Words Worth Noting - October 1, 2025

“There’s no standard dress code for events any more, which always leaves me wondering: Is it better to overdress or underdress? At a film opening recently, two guys wearing baseball caps and chore jackets were the coolest people in the room. But the few times I’ve gone casual for an event, I’ve worried that I came off as impertinent at worst and out of place at best. Is there a right way to be underdressed? — Rachel, Brooklyn/ This is like ‘Hamlet,’ the S.N.L. version. You can just imagine a host wandering around a set crying, ‘to overdress or underdress, that is the question?’ as they beat their breast and rend their doublet. In truth, there are two camps here. On one side, there are those who hew to what could be called the school of Coco Chanel. The famous French designer believed it was always better to be underdressed and was fond of issuing such maxims as ‘Elegance is refusal’ and ‘Before you leave the house, look in the mirror and take one thing off.’ On the other side are the heirs of Iris (Apfel), the geriatric influencer who died earlier this year. She lived her life according to the conviction that more is more: more prints, more bracelets, more fun. Also in this camp is the designer Christian Siriano, who just made the purple pantsuit Oprah wore for her speech at the Democratic National Convention. ‘I truly feel that it is always better to be overdressed than underdressed,’ he said when I asked. ‘I’m a designer who loves the glamour of it all, so for me there really isn’t a right way to be underdressed unless you are actually laying by the pool or at the beach.’ Even then, he said, the look should include ‘a fabulous big hat and bag.’ As with most belief systems, however, the choice between over- or underdressing is not really about which option is objectively better or worse; it’s about what is right for you.”

New York Times August 26, 2024 [https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/26/style/under-over-dressed-events.html] (and more from the bottomless navel of relativism)