Matt Yglesias

Embrace the Pocket Square

Like Spencer Ackerman I only rarely read GQ and when I do the results are invariably disturbing. The latest issue exhorts me to, among other things, “embrace the pocket square.” I, for one, refuse to embrace the pocket square. Rep Thaddeus McCotter (R-MI) embraces the pocket square and I’m comfortable leaving it to him:

And then look at this slideshow about how I should dress at work:

• $3,500 suit.
• $760 shoes.
• $360 sunglasses.
• $4,400 watch.
• $515 wallet.
• $1,500 messenger bag.

Who buys this stuff? I’m hardly impoverished but can’t imagine spending that kind of money on this stuff. Even John McCain’s shoes don’t cost $760 and he owns so many houses he can’t keep track of them all. If there’s really a market for this kind of thing, then we definitely need to make the tax code more steeply progressive at the high end.