Of course not in a courtroom. That’s not “most formal situations” but rather almost literally a contest to publicly display willingness to conform to elite norms and generally to submit.
Can you elaborate on this? It seems obviously wrong to me.
I also don’t understand how wearing Vibrams with a suit to a formal occasion signals anything but lack of fashion sense and being unaware of social norms. I mean, sure, if you’re in charge, you can wear whatever you want, but if you’re not in charge, someone seeing you wear footwear that doesn’t go with the clothes will just think you don’t know how to dress appropriately.
It’s a matter of how far you push it. It wouldn’t belong at a funeral or an opera, but it works well in any situation where a suit would be desirable but not close to mandatory. You want to signal awareness but lack of fear, not insensitivity. Vibrams aren’t something that someone could wear by mistake, or out of carelessness. Pushing things somewhat farther, you could be formally dressed with a very conspicuous fake tattoo.
I’m wondering how much the vibrams + business suit works because you’re dealing with geeks, so that they’re responsive to a weird/cool/potentially practical combination—something which I don’t think would go over well with mainstream bankers.
It works with a variety of types, not just geeks, as do the fake tattoos. It might not work with heirarchy climbing types, especially with the fearful types who climb a little way up a heirarchy and then sit there unable to go further, but I think its frequently a mistake to have anything to do with such people anyway except when absolutely necessary. You can’t influence their behavior with ideas, friendship or passion, only with fear of being ostracized or (to a much lesser extent) penalized.
Ew. I really hope no one seriously does that. Especially in a courtroom.
Of course not in a courtroom. That’s not “most formal situations” but rather almost literally a contest to publicly display willingness to conform to elite norms and generally to submit.
Can you elaborate on this? It seems obviously wrong to me.
I also don’t understand how wearing Vibrams with a suit to a formal occasion signals anything but lack of fashion sense and being unaware of social norms. I mean, sure, if you’re in charge, you can wear whatever you want, but if you’re not in charge, someone seeing you wear footwear that doesn’t go with the clothes will just think you don’t know how to dress appropriately.
It’s a matter of how far you push it. It wouldn’t belong at a funeral or an opera, but it works well in any situation where a suit would be desirable but not close to mandatory. You want to signal awareness but lack of fear, not insensitivity. Vibrams aren’t something that someone could wear by mistake, or out of carelessness. Pushing things somewhat farther, you could be formally dressed with a very conspicuous fake tattoo.
I’m wondering how much the vibrams + business suit works because you’re dealing with geeks, so that they’re responsive to a weird/cool/potentially practical combination—something which I don’t think would go over well with mainstream bankers.
It works with a variety of types, not just geeks, as do the fake tattoos. It might not work with heirarchy climbing types, especially with the fearful types who climb a little way up a heirarchy and then sit there unable to go further, but I think its frequently a mistake to have anything to do with such people anyway except when absolutely necessary. You can’t influence their behavior with ideas, friendship or passion, only with fear of being ostracized or (to a much lesser extent) penalized.