Photo by Muffy Aldrich
The Modern Guide to The Thing Before Preppy

Tuesday, July 28, 2020

NBC News: 'The fun of getting dressed is gone.'

Sequestered at home since mid-March, many workers have adopted a new "work uniform" that... involves fewer high-heeled shoes, handbags, suits, ties and coats — and more loungewear and athleisure. 
- 'The fun of getting dressed is gone.' As consumers adjust to the pandemic, retailers feel the strain, NBC News  
<https://www.nbcnews.com/business/consumer/fun-getting-dressed-gone-consumers-adjust-pandemic-retailers-feel-strain-n1234868>

And added later: 
Denim sales have fallen by double digits in the past three months, compared with the same period last year, according to market research firm NPD Group. 
-  Goodbye, jeans. The pandemic is ushering in an era of comfort.  Washington Post
<https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/07/28/jeans-sales-leggings-pandemic/>

 

47 comments:

  1. Right. So, I wore a navy blazer, dress chinos, and tasseled loafers over a pressed button-down collar shirt to the dentist yesterday. It felt great being dressed (and masked) and out in the world for a little while. Decided to forgo a knit tie, however, given the expected sloppiness of the visit.

    Best Regards,

    Heinz-Ulrich

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    1. Sallying forth to the doctor today-same kit.

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    2. LOL..you have been reading my mail. Trip to internist, standard BDU aka Battle Dress Uniform..B2 Blazer - Starched Pocket Square, J Press OCBD, Ancient Madras Tie, Frayed Khakis, & Eyetie Loafers sans socks

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  2. Wearing my usual summer uniform of shorts and a polo shirt is as dressy as it gets for me these days. I cannot wait for the day I am able to wear a nice dress again!

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    1. I'm enjoying wearing house dresses and just ordered some more. Wish I had discovered them sooner.

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  3. Fun high heeled shoes is an oxymoron - lol! Thank goodness office formal has gone the way of the dinosaur. Nothing worse than pantyhose in August.

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    1. Nothing worse than pantyhose. Period. :)

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    2. Never understood women's high heeled shoes. It's obvious they turn walking into an exercise in awkwardness. Whoever thought elevating heels onto a platform the size of a dime was rational? They look particularly painful. And, it's not only the heels that get elevated, making women look like ducks. Quack shoes.

      I tried pantyhose once (do not ask why). Incredibly tight and constrictive. I felt as if I would break something if I walked, and if I sat down, I'd slide right off the chair.

      From a clothing and shoe perspective, always glad to be a guy.

      Aiken

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    3. Oh Aiken, you can't throw out that you tried pantyhose and forbid us from asking why - lol!

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    4. Aiken, I'll bite the bait along with Patsy! Do share!

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    5. Oh, the pantyhose incident must remain in the archive of things best left forgotten. Let’s just say that for a time in my life, I could have been the poster boy for doing things preppies would never even contemplate, let alone do. Thankfully, there are no photographs.

      Aiken

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    6. Can't stand pantyhose however they are a perfect slug deterrent when you cut them up and put your squash and eggplant in them that you haven't picked yet! It's sort of kooky but it works.

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  4. I am guessing that retail has suffered due to millions being laid off or furloughed, as well as due to people working from home.

    Some people still wear suits to the home office when necessary; I do. I'm torn, though, about whether to wear the shoes I normally wear with suits or flip flops when I know that no one is going to see them.

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  5. I also miss the days of dressing for work, but that's just me. I'm semmi-retired now. I like quality clothing and presenting myself well. I agree with Heinz-Ulrich...I still dress nicely in quality clothing, but I keep it a bit more casual, depending on where I'm headed. The kind of clothing I'm referring to is similar to what Muffy posts here. You can still be casual without looking like a slob or gym rat.

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  6. The thought of so many people not getting dressed and the pandemic of nudity is utterly terrifying.

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  7. The slobbing down of America. Yet another thing to blame on the pandemic.

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    1. This has happened for a while (pre-pandemic) here in Mid-Michigan. My husband and I call them the "Pajama People" - literally wearing pajamas to public places (unicorns, plaid, SpongeBob on adults, you name it). We often wonder if they have a special 'outside' set and a sleeping set, or if they wear the same set to bed? :-O

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    2. My cousin and I were talking one morning about the weather, as us old folk do and she said that it was so cold the day before, people at Walmart were wearing two pairs of pajamas.

