The Pajama Jam
Where is she going? To a pajama party? No, she's probably going to Wal-Mart or the grocery store and to this I say STOP IT!
As a a conservative (in style mind you) from a small town in Indiana, who was raised by southern parents appropriate dress was the order of the day. Girls/young ladies/women were to wear dresses, hose and heels. No see through stuff, no tight stuff no short stuff. Boys/young men/men were to have a proper haircut short or if afro neat and even, with shirt and tie or suit and shined
shoes. Restaurant outings, theater outings, concerts required the same type of gear - what was referred to as DRESS CLOTHES. Traveling by air meant comfort, but no jeans, warm-ups, tennis shoes, flip-flops or any of that sort. If you didn't have to carry anything (which back then you could check it all for FREE) you might even wear -- DRESS CLOTHES.
So how did we end up with flip-flops and gym shoes at the airport, pajamas at the store, jeans at work and everywhere else? For the work place there seems to be two schools of thought: an executive marketing campaign pushed by Levis in the early 90s or the dotcom revolution shortly thereafter. As a middle ager I experienced it first hand, suits dresses and hose were the norm in my first corporate job in the early nineties, this transitioned to business casual on Fridays (no jeans though), then to business casual four days with jeans on Friday around 2000. Executive level personnel in some industries I worked in stayed with traditional business dress and others put their dockers and jeans on with the rest of us. Business casual is also responsible for some of the most ridiculous personnel policies I have ever read. Is it necessary to institute a policy that says no short-shorts or halter tops? Well apparently so. I have seen all manner of ta-tas and fannies at work. Should you really have to delineate that all clothing should be clean, pressed and free of holes? Apparently so, I have seen all manner of rumpled looking, straight from the bedroom floor to the body on men at the work place. As for travel, the days of looking Hollywood are over. 9/11, outrageous fuel prices and jammed like sardiens airplanes mean you have to dress smart, meaning comfortable enough to get through security quickly and to be able to lug a carry-on plus one personal item and sit in a tight seat. Everywhere else, you might see anything.
Do I want to return to the days of old, dresses and hose for ladies and suits for gents? Not necessarily. We live in a more mobile world, 24 hour world. Everything is done on the fly and personally I consider hose a necessary evil in winter, but what I'd like to see is folks making a little more effort. I mean you may be dressing for yourself, you may not care what anybody thinks because you are an INDIVIDUAL but guess what? The rest of us have to look at you in your crumpled pajamas while we're shopping with you at Wal-Mart and we will post your atrocity on Facebook.
As for her? I think she can go to the grocery store now.













