Summer Clothes

6/3/2014

Summer's here and the temperatures are rising. Also rising is the length of pants that women wear.  It is now acceptable to wear capris (below the knee) to work.  When I started working in 1968, women wore dresses and/or skirts ALL the time as well as nylons.  It's a good thing that offices were air conditioned, because wearing nylons isn't something you want to do with hot temperatures and humidity.  But back then we ladies did as we were told, and interviews "gently" reminded us of the dress policy.

I remember when I could wear pants (not capris) to the office and sandals too, as long as they had a back strap. Nobody wants to hear the flip and flap of sandals in the office.  Over time, capris became the summer favorite of women to wear to the office.  The restrictions on sandals eased up a bit also, but most of us didn't think it was appropriate to wear flip-flops to work.  Let's face it they cause too much noise.

For a very long time, Fridays were casual day and some people took casual to a whole new level. As you went into work, you might see capris a little too short and/or a little too tight.There were times that I thought (prude that I am), some blouses showed a bit too much in the cleavage area.  It was an office after all.

After the decline of wearing pants, it was only a matter of time before sleeveless tops were acceptable, and after that blouses that had pretty thin straps became okay as well.  It wasn't long before casual Friday, became business casual all week.  Again, casual to one person means entirely something else to another.  We were supposed to use our best judgment regarding what we wore to the office.  And, most of us did, but ever so often we would all receive a memo "gently" reminding us about the dress code.

I'm glad that what you can wear to the office has become relaxed and if women were given a choice, I believe they would "opt" out to wearing nylons, at least in the summer time.

Being retired, I'm casual all the time, and love it.  Occasionally, I have to dress up a bit and actually that's kind of fun.  Most of the clothes I wore to the office have been sold or given away. There was no need to clutter up my closet with things I likely will never wear again.  PLUS, with more room in my closet, I have an excuse to buy more "play" clothes!

P