Well, Ted, I wear plaid. This stems from my upbringing in Wisconsin, back in the days before the yuppies invaded....

It is an interesting question, though. My punk rocker sons often smell rather "ripe" when they're performing, but then so does everybody in the room. They're middle-class kids, experimenting with living on the streets, riding the rails, and all that. Now they're getting a bit older, and they're starting to smell better. I think there have always been performers and other artists who believed in having a disheveled look, that this was somehow more "artistic" than bathing.

Bill Staines has the most casual appearance of any folk performer I've seen. He wears rumpled clothes and battered boots, and his guitar looks like it's seen combat. He smells OK, though, and his appearance makes you feel very comfortable.

-Joe Offer-