Dressing Up or Dressing Down?

2/11/2019

Oh, it's a gloomy gus (however you spell it) outside. It's only raining at the moment, but the forecast says that Mother Nature is going to turn that rain into freezing rain, sometime later.

The girls and I are snug in the house, and will likely turn on the fireplace soon. Jeff's flight is this afternoon and he returns on Wednesday. The thrill of flying, except our own plane, is long gone, expect perhaps for a very long flight. I can remember, and maybe you can to, when you were served real food while on the plane. Oh, and there was also a time when people actually dressed up to go into the sky. Okay, both of those things are long gone, but I still remember them both fondly.

As a teenager, whenever Mom and Dad took us to see a play, my sister and I wore dresses. Going into town (we lived in a very small town), also called for a bit of dressing up. I actually believe, that when people gussy up a bit, their manners do so too. 

I intended a live performance with Stacey sometime back, and though I wore slacks, they were of the dressy kind. When looking at the sea of people below us, that most of those people didn't get the dress code! It's possible that I might be a bit old fashioned (ya think?), but I'm not sure when jeans became acceptable in all kinds of venues. 

I have seen various kinds of clothing, even at weddings or funerals. I may stay home 99% of the time, but I do know when it's time to put on pantyhose and wear dress shoes. It's entirely possible that several generations behind us "older" folks, that didn't get the same lesson we did, about appropriate dress.

In my very first job in 1968, I had to wear not only a dress and pantyhose, but heels as well. Can you imagine a company trying to enforce those rules today? I certainly can't. At the end of my career, the dress code had fallen down to the point where jeans (no holes, of course), were okay. Somewhere I worked, it was not acceptable to have your toes showing - pretty much - no sandals. That, like jeans, has now gone into the dinosaur age, of which I'm a member. And, some of you are part of that age too! We just don't want to admit it. 

Even today, with my very casual clothing that I wear around the house, I also have the obligatory "little black dress". I was also taught that you didn't, at least back then, wear bright colors to a funeral. Similarly, I was also taught, that you didn't wear off-white or even beige dresses to a wedding. But, all of that was a long, long time ago. 

I was also told, when I was growing up, that you couldn't "over" dress for a function, but could certainly "under" dress. Mom always said that it was better to be over dressed, than the other way around. Of course, that was a long time ago, and in her later years, Mom also wore pant suits!

I'm sure there is a wedding in the future, I just don't know when. And, as the mother of the groom, will dress accordingly. I have several "special" dresses in my closet, but might want to spring for something new! Men don't understand, but it's a woman thing.

Have a good and safe, if you are having snow and/or ice, in your forecast. 

P