the zipper's not a heavy, smooth-but-crunchy-feeling YKK, you've screwed up. If in doubt, just shop REI and Patagonia. Little they stock will be too far off the mark.
hrktb 6y ago
I’d say we shifted our signaling to laptop stickers, Vessi snickers or “life long” classic style worker boots that were only used to go from and to the office in the old times. I kinda like some attention is still on shoes, somewhat.