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  8. I love the casual dress code I now embrace (nothing sloppy about it because I'm on Zoom almost every day). But I do admit to occasionally standing in my closet yearning to put on something a little more snazzy. On the whole, however, I think this pandemic has highlighted the material excesses many of us have and I, for one, keep questioning if everything I own really does "spark joy."

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  9. I miss getting dressed up and going out. But there's hardly anywhere to go, so my dressy clothes hang in the closet, sad and ignored.

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  10. ...and if you think this sloppiness and even slovenliness will somehow just “poof” and be gone, think tatts and unkempt facial hair.

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  11. In Gaudy Night Dorothy L. Sayers' character Harriet Vane mused that as people grow older they take greater pleasure in formality. I agree. I am of that generation that grew up in blazers or odd jackets and ties in school and then enjoyed a career that got underway when a navy 3/2 suit with a BB OCBD and a foulard tie were the uniform. So I find dressing up extremely natural and comfortable. I miss it. On Sunday for Zoom church at All Saints' Episcopal here in Austin I wore a navy blazer, grey tropical worsteds, a blue OCBD, Alden tassel loafers and belt, a navy repp tie with an orange bar stripe (school colors), and even a watch. It was fun.

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  12. Interesting, just the other day it was brought to my attention to buy stocks in 'athleisure' wear companies. Now I know why. I was taught to dress as if someone was coming to the door even if I knew no-one was coming over because, well, you never know. I still do this, pandemic or no pandemic. I don't play dress-up, I simply wear clothes that are presentable and appropriate. I have a feeling those mentioned in the article are the same people who would also wear sweatpants and t-shirts to the office if the could. They only play "dress-up" because they have to. I mean, when I am on a Zoom meeting I have this fear along the line of 'What if I need to stand up?' To that end I am fully dressed and appropriate.

    Kenosky

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  13. Once upon a time, when telephones had dials and only came in black, many people wore the same thing all the time, everywhere, or nearly so. Dressing up meant a tuxedo or sometimes, tails (morning or evening). The shirt was white and stiff from the laundry and shoes had leather soles and heels that needed frequent repair. I suppose a few people live like that but I'd say there are still a lot of people who wear the same thing everywhere all the time; it's just that the clothes are a little different, just like their telephones. What we think of as formal, informal and casual has evolved but what we think of slovenly or sloppy should not have.

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  14. I'm really dressing down around the house and garden, but if anything, I'm dressing up much more than before when I go out anywhere.

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  15. It's polo shirts and shorts for me these days, with Black Dog flip-flops for around the house. Occasionally I throw on a sweatshirt when the air conditioning gets too intense. Despite working in an industry (journalism) where business-casual is de rigueur, I used to wear suits to the office Monday through Thursday, blazers on Fridays. Haven't put one on since March 12, now. I miss the look, but the current uniform is comfortable and the lack of a commute is nice. I also appreciate seeing my wife and children more.

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  16. Sitting here in travel slacks, sport shirt, and bare feet in sandals. But hey, the sandals have leather straps so I'm dressed up at least a little bit, no?

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  17. Casual should not mean dressing like a slob. Spotless non-ripped shirts(a collar is always nice..) shorts or trousers not under your rump and please-pedicured and CLEAN feet with sandals. Think of it as your civic duty...

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    1. Might it be ok, please, to wear a soiled, long sleeves rolled up, linen shirt with a slightly torn collar, when working in the garden?

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    2. There was a blog entry here a few years ago, probably from when it was the Daily Prep, with guidelines on the permissible condition of clothing for various activities. There were variations from fresh out of the box to frayed collar and cuffs (for those wearing those newfangled attached collar shirts, I assume), with the realization that an evening dress shirt would probably never be worn while gardening. I would like to see that posted again.

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  18. I am not entirely surprised at the declining popularity of jeans, especially for women. Sitting in jeans has never been comfortable. And whoever came up with "skinny jeans" is a misogynist! NO one looks good in them -- shrink wrapped is not attractive. And leggings are not pants.
    My wardrobe is composed of basics from school days with an occasional silk scarf thrown in for confusion... Classic, simple, understated.

