Dapper Little Dudes Learn How To Mind Ps And Qs In A 'Gentleman’s Club'

A group of boys in Charleston, South Carolina, are learning how to make manners their strong suit.

Every Wednesday, 60 students at Memminger Elementary School dress up in ties, bowties, button-downs and blazers for a “Gentleman’s Club” -- a program that teaches boys the power of politeness with the motto, “Look good, feel good, do good.”

Raymond Nelson, the school’s student support specialist, thought of the idea last winter break when he was trying to think of a creative way to teach life lessons to at-risk youths. That’s when he remembered a similar program he was in when he was a child in which kids wore their Sunday best during the week, and decided to implement it at his school.

"When was the last time you saw someone fighting in a tuxedo?" Nelson told WCSC News.

The club teaches boys, who range from first to fifth grade, social etiquette that will help them succeed such as how to shake hands, make eye contact, hold open doors and address elders.

Nelson also keeps a stash of slacks, vests, jackets and ties for kids who can’t afford their own.

"I know a lot of them struggle because a lot of them don't have men at home, so I just want them to grow up and think of the things that I teach them," Nelson told WCSC News.

According to a study conducted by California State University, Northridge, clothes may in fact make the man. The study found that people who dressed more formally are more open-minded and abstract thinkers. They are able to consume events, people and objects more broadly and holistically, allowing them to think outside of the box.

“Putting on formal clothes makes us feel powerful, and that changes the basic way we see the world,” Abraham Rutchick, one of the authors of the study, told The Atlantic.

The term “dress for success” has never looked so good.