Tonight our intention is to discussion “fashion.”  After years of reading and exchanging ideas, at last we arrive at this topic.  My wife and kids might say, “It’s about time.”  I am fashion challenged as I’ve mentioned before.  By habit I have my mind on other things.  I dress to be comfortable and to avoid too much thought about making a fashionable selection for the day.

Perhaps the time has come for a change.  A few days ago while seated at my usual table here at Starbucks, I looked up from the page, at the individuals standing at the end of the counter waiting for their drinks to be ready for take out.  One gentlemen in particular was standing ram-rod straight, wearing a tope great coat, and had a neatly trimmed salt and pepper full beard.  The beard complemented his hair style.  He was sartorial.  I wondered what his story might be.  I was actually tempted to come up with an excuse to introduce myself.

I am having second thoughts about the importance of giving due attention to the apparel combination chosen for the day’s planned activities.  Not only does one derive satisfaction for one’s self, but what of all of those that we encounter in a day’s activities?  The individuals around us are more numerous than we might assume.

I propose a positive spin on the term: vanity.  To be vain is to have an awareness, usually an overweening concern for how we appear to others.  I am convinced that we all care how others perceive us.  Unless one lives as a hermit, one cares.  The appearance and the performance of our presence is reciprocally related.  Dress and performative presence are connected.  One dresses for the job and for the day.

I offer for your consideration a few words from Nietzsche about vanity:

That life may be fair to behold,
Its game may be well played;
For that purpose however it needs good actors.
Good actors, I’ve found in the vain ones.
They play! And wish people to be fond of beholding them.
—all their spirit is in this wish.
They represent themselves, they invent themselves;
In their neighborhood I like to look upon life
—-it cures me of melancholy.
Therefore
I am forbearing to the vain,
because they are physicians of my melancholy,
and keep me attached to man
as to a drama.

—Excerpt, Thus Spoke Zarathustra, No.43 Manly Prudence
by Friedrich Nietzsche

We ought never to pass up an opportunity to be entertained and transformed by a great tune.  I offer Carly Simon’s great song, You’re so Vain.

You’re So Vain

Son of a gun.

You walked into the party like you were walking onto a yacht
Your hat strategically dipped below one eye
Your scarf it was apricot

You had one eye in the mirror as you watched yourself gavotte
And all the girls dreamed that they’d be your partner
They’d be your partner, and…

You’re so vain, you probably think this song is about you
You’re so vain, I’ll bet you think this song is about you
Don’t you? Don’t you?

You had me several years ago when I was still quite naive
When you said that we made such a pretty pair
And that you would never leave

But you gave away the things you loved and one of them was me
I had some dreams, they were clouds in my coffee
Clouds in my coffee, and…

You’re so vain, you probably think this song is about you
You’re so vain, I’ll bet you think this song is about you
Don’t you? Don’t you? Don’t you?

I had some dreams they were clouds in my coffee
Clouds in my coffee, and…

You’re so vain, you probably think this song is about you
You’re so vain, I’ll bet you think this song is about you
Don’t you? Don’t you?

Well I hear you went up to Saratoga and your horse naturally won
Then you flew your Lear jet up to Nova Scotia
To see the total eclipse of the sun

Well you’re where you should be all the time
And when you’re not you’re with some underworld spy
Or the wife of a close friend, wife of a close friend, and…

You’re so vain, you probably think this song is about you
You’re so vain, I’ll bet you think this song is about you
Don’t you? Don’t you? Don’t you?

You’re so vain, you probably think this song is about you
You’re so vain, you probably think this song is about you
You’re so vain, bet you think this song is about you

“You’re So Vain” is a song written in 1971 by Carly Simon and released in November 1972. The song is a critical profile of a self-absorbed lover about whom Simon asserts “You’re so vain, you probably think this song is about you.” The title subject’s identity has long been a matter of speculation.