> about your fellows. The implication was that people who dressed sloppily
> didn't care about their fellows. A few people were rightly annoyed with
> that because they can't afford to dress like a dandy.
>
I think that is the correct implication. When I first came to this country I was surprised to see that the best dressed people were Black women, while most whites dressed like slobs (this was before the hip hop craze.) I made similar observations elsewhere: in Africa, Eastern Europe, Latin America....
Poor people tend to dress up well because dress is a message about a person who wears it. The message sent by dressing up is "I care how others perceive me, and I want to be perceived favorably, even though I may be poor." This is why poor people in many parts of the world pay much attention to their appearance and dress.
Casual dress, on the other hand send a message "I do not give shit how others perceive me, I wear what is most convenient to me." It as uniquely American phenomenon that cuts across social classes - both the "trailer trash" and the "middle class" express the same attitude, they differ only in the price tags of their clothing. This is the typical "I do not give a shit about anything but me, me, me" attitude that can be found in every aspect of this country's culture and society.
Another point - you seemingly do not like when people criticize forms of behavior that they find unacceptable when that behavior is found among the groups of people on "our" side. How is it different from the "but he is our thug" mind set of the Right?
Wojtek