Does Anyone Dress Up Anymore?

[Silurian]

It rains a lot in Wales, so whatever I wear it is often accompanied by an umbrella

[noledog]

Don't bother comin' here to the Florida coast where I live if you seek the GQ dress up because it's flips n tees all up in here... I wear 'em pretty much year 'round and perform in them too. I had to buy a pair of dress long pants this past October for my daughters wedding cuz I have worn or owned any in years! LOL It's Margaritaville everywhere you go here

[FrankHudson]

I'm of two minds about this.

Speaking first of musical performers: I'm mostly ears when listening to music, and my visual focus at those times in on faces and hands. The performers could be naked and I might not notice much less care. On the other hand, when looking at still pictures of musicians I often note what they are wearing, and I have a nostalgic connection to those mid-century Francis Wolfe et al pictures of jazz musicians in suits. That's complicated, and includes the feeling for the time it invokes.

Myself, I'm a slob. Jeans, polo shirt or t-shirt. Dress up is a nice sweater or button down shirt and maybe non-denim pants. I'm not impressive looking no matter what I'm wearing, and I don't have a great, facile social persona. While I suppose I could counteract that a bit with sharp clothes, there's only so much I could do.

I grew up in midcentury small-town Midwest US. Suits for church, funerals, and going to the bank for a loan, but general around town clothes were shirt and slacks for me and non-fancy dresses for women. There were everyday suit wearing men (the bankers, the preachers). My preacher grandfather I'm told just wore older suits when working around the house, and he didn't really own much in the way of casual clothes in the modern sense.

I can remember the first time I went to Manhattan and was puzzled that so many on the street were dressed up, and the women were almost all wearing makeup.

[MrDB]

Society, certainly here in the USA, but for the most part all over the world, has become decidedly more casual in the last few decades.

I enjoy seeing historical pictures of people at various events. Look at pictures of baseball crowds from the 30's or 40's and most of the men are wearing suits. At dances, movies and dining out you see the same thing. Women are in dresses with pearls and jewelry. It was just the norm in those eras. Another facet of this is that most middle class people in those days couldn't afford to do these things so the pictures mostly are of the more well to do.

If you wore a suit to a ball game now somebody would think you were nuts.

[Jim Owen]

I keep a jacket and tie hanging on a rack in my office, just in case I suddenly get called on to meet with the suits. For years, my standard work clothes were slacks, jacket, and ties.

I do not miss those days at all. Most days, I’m in jeans and comfortable shirts.

I do wear jackets to the theatre, to good restaurants, to church services, to formal occasions.

At a recent academic conference I attended, a graduate student read a paper whilst wearing a baseball cap backwards. He was wearing a t shirt and jeans. I could never do that.

[Photojeep]

I'm a College Professor and the Chair of our Department and dress in slacks and jacket every day I'm teaching. None of my colleagues do this but I feel it is appropriate for me to look a certain way. Not because of ego or anything like that but because I feel it's the way I should look. I'm also comfortable wearing this type of clothing. I am often called into meetings with members of our administration who all wear suits and ties so I don't feel "underdressed" in those situations.

Recently, a student was wanting to know my name. She knew I was the Department Chair and only knew me as, "The guy who wears the suits and the nice shoes" and I'm ok with that.

I have no idea if there is any connection to how I dress, but every one of my colleagues has occasionally had "problems" with various students, mostly being argumentative or borderline belligerent in class, but I have had every one of these students and have never had a similar incident with any of them.

Not all of them know I'm the Department Chair so I can't say if that is why I have so little discipline problems.

I do know that whenever I'm in a store or other establishment dressed in slacks and a jacket, I'm treated far better than when I show up in jeans and a polo shirt.

Best,
PJ

[muscmp]

after having to wear a suit and tie for many years, i just gave all but two sets of suits to goodwill and kept them just for funerals and weddings. no ozzie nelson for me.

people shouldn't be viewed by their attire. a killer can wear a suit and tie. they should be allowed to wear whatever is comfortable. i'm glad to see the corporate dress codes have fallen.

play music!

