Would I like to look more grown up and professional? Hell yes! Do I?..thats another story. Since I run most of my business from home I haven't bought new clothes in about 5 years. My daily attire now is just an astros hat, basketball shorts, t-shirts, and the occasional jeans and polo if I feel like putting on pants. I would love to go out and spend money on clothes that's more suitable for my age, but there's absolutely no reason for me to be buying clothes. Maybe one day I'll grow up .
I take back what I said. People think I don't care judging by the way I dress, but everything is very intentional. I grew up well-to-do in a not-so-well-to-do neighborhood. And, I went to a private school with some rather wealthy children. And, I think I used clothing as a tool in some kind of social class fight. I didn't want to be like my wealthy classmates because of my socialization by my neighborhood friends. And, I couldn't compete with my classmates with nice clothes, anyway. So, I competed by being more street than them at school. It was a sort of grungy look that I suppose was meant to communicate that I didn't share their cloistered, sheltered lifestyles; I was in the "real world." And, in the neighborhood, I was always aware of a divide between me and the other kids because I had more money, a good family, a good education, etc. So, I wanted to dress down so I wouldn't be accused of thinking myself superior to them or not one of them. Now, I'm old and see how dumb a lot of that was, though it wasn't very conscious either. But, habits of dress die hard. I feel out of sorts when I'm over-dressed, like I'm putting on a veneer or trying to be manipulative in my mode of dress. I've raised the floor of acceptable clothing since I was a kid, but I don't often take much pleasure or find much self-respect in dressing up.
We are mammals. Mammals look at one another, a lot. And they groom themselves (and one another). There is an appearance of health (physical and mental) that we are always looking for, subconsciously. It's not just a petty game, IMHO. Pardon me, but I have to put some styling creme in my hair before I go to work.
Just aprofessional Bum doing the bare minimum to keep a job Sweat Pants to work on the weekends. . Jeans and a shirt I own some collared shirts. . .somewhere Rocket River
Couldn't have said it better. I don't have a problem with people "dressing for success" and I don't mind dressing up a little for situations that I think warrant it, but I also don't think that being dressed up makes anyone more of a person unless ego and conformity are your main issues. Additionally, if you have to dress up to feel good, and that works, great, but I'm glad it doesn't take "consistently wearing just the right clothes or putting the right brand of styling cream in my hair" to make me feel good. And what is with all the clothing/style threads lately? How did I get in here?
Hmmm... I guess I should be specific... Job = business casual. Shave 75% of time before work days. Decent shoes. No tie, no jacket. Home, out and about = decent sweater (San Francisco) and decent jeans. Keen or Tsubo type shoes or sandals. No shave. I guess I'd say it doesn't affect what I think of myself one iota. Really don't get much of my self-confidence from how I dress, but if I just dress simply and nice, it opens more doors in the world than it closes. I just love having options. I think I learned this in a high-school lesson. I was in the dumb science fair, and it was "judgment day." I had been out playing basketball and came it totally sweaty, standing in front of my poster board wearing shorts and a nasty sweaty T-shirt. My physics teacher came by and said "you go home and you change, IMMEDIATELY." I whined and whined, but she got really mad. I went home and changed, put long pants on, a decent shirt. I came back, had nice talks with the judges, and won something, went onto Houston sci fair, won a college scholarship, and I thought "holy crap, that does not happen if I wear what I wanted to wear." So, I guess it's about keeping as many doors open as possible. Call me a sell-out, but for me at least, it's not about self image. Cheers.
Job – Collared golf shirt tucked in, kaki pants with belt, white undershirt. For Jeans Fridays, I wear exactly the same with jeans instead of kakis. Lots of guys here don’t tuck their shirts in, which I don’t understand. Yes, it’s “business casual” but come on….tuck your shirt in. Home – Cargo shorts and t-shirts around the house. If we go out to a party at a friends house etc. (I wouldn’t be caught dead at “the club”) I’ll wear some nice cargo or kaki shorts, a golf shirt and some mandles with no socks. I don't tuck in on weekends. I guess I’m somewhere in the middle. I could care less what I look like if I go to the grocery store, but I don’t want to look like a complete slob if I’m out with the wife or our friends. At the same time, I’m not going to put a whole lot of effort into it. I only shave twice a week and never on the weekends unless I have to.
Yes, I usually make sure I look good before leaving the house, unless it's a quick trip to the grocery store. One of my must haves are nice shoes. I take my boots to Houston Shoe Hospital once a month for a cleaning. Beat up shoes are unacceptable.
Do I care about my appearance? Not that much. I make sure I'm clean - showered, teeth brushed, clean clothes, no obvious tangles or particles in my hair - and that's it. At work (I teach college classes), I wear a skirt and blouse and flats to teach lecture; before going into the lab I change the bottom half of my outfit to jeans and tennis shoes because it's a chemistry lab, where being dressed up is actually not a good idea. No makeup except for special occasions - interviews, recitals, Symphony concerts (whether I'm in them or watching) - where I also find a nicer dress and some earrings. Then, everybody is extra impressed by how nice I look, since they don't see me like that every day. When I'm just attending college classes (yes I do that too), going to movies or whatever, or shopping, I'm in a T-shirt and jeans. I'm making a very slight effort to wear more tops that aren't T-shirts. So I do what finalsbound does - except she feels kind of bad about it. I don't - I feel great about it. That's who I am and I don't have to do all that extra stuff to impress anybody. Beyond basic hygiene and appropriateness of dress, anyone who cares more than that (about someone else's appearance; what they do with their own is their business) is more shallow than I care to hang out with. It's all about the attitude. About thinking, yeah baby, this is me. I look natural and healthy. I've got long hair and legs and some curves men like. I don't have to go showing it off, either. There are parts of my appearance I don't like, but makeup and clothes won't fix that and I really just have to live with who I am. Nobody's perfect anyway. I hold myself well - good posture helps your attitude and overall appearance more than you can imagine - and it's so nice to be myself instead of running and checking my makeup every few minutes like some women do. My mother still combs her hair (again) while driving down the street and reapplies her makeup throughout the day. She raised me to care about appearances and doesn't like what I do, but has to accept it. The thing is, I did it her way for a while, but since I've quit caring about it, I've actually gotten a lot more attention from guys. Confidence and being yourself are worth a lot more - if it was me reapplying that makeup and wondering what everybody thought all the time, I'd be insecure and miserable. Attitude is what comes through, really, and that also holds up a lot better with age.
I like to look presentable at all times. I have no problem wearing a t-shirt, shorts, and flip flops, I just try to not look like a bum or hobo while doing it.
depends on where im going or what i'm doing. For work, yes. bumming around on the weekend, no. meeting out for drinks, depends on whats going on and who i'm meeting. If it's a pub then no. If i'm meeting friends of friends then i will at least put on a decent shirt. Basically i dress for the environment.
not sure i wear jerseys and jorts all the time actually no on the jorts, but I do wear jerseys. actually i like wearing khakis and a polo/dress shirt to work (though at least for this month I dont have to) it just seems right sadly its mainly done so the other people I have to work with dont get too 'at ease' when i am around if i am just always wearing something i find casual/super comfortable. it kind of sucks but its the truth all the managers/supervisors always dress to the dress code even though we all have a "lax dress code month" it seems. just to maintain 'professionalism' as they call it. at home i wear jersey shorts and a tshirt usually if i am going out somewhere with friends its always some sort of rockets shirt/jersey unless its a club or date then i dress nicely.
