Monday, March 19, 2012

Uniform Theory of Dress


Since I brought up attire last time, I feel I should complete my coverage of this topic.  There is all manner of devilry afoot, and you need to know.

In the past, when a young girl showed up on your doorstep in a Girl Scout uniform, you knew cookies were afoot.  If you saw a kid in a Boy Scout uniform, you knew you could be safely escorted across the street.  If you were in a hospital you could readily recognize a nurse.  These days, you don't know what the heck is going on. 

Where, one asks, are the uniforms that traditionally made this so simple?  We scouts wore our merit badges with pride.  Why, as late as the 70s, good ole' white nursing uniforms were still worn - cute hat included.  I know this to be true because I saw it on an old Hawaii Five-0.  And I know Jack Lord wouldn't mislead me.

Business casual was another nail in the proper attire coffin.  Some people actually had to be advised that sweat clothes were not what we had in mind when we said "business casual".  Others, trying to raise kids and live the American dream had never invested in attire that fell between blue jeans and suits, and were put out that they had to invest in new clothes.  All this, and the feeling that things weren't as crisp and organized as before - the very clothing style name has "casual" in it - didn't bode well for American business.

Proper attire DOES guide behavior.  Does no one remember the grade school story "Clothes Make the Man"?

No comments :

Post a Comment