I Can Tell By Your Outfit

I Can Tell By Your Outfit

Recently I saw comments, many of them about the “costumes” that “Survival Instructors” wear, also included were the so called survival “types” , and you know what I mean, and who you are.
We all wear a costume of some sort. We may think we do not but we do. Even you.  Over the course of a year if you took a picture of yourself everyday you will see a pattern. Most do not recognize it as a costume, and that may be an extreme observation of your outfits, but a pattern will emerge.

All the years I was in the music biz you could tell who were the writers, the wanna be artists, the managers and producers the artists, music publishers. etc..
I was going to a lunch meeting , had never met the gentleman in my life, he started to tell what he would have on, I stopped him and said I would find him. I walked in the door of the place we were meeting in and looked around and went straight to his table. ” how the hell did you know it was me?” I could tell by his outfit. Designer jeans, a T shirt and a leather jacket, screamed music publisher.

Hunters, wear a certain kind garb, because thats what you need in the field. . Fishermen wear certain kinds of gear as well. Even the hats are a tip. Bankers wear a costume, as do most lawyers, a tie is mostly used except in the entertainment biz. Hikers wear certain gear, we see them all the time.
So it seems to me we shouldn't be surprised about the survival types wearing a certain look.
Many of us can spot a cop in plain clothes, even an unmarked car has tip offs .

Survival instructors carry knives on the belt, and other gear. Many have items on a chain around the neck, boots of a certain look, and head gear , from the do-rags to Aussie hats, to the baseball varients. Head bands , and a vest, a pack of some kind, and you can many times spot a survival kit. Some have more “style” that others, but it is a uniform of sorts, which is a costume. All military is  a costume.

The “dress” is a form of communication that says , in not so subtle ways sometimes , “this is what I am” . Many are very tactical looking, some are throwbacks to a different time, even hippy looking at times, leaning over the line into the outlaw biker look implying a dangerous look.

In my own case I have been called Indy Jones because of the fedora style hats I tend to wear. I am here to say I was wearing those hats long before the first Indy movie ever came out. I have worn other typs of hats , but then I am a hat nut anyway. I like the wool shits to the older looking cotton plaids and etc. That is my costume, and I have no problem with it. When I was in the music biz, I dressed the part of a music publisher and producer, manager etc.. I had no problem with it.

What we have today is a huge marketing agenda that exploits us in our choices, and really dictates what will be worn by your interests. Look at the desert bums, shorts, wide hat, many times a boonie type. They are all over the deserts. Not a thing wrong with that costume if that is what you think you should do and are comfy with it. Your costume may be in fact wrong for what you are doing but that is the image we have in mind. No one shows up at a survival class with a suit and tie. It could work , though, and maybe better than some of the costumes that look right.
Many suits are made of wool, and are pretty tough, have lots of pockets and some even come with a vest. Not a bad outfit for the field. Shoes might wrong, maybe.

Be it banker, salesman, real estate, carpenter, painter, , outdoorsman etc, we can tell by your outfit… That's ok. We can deal with it.
I can tell by your outfit. The costume works well in our society.

By Dude McLean

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