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What Happened to Clothes?
In the prophetic movie Idiocracy (watch the key part here! – NSFW), all the idiots in the future wear Crocs. The writer said, “I thought the worst thing that would come true was everyone wearing Crocs.” Life imitates humor.
From bottom to top: once upon a time, not so very long ago, people wore hats. All people — from dock workers to railway-layers — wore hats. It was a part of being fully dressed. Indeed, it was a reflection on the person in every respect: class, job, status, etc.
That was a long time ago, of course. Daily wear of hats was abandoned by most people during my lifetime.
Today I noticed that even in my straight-laced orthodox Jewish community where people wear suit jackets (and usually hats) all the time, classy footwear has been totally abandoned. Gone are most formal shoes. Black sneakers are common. And so are – gasp – Crocs. For formal Sabbath wear.
The top went first. The bottoms are gone. And all the middle is on its way out. People wear pajamas in public.
Clothes still have meaning, they reflect on the wearer. But what people choose to wear today does not say anything good about the wearers. The emperor has clothes, but they make him look like he belongs in a movie that takes place in 2505.
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Shampoo:p
I think sandals are disgusting. You can see FEET in them! Feet are gross.
Oh, let me share a story from a friend that could be entitled “You know you’re a Mormon when …”
Some feet are less so… and sandals are usually more formal than flipping floppities which I have been trying to stay away from… and is hard for a native Floridian…
Flip flops are extra gross. Stanky feet + stanky flip flops = STANK.
My dad, born around 1914 — a working man through and through — wore a fedora his whole life. He looked very much out of place in 1950s Southern California.
Should I even bring up how people dress on airplanes these days???
In college and medical school, I generally dressed up for exams. Nothing fancy – just khakis and a button down shirt. But I always wore jeans and t-shirts otherwise.
Not sure exactly why – but I felt more sharp if I dressed as I was taking things seriously.
Reminds me of this George Costanza and Elaine Benes dialogue:
George: All bald people look good in hats.
Elaine: You should have lived in the twenties and thirties. You know men wore hats all the time then.
George: What a bald paradise that must have been. Nobody knew.
Elaine: Well, you can wear a hat all the time now. Who’s stopping you?
George: No, I can’t. What if I meet a woman? I’d always be worried about that first moment where I take it off and see that look of disappointment on her face.
I once had a co-worker disparagingly state he could identify a religious figure as “God’s mouthpiece” because that person was wearing a necktie. I mentioned that to a fellow worshiper who didn’t quite get the point. The next time my fellow worshiper wore a necktie himself he made sure to inform me he was wearing “God’s microphone”.
Women wore hats commonly, too, as can be seen in that New York photo. My mother-in-law, a New Yorker, never went anywhere without hat and gloves. My grandmother, born in the late 1880’s, told me that when she went to college she had two skirts: one for Sunday, the other an everyday skirt. She had four or five blouses . Every year she got a new skirt, which of course became the new Sunday skirt. I’m guessing that she had two pairs of shoes and probably one coat, because that was still the case for most of us until at least the 60’s. Women saved their clothing by changing into “house dresses.” Men had removable collars and cuffs so unless they were engaged in physical labor, they didn’t need to change their shirts daily. Their hats and suits lasted a long time.
When I look at my public elementary school photos taken in the 40’s and 50’s, I see children from blue-collar families dressed very well, and, by the way, no obesity. My school principal was transferred to an all-Black school–this was in Chicago in the mid 50’s–and she said she would start getting her new charges into shape by laying down a dress code (in those days that would have been “no jeans, no sneakers”) and I’m guessing their parents were happy about that. Different times.
The way they cram people in like sardines, I dress for comfort there and you won’t be stopping me from doing so even as I agree with the rest. Smoothing skirts to sit properly is impossible to do in such tiny space.
Thomas Sowell (born 1930) says that the crime rate in Harlem when he was a child was far lower than today. People could safely sleep on fire escapes or even in the park on hot summer nights, and nobody feared riding the subways at any hour of day or night.
