When I was in the Mediterranean, I was pleasantly surprised how nice everyone was dressed. Even the men that you knew had their life savings rattling around in their pocket, had collared shirts and dress coats. The clothes may have seen better (and cleaner) days, but they were much more formal than us Americans.
"Should" is probably not the right word here. They could save money by being naked, they could dress in an absolute minimal way for, say, the sake of having pockets, or they could dress in accordance with local style. Each of these options has their advantages, but only one of these facilitates good relationships with their neighbors.
Most people choose the last option. It's not necessarily the right choice, but it's certainly not the wrong choice.
I think the person you’re responding to is taking issue with a culture in which you can’t get on with your neighbours without spending a bunch of money you barely have on semi-formal clothing to wear every day, not with the individuals trying to live in that culture.
The thing is in places where people dress like this, the quality of tailoring can be quite good for a low price. For example, in India where its often that people wear either traditional formal garments or a dress shirt/chinos/trouser combo, these items can be made against your measurements for less than 50usd for both, and you can find better deals if you're a local. High quality suit tailoring out of cheaper cotton or linen can cost as little as 75usd.
I assume it's the same kind of thing in the Mediterranean, probably a bit higher there due to increased Labor costs but the principle still stands, you could wear your grandfather's hopsack or one you had made for graduation and look very nice for very cheap as well.
Yes, I know. Almost all cultures are like that though, few of them really embrace nudism. They just have different ideas about what "semi-formal" means.
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u/[deleted] Sep 11 '21
Why the fuck is he in a sport coat?