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  19. America's love of jeans has long mystified me. They are especially popular in Texas. Some folks even have them professionally laundered and starched! Jeans are hot. Jeans are generally not cut to be particularly comfortable. A comfortably cut pair of khakis wins hands down for comfort. I have usually had a pair of 501s on hand but currently do not. I cannot really think of a good reason to buy jeans.

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    1. My family has been in Texas since the days of The Republic of Texas. Old school ranchers wore khakis, not jeans & continued to do so. However, in the 1950's younger people started wearing jeans. Well, you know the rest of the story. Never wore jeans much, stopped when I was 30. Too pull off the jean look, you have to be skinny as a fence post & young. Ain't nothing worse than old folks wearing jeans. To pass muster when hunting wear Dickie's Orginal 874 Khaki Trousers, Willis & Geiger Shirt, a Canvas Duck Brush Jacket & a Sweat Stained Stetson,...all with bit of wear/tear patina. Patina is earned experience or inheritance , not something you buy off Ebay. Starch is a big item, shirts & trousers better stand up by themselves in the corner...it's a Crisp Southern Thing. Yep, I iron by hand my short sleeve OCBD & popovers with a generous helping of Argo Corn Starch. Enuff said.

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    2. Ranchers might wear khakis but cowboys wear jeans. Among the many things my father did, one was to "work cattle," as they say here in Virginia. He generally did not wear jeans, though.

      I have four or five pair of those Dickies work pants, which mostly came from Walmart. True wash and wear but not something to wear to town on Saturday morning. I'm not so young any more but I've got the skinny part down pat. Never owned cowboy boots, just one pair of packer boots, which are a little like wearing heels (I imagine).

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    3. The look Anonymous at 12:11 described is iconic in Texas. That old Stetson may well be an Open Road. My wife's family has been here that long as well, but I am a New England transplant although life in a Navy family took me many other places. I got to Texas in time to know some of that "old Texas" and greatly appreciate it, even if it never felt right on my particular bones.

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    4. Colorado is a bit different than Texas but I can't foresee me ever giving up jeans. Most days in the COVID-19 world blue Levi's 501 STFs or 511s suffice but my Western professional and business attire consists of colored (khaki, black, gray, caraway, etc.) 511 and 513 jeans, and if it needs to be dressier a vest, blazer, and perhaps a bolo. Smitty at Colorado Mountain Hat Company in Fairplay made my fur felt hats but I wear off-the-shelf straw hats. I wore starched Wranglers for a couple of years but they weren't me so I went back to Levi's.

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  20. Old favorites, seem more comfortable now than ever! Thanks so very much!

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  21. The Washington Post says Goodbye, jeans; I say Good riddance, jeans.

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  22. Denim will always have a place in my wardrobe; I would take worn-in Levi 501s over sweatpants or track pants any day of the week. I often opt for slightly better-looking options (cotton khakis or Nantucket reds and a relatively recent Patagonia hemp/polyester/cotton canvas), particularly in the summer.

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    1. I hear you. Most days in the COVID-19 world blue Levi's 501 STFs or 511s suffice but my Western professional and business attire consists of colored (khaki, black, gray, caraway, etc.) Levi's 511 and 513 jeans, and if it needs to be dressier a vest, blazer, and perhaps a bolo.

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  23. I still get dressed to work from home even going so far as to dab on some fragrance. I dress and put on fragrance for myself, but I have to admit it made my day when someone complimented me recently.

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  24. Jeans are for children and cowboys.

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  25. I still do coat and tie, suit and tie if I have to go Downtown ( rarely right now),for the comfort of keep the routine and dignity. Try it.

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  26. It is like the past when few dressed well. Very few had the notion to dress with class Now those who do stand out as gentleman and ladies. Those who do not look like the masses.

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  27. I am WFH and I wear a dress to work. I wear a brassiere if I have a Zoom meeting.

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  28. We work from home, so we make it a point to dress when we go out. It's often appalling to see what people are wearing out in public. --Holly in PA

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  29. A little self-respect and pride (but not arrogance) goes a long way. Wear linen in the summer. It's supposed to look wrinkled.

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