You may have a point: The two dress shoe brands I used to wear were outsourced overseas and no longer fit comfortably at all. (I heard from a shoe salesman that at least part of the problem is that the new overseas factories did not get the old factories’ lasts but made their own with little attempt to be faithful to the designs.)
On the other hand, the trend away from dress shoes, hats, suits, etc began long before that.
I had to look up crocs. They don’t look like anything I’d care for, but I suppose I could give them a try. Probably I won’t. For all of my adult life I’ve worn only leather shoes, except for my spd bicycle shoes and shoes I’ve used on exercise equipment where street shoes aren’t allowed.
I don’t know how to go outside without putting on a cap or hat, though it has been quite a while since I’ve worn anything that could properly be called a hat. The caps are mostly baseball caps, but I have a few others, too. I sometimes order caps from a place in Warsaw, Poland, that makes them right.
A coworker at my last job (the only other person to wear a tie of the 1200 employees in the building) explained to people that he wore a suit and tie because he could – he was not working at a dirty menial labor job.
Oddly, I found suit and tie wear easier than “business casual.” Yes, it takes some work to build up the wardrobe (mostly with respect to color), but once in place it becomes easy to work with. With a couple of worsted wool suits in a limited color range (mine were all black, gray, and navy), Oxford cloth dress shirts that go with any of them (solid colors are easiest), and some ties in compatible colors, I could pull almost any combination out in the morning and have a presentable ensemble. I saw so many fashion fails when people went off-uniform – mismatched fabrics between top and bottom (particularly clashing fabric textures), mismatch between style of pants and shirt (dress wool pants with golf shirts particularly bug me), awful color combinations, mismatch between style of pants and type of shoe, etc. Too many variables when dressing outside the traditional business suit.
I did it once before I was married, but my wife remembers it. My genetics professor asked if I could teach a lab session for him when he needed to be away, so for the occasion I put on a plaid sports coat and sandals with socks. She hasn’t forgotten. Probably Fall 1969. It was not an approved mode of dress, but why should I let that stop me?
But if you wear a skirt, then nothing touches the not-so-clean floor of the not-so-clean aircraft lavatory should you need to avail yourself.
One has to wear a cap when making hay. Partly to keep the hay out of your hair and partly so you can put green leaves under it to keep your head cool because of the evaporation from the leaves.
Perhaps part of the problem is that few have the financial ability to build up the necessary wardrobe.
I’ve never used the airplane bathrooms so that’s not something I’ve ever given much thought. But I’m always somewhat paranoid about my derrier hanging out my skirt after sitting down. I always smooth it sitting and when getting up.
It’s become extremely difficult to find attractive (not clumpy…..I hate clumpy, ugly shoes) women’s shoes of any type, especially in narrow sizes. Even Nordstrom doesn’t stock many of them any more. I don’t like buying shoes online, but I’ve done it when I’m desperate, buying only brands that I know usually fit me.
Last spring I bought 2 pairs of nice sandals at Dillard’s. Neither were narrows, but both are European brands. Those seem to run narrow, and thus fit my feet better.
That was my first take. Dressing like an adult is inauthentic, man.
European last shoes are designed to be narrower at the heel and wider at the toes, so they fit most people better than American last ones.
Literally, no. That said, if everyone slouches around in sweats and T-shirts with nasty slogans, it degrades the public square. The world isn’t your basement! Have some respect! Make an effort!
There’s no energy involved in a quick assessment of someone else’s comportment.
Is your shoe repair guy still working or is he gone?
I maintain that tie discomfort is mostly a sign that the shirt collar is too small. Too many men are still trying to wear the same shirt size they did when they were first fitted as a teenager. Almost every man needs a larger collar at age 35 than he did at age 17, often by a couple of inches.
FACT: Properly-sized shirt collars are important.
I don’t see a lot of sandals here in north Texas. Probably because there are too many hazards at ground level (snakes, spiders, fire ants, etc., plus stickers from various plants) to risk exposing your feet.