Hadley Arkes wonders if dressing down isn’t immoral

A PHOTOGRAPHER caught the scene, on a street in London, for the New York Times: a couple in their thirties were encamped for the evening on the sidewalk opposite Westminster Abbey, prepared to live that night on the streets for the sake of being present for every moment, the next day, of the funeral of Princess Diana. What the photographer caught—and the editors noted—was that the man had with him, on a makeshift valet, the suit and shirt he would wear the next day. Apparently there was no tolerance, in his own mind, for the flippant and the casual—and apparently no doubt that his dress reflected his judgment on the solemnity of the occasion.

In that reading of the situation, he reflected the sense of things that pervaded the British public throughout the week. The public wanted something emphatically public and communal—and it would not brook the McDonald’s version. It wanted High Church, with the presence of the Queen and the trappings that marked dignity, expressed reverence, conveyed respect.

About the Author

Hadley Arkes

Hadley Arkes is the founder and director of the James Wilson Institute on Natural Rights and the American Founding.

Featured Tags

A PHOTOGRAPHER caught the scene, on a street in London, for the New York Times: a couple in their thirties were encamped for the evening on the sidewalk opposite Westminster Abbey, prepared to live that night on the streets for the sake of being present for every moment, the next day, of the funeral of Princess Diana. What the photographer caught—and the editors noted—was that the man had with him, on a makeshift valet, the suit and shirt he would wear the next day. Apparently there was no tolerance, in his own mind, for the flippant and the casual—and apparently no doubt that his dress reflected his judgment on the solemnity of the occasion.

In that reading of the situation, he reflected the sense of things that pervaded the British public throughout the week. The public wanted something emphatically public and communal—and it would not brook the McDonald’s version. It wanted High Church, with the presence of the Queen and the trappings that marked dignity, expressed reverence, conveyed respect.