[Brent Hahn]

I really like Brooks Brothers shirts. Living in LA, I probably haven't tucked one in in 20 years.

[deltoid]

I noticed in this video "1911 Trip Through New York" that almost everyone is "dressed"; at least wearing a sport jacket, tie and hat. EVERYONE. I wonder what happened as we got more modern? I guess they just didn't make casual clothing back then. You either had work clothes or dress clothes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aohXOpKtns0

[Photojeep]

I once was called upon to copy some photographs of the building of Boulder Dam from the 1930s and almost all of the workers in those photos were wearing what we would call dress shoes and shirts and ties. Some of course had more "workman" type clothing on but those with ties far outnumbered the others.

Personally I wear what I wear based upon my comfort and needs.

Best,
PJ

[Slothead56]

I came up in Corporate American during the 80’s and 90’s so I learned how to dress—suits everyday, shined shoes, white starched shirts. I couldn’t spend a lot of money on clothes but I learned how to find a good tailor and how to evaluate a good dry cleaner.

Things got a little more casual in the late 90’s and early 2000’s so one could wear a blazer or sport coat (with tie) on Friday.

Then the disaster that is “casual dress” came into being. (Whomever invented Dockers should be terminated...)

Casual dress evolved to “wear your weekend clothes” and I found it appalling. Most people looked like they were ready to rake leaves on a Saturday instead of doing their jobs. I stuck to tailored dress slacks, collored shirts (laundered) and sportcoats most of the time. Nicer jeans and a collored shirt on Fridays.

About six years ago I went to work for a luxury brand manufacturer and started working at home but every customer meeting I attended was suits, regardless of customer dress policy.

Still working at home but have abandoned suits for the most part with customers as the Company I’m now with is very casual. (The CEO wears jeans and sneakers in the office). When visiting the office I may wear jeans (off the rack and tailored from my favorite family run men’s store) and a sport coat. Same attire for customers though most of them are wearing jeans every day.

I know I sound old school and I may have a little more money to put into what I wear but I’m at the twilight of my career. When I dress well I have more confidence and a more positive feeling about myself. I’m not a clothing dinosaur but hopefully showing some of the younger folks that one can dress “casually” and not look sloppy.

My son is CEO of a multi million dollar company he founded. He wears jeans, tee shirts and sneakers everyday...but it’s his company. And I guarantee he knows how to properly iron a dress shirt when needed.

BTW—just bought a lovely navy suit for an upcoming wedding. Will go in for second fitting today....

[Silurian]

I wonder if the increasing numbers of women in higher managerial and boardroom roles has had a part to play.

Whilst women have usually been required to dress "smartly", they haven't been as restricted as men. The whole suit, shirt and tie thing has always seemed a bit ridiculous to me.

[Brent Hahn]

There was a period when I worked at a couple different NYC ad agencies. While the account executives dressed Mad Men style, the production and creative departments (where I worked) didn't. You could usually tell which of them had gone to fancy boarding schools with uniforms, because their attempts at dressing themselves were pretty comical.

[Pura Vida]

Originally Posted by Silurian

I wonder if the increasing numbers of women in higher managerial and boardroom roles has had a part to play.

Whilst women have usually been required to dress "smartly", they haven't been as restricted as men. The whole suit, shirt and tie thing has always seemed a bit ridiculous to me.

Part of it has been the emergence of the tech industry. Those companies realized that you don't need to wear a suit to be successful. Steve Jobs wore his iconic jeans and black mock turtleneck, and Mark Zuckerberg wears tees and hoodies on most days.

[Dirk Hofman]

I work in tech, and wear jeans and a t-shirt fairly often. Mostly though I wear a collared plaid shirt of some kind, maybe a flannel or a hoodie to deal with the wildly fluctuating temperature in San Francisco. Sometimes it can range from 50 in the morning (brrr!) to 75 during the day, but mostly it's not that extreme. Usually 55-65.

My wife and I love to dress up and go out. But for work, not having to spend money or time shopping on suits and nice clothes is awesome. I'm very comfortable in casual attire.

That said, I'm clean, well-groomed, and very well color coordinated.