A dictionary of Proverbs (Oxford Paperback Reference)

From CLOGS to clogs is only three generations
Said to be a Lancashire proverb. Similar to from SHIRTSLEEVES to shirtsleeves in three generations. The clog, a shoe with a thick wooden sole, was commonly used by factory and other manual workers in the north of England. Cf. 1700 DRYDEN Wife of Bath in Fables Ancient & Modern 493 Seldom three descents continue good. 1721 J. KELLY Scottish Proverbs 312 The Father buys, the Son biggs [builds], The Grandchild sells, and his Son thiggs [begs].

• 
  1871 Notes & Queries 4th Ser. VII. 472 ‘From clogs to clogs is only three generations.’ A Lancashire proverb, implying that, however rich a poor man may eventually become, his great-grandson will certainly fall back to poverty and ‘clogs’. 1938 R. G. COLLINGWOOD Principles of Art v. But the poor, who are always the last guardians of a tradition, knew that the curse of God rested on idleness, and spoke of three generations from clogs to clogs. 1993 ‘C. AIRD’ Going Concern (1994) vii. 51 Claude Miller, Chairman and Managing Director of Chern-woods’ Dyestuffs, was a living exemplification of the old saw about it being ‘only three generations from clogs to clogs.’ His father hadn’t been the man his father was and, worse still, Claude Miller wasn’t even the man his father had been. ■family; proverty
  

close see when ONE door shuts, another opens. cloth see CUT your coat according to your cloth.
CLOTHES make the man
Cf. Gk. the man is his clothing; ERASMUS Adages ‘Divitiae’ vestis virum
facit.
aa 1400 Prov. Wisdom 1. 59 in Archiv (1893) XC. 245 Euer maner and clothyng makyth man. c 1445 Peter Idley’s Instructions to his Son (1935) I. 82 Ffor clothyng oft maketh man. 1591 J. FLORIO Second Fruits 115 Though manners makes, yet apparell shapes. 1617 R. GREENE Alcida B3 The Hood makes not the Monke, nor the apparrell the man. 1836 CARLYLE Sartor I. V. Clothes gave us individuality, distinctions, social polity. Clothes have made men of us. 1933 J. HILTON Lost Horizon 3 Still, it did happen —and it goes some way to show that clothes make the man, doesn’t it? 2001 Washington Post 17 Dec. C12 Gem of the day (credit Mark Twain): Clothes make the man. Naked people have little or no influence on society. ■ appearance, significant; dress