It's been written a million times that there's a military-civilian divide in America. The severity of the divide is overblown, the Center for a New American Security's Andrew Exum writes, but nevertheless, you can still see it, like in The Washington Post's story about a fashion consultant who gives a week-long course to officers and senior noncommissioned officers leaving the military for civilian life. Katherine Boyle reports some tips from image consultant and tailor Sofio Barone:

1. Stop saying “sir.”

2. Slouch just enough.

3. Banish acronyms.

4. Replace medals and ribbons with pocket squares.

What this illuminates is not that military people think its totally normal to walk around with medals tacked on to their T-shirts, because they don't. What is shows is the real reason it's hard to transition to civilian life: People think you're a cartoon character.

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Elspeth Reeve