|
When I appear clothed in white, a startling accent in the midst of a
sombre multitude in mid-winter, the most conspicuous object there, I am
not ashamed, not ill at ease, but serene and content, because my conspicuousness
is not of an offensive sort; it is not an insult, and cannot affront any
eye, nor affront anybody's sense of propriety. As for black clothes, my aversion for them is incurable. |
 AI image created by Barbara Schmidt |
| I talked in a snow-white fulldress, swallow-tail
and all, and dined in the same. It's a delightful impudence. I think I will
call it my dontcareadam suit. But in the case of the private dinner I will
always ask permission to wear it first saying: "Dear Madam, may I come
in my dontcareadams?" - quoted in My Father, Mark Twain by Clara Clemens |
 Illustration from NEW YORK HERALD, 15 February 1907 |
 Photo from NEW YORK HERALD, 15 February 1907 |
I have found that when a man reaches the advanced age of 71 years as
I have, the continual sight of dark clothing is likely to have a depressing
effect upon him. Light-colored clothing is more pleasing to the eye and
enlivens the spirit. Now, of course, I cannot compel every one to wear
such clothing just for my especial benefit, so I do the next best thing
and wear it myself. This suit, I may say, is the uniform of the Ancient and
Honorable Order of Purity and Perfection, of which organization I am president,
secretary, treasurer and sole member. I may add that I don't know of any
one else who is eligible.You see, when a man gets to be 71, as I am, the
world begins to look somber and dark. I believe we should do all we can
to brighten things up and make ourselves look cheerful. You can't do that
by wearing black, funereal clothes.And why shouldn't a man wear white?
It betokens purity and innocence. I'm in favor of peek-a-boo waists and
décolleté costumes. The most beautiful costume is the human
skin, but since it isn't conventional or polite to appear in public in
that garb along, I believe in wearing white.I don't know anything more
hideous or disgusting in men's attire than the black clawhammer coat.
A group of men thus adorned remind me more of a flock of crows than anything
else. About the most becoming get up I ever saw in my life was out in
the Sandwich Islands thirty years ago, where a native who wanted to appear
at this best usually appeared in a pair of eyeglasses. |
| I am considered eccentric because I wear white clothes both winter and
summer. I am eccentric, then, because I prefer to be clean in the matter
of raimant -- clean in a dirty world; absolutely the only cleanly-clothed
human being in all Christendom north of the Tropics. And that is what I
am. All clothing gets dirty in a single day -- as dirty as one's hands would
get in that length of time if one washed them only once; a neglect which
any lady or gentleman would scorn to be guilty of. All the Christian world
wears dark colored clothes; after the first day's wear they are dirty, and
they continue to get dirtier and dirtier, day after day, and week after
week, to the end of their service. Men look fine in their black dress-clothes
at a banquet, but often those dress-suits are rather real estate than personal
property; they carry so much soil that you could plant seeds in them and
raise a crop. - Autobiography of Mark Twain, Vol. 3 (2015) |
Recommended
book - MARK TWAIN: MAN IN WHITE
available from amazon.com
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