COMELY not gaudy

Meaning & Analysis

One's attire and appearance should be attractive and pleasing (comely) but not ostentatious or tastelessly showy (gaudy).

Insights

Substance over Style

The proverb serves as a broader guide for conduct and character, advocating for genuine, understated excellence over loud, superficial displays of virtue or talent. It suggests that true quality does not require ostentatious advertisement.

Principle of Propriety

It reflects a principle of social decorum, valuing graceful appropriateness and good taste above attention-seeking behavior. It advises one to fit in elegantly rather than stand out garishly.

Critique of Materialism

The proverb can be interpreted as a call for mindful consumption and a rejection of materialism. It encourages valuing lasting quality and timeless elegance over fleeting, flashy trends.

Social Class and Taste

This proverb reflects early modern English social ideals, particularly the tension between aristocratic extravagance and the emerging bourgeois and Puritan values of modest, tasteful display. Shakespeare's parallel advice, 'rich, not gaudy', encapsulates the desire to project status through quality and refinement rather than ostentatious vulgarity.

The Golden Mean

The proverb champions the classical virtue of the 'golden mean'—a balance between two extremes. It advocates for an aesthetic and ethical middle ground, avoiding both neglect (uncomeliness) and excessive ornamentation (gaudiness), promoting a principle of measured elegance.

Psychology of Aesthetics

Psychologically, the proverb suggests that true self-worth is reflected in understated confidence, while gaudiness can signal insecurity or a need for external validation. It prioritizes intrinsic quality over superficial attention-seeking.

Rhetorical Devices

Antithesis

The proverb is built on a sharp contrast between 'comely' (positive, tasteful) and 'gaudy' (negative, excessive), making its prescriptive message clear and impactful.

Brevity and Parallelism

Its power lies in its extreme brevity and balanced structure. This concise, parallel form makes it a memorable and easily applicable rule of thumb.

modestyelegancetasteappearanceunderstatementpropriety

Analyzed with gemini-2.5-pro on July 25, 2025

Transcription

Quotations

Let thy attire be comely, not gorgeous.

— 1615, WELDE, Janua Ling., 179, p. 12

Shee knowes the vse of Apparell.. making this her Impreze: Comely, not Gaudy.

— 1631, BRATHWAITE, Eng. Gentlew. A Gentlew., s. Ggiv

Shakespeare Citations

Costly thy habit as thy purse can buy.. rich, not gaudy.

— Ham, I.iii

Cross References

See App., p. 438.

Related Proverbs

P78 Take PART of the pelf when the pack is a dealing 90.7%M25 She is a good MAID, but for thought, word, and deed 90.6%G313 GOOD is good but better carries it 90.5%G63 Where there are GENTLES there are aye off-fallings¹ 90.4%D598 DRINK but¹ bread makes all the town astir (house ado) 90.3%P85 If the PARTRIDGE had the woodcock's thigh, 'twould be the best bird that ever did fly 90.3%D570 He will not put off his DOUBLET (clothes) before he goes to bed 90.3%H750 Better one HOUSE filled than two spilled 90.2%M1008 MISERY shows the man what he is 90.2%G120 GIVE and be blessed, take away and be accursed 90.1%G189 GOD has provided a remedy for every disease 90.1%G334 To brag of many GOOD MORROWS 90.0%C935 CUSTOM without reason is but an ancient error 89.9%I40 ILL today and worse tomorrow 89.9%H17 His HAIR grows through his hood 89.8%H485 Better my HOG dirty home than no hog at all 89.7%M406 Whatsoever chances to one MAN may happen likewise to all men 89.7%V12 VALOR can do little without discretion 89.7%H206 Pull down your HAT on the wind's side 89.7%D344 DINNERS cannot be long where dainties want 89.6%

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