Dress is a very foolish thing, and yet it is a very foolish thing for a man not to be well-dressed, according to his rank and way of life; the difference in dress between a man of sense and a fop is, that a fop values himself upon his dress, and the man of sense laughs at it, at the same time that he knows he must not neglect it. We should not attempt to rival or to excel a fop in dress, but it is necessary to dress to avoid singularity and ridicule. Great care should be taken to be always dressed like the reasonable people of our age in the place where we are, whose dress is never spoken of one way or another, as neither too negligent or too much studied.

Dress, insignificant as some people may think it, is an object worthy of some attention; for we cannot help forming some opinion of a man’s sense and character from his dress. All affectation in dress implies a flaw in the understanding. Men of sense carefully avoid any particular character in their dress; they are accurately clean for their own sake, but all the rest is for the sake of other people. Of the two, a young fellow should be rather too much than too little dressed; the excess of that side will wear off with a little age and reflection; but if he is negligent at twenty years of age, he will be a sloven at forty, and stink at fifty. When we are once well-dressed for the day, we should think no more of it afterwards, and we should avoid stiffness, but should appear as easy and natural as if we had no clothes on.» Chesterfield.

Quoted from: The Parents’ Friend; Or Extracts The Principal Works on Education. Vol. II. Philadelphia, 1803: 343f.