Once upon a time...,no one had to teach us manners or proper dress. I guess it was because we had a mom and a dad or someone to respect and look up to. Then it became "cool" to rebel against the status quo by dressing down. Along came other things like casual Friday. Remember when all the girls wore flip flops to the White House? Movie stars stopped looking like movie stars and more like fashion wrecks. That included the guys as well as the ladies. The women looked like they bought their clothes at Back Alley Dumpsters R Us, rather than Rodeo Drive. Instead of "I want to look like a movie star". It was "God help me if I look like that." Along with all the rest of the Hippy Movement came the idea no one had to 'dress in their Sunday Best' for church. If anyone still went to church it meant thrown something on and go.
To understand how far down into the cesspool of 'let it all hang out' dress code we have gone, google Walmart shoppers. I no longer blink when I see the ocean of people who look like they were gave clothes after being pulled out of a car wreck in a muddy ditch. What takes a second glance is the woman who is wearing a dress that fits, looks attractive, has her makeup, and her hair arranged. She doesn't necessarily need heels. Flats will work. Flip flops never work unless one is at home, or the swimming pool.
But then what do I know. I come from a different world. I'm waiting for my ride home. Obviously I don't belong here. Humans are interesting creatures but so uncouth, uncivilized.
Have fun with life
It's too short to take it seriously
always,
Barb
Comments
An elegant wardrobe
For a more civilized age. As an old movie fan, I love the dialogue. Since I try and write too, sometimes similar lines will find themselves into my scribbles as Easter Eggs.
Modern movies, not so much since all our heroes spout is profanity. F-bomb this, and F-bomb that, I mean really. It seems that along with forgetting how to dress, the modern world has forgotten how to properly monologue or even simply to speak!
Excuse me? Is this the off planet shuttle stop? :)
Thanks Barbie!
Hugs
Grover
F-bombs are profanity of last century.
I recently read an article about evolution of profanity in Russian language. It is very funny.
Name of the letter of old Cyrillic alfabet became profane word. Word used to call whores without profanity in early 19-th century itself became a profane word by the 20-th century.
Language is fluid thing. Word Gay some 20-30 years ago mostly meant to be happy. Now it means gay. And some 30 years form now LGBT activists will make everybody think that it is a profane word.
So it could happen that 20 years from now f-word will be OK to use in children's books and word sex will be banned from Playboy. :-)
Barbie, all I can say is that
Barbie, all I can say is that my mom would never let me out of the house dressed the way people dress today. She would whip my hide if I wore extra large pants that dropped lower than my butt and showed my underwear. She had to make sure my socks matched everyday and heaven forbid I put on a navy sock with a black sock. I remember manners being taught in first grade on top of it being taught by your parents. But then times were different back then and you were taught to respect others. I could not talk to adults like the young ones today do and get away with it. But then again I remember being young and not know what cuss words were. lol.
As well she might...
>>> extra large pants that dropped lower than my butt...
...since this is a conscious imitation of prison garb, since they can’t have belts – lest they throttle either themselves or someone else – and provide no custom tailoring at all. I don’t know when, exactly, that “dressing for success” meant outfitting yourself for a prison sentence, but very few parents would approve, I think.
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Cheers,
Puddin'
A tender heart is an asset to an editor: it helps us be ruthless in a tactful way.
--- The Chicago Manual of Style
huh?
Where i live i see women dressed nicely all the time, especially on Sunday when they wear floral dresses and a pair of heels. At the office they wears skirts, hose, and heels and collard blouse. Other than the occational 'rebel girl' they all wear nice make up and of course the teen girls like to push the limits on their skirts but that's always been the case. I've seen the wal-mart pictures everyones talking about and... well i find it strange... i've never seen that crap at a wal mart around here. I mean you do see people who are dressed down though. Guys who are swinging by there after work before they go home after a long day in the oil fields, or people going on a fishing trip stopping off to get cokes and ice..maybe some tackle.
But never in my life have i seen someone so fat they are have to use a scooter... or some whale of a woman walking down the isle with a bright yellow thong streached across her backside while wearing a muscle shirt and no bra!
guess that's city life for ya though..
but i gotta be honest, i hate heels... and i dont mean wearing them, i dont like the look of them... i mean who seriously thought it was a good idea to put stilts on the bottom of peoples feet? A lot of people think it makes a womans legs look better.. but guess thats their opinion.. i just think it looks strange. Flats look a lot better i think, they make her feet look small and cute... not distorted at weird angels... but that's just my opinion.
High heels
Originally they were designed for Turkish Calvary Officers. They got noticed by British Nobility and they decided that they looked cool and would set them apart from the peons. So, in essence, high heels were originally men's wear and only for the well-to-do. They slid into women's wear back in the 1700's when well-to-do women started wearing clothing that emulated military dress uniforms. Even the original high heels were very impractical. In fact, were more impractical than modern high heels as there were very few paved surfaces outside of the homes of the well-to-do. I have seen photo's of those original Calvary Boots and while they were useful while in the saddle, were practically useless once out of the saddle.
Cowboy boots have a heel for a purpose
The heel on cowboy boots was to keep the foot from sliding through the stirrup. Which was no big deal if it did unless your horse spooked.
Think of it like this. You are ridding along and a snake, rabbit, whatever spooks your pony. He bolts. You weren't prepared and are thrown but before you leave the saddle your foot slides through the stirrup. Upside down along a spooked horse with your foot through the stirrup is NOT the position to be. Thus the remedy was to put a heel on the cowboy boot. Foot can no longer go all the way through the stirrup. Cowboy movies aside, being dragged by a runaway horse with a foot caught in the stirrup probably never happened after heels were added to boots.
I've noticed cowboy boots no longer have the two or three inch heel. Strictly a cowgirl boot thing now. But then most cowboys no longer own a saddle. Much less a horse.
Oklahoma born and raised cowgirl
Stiletto's
well, i wasnt really alluding to riding boots where the heel serves a purpose. In my neck of the woods many people wear cowboy boots, and quite a few still own horses as well. Mostly i meant a little strappy shoe with a pencil thin heel.. ya know, Stiletto's the break-your-darn-neck-walking-down-the-driveway shoe. It's compleatly impractical, yet people think it looks good for some reason
p.s. your right about the design of the boot not allowing you to get your feet caught up... also the old boots used to go up to the knee.. this helped prevent being bitten by rattle snakes. Im more afraid of rattle snakes than i am of tornados... them suckers are mean!
Well around here:
A awful lot of people dress for going to the gym being out jogging, even when they are not actually doing those things.
Dont worry
The 80's are coming back and people are starting to dress nicer, baggy clothes wont be back but most of my friends wont leave the house without a collard button up and dress pqnts, lolz.
♥♥
Times change
And you can either keep up or be left in the dust. Frankly I enjoy pulling on a pair of skinny jeans, a nice (by my definition) top, a pair of cowgirl boots, and heading out the door. Now, if you want to dress a la June Clever, that's fine. Nobody's stopping you. But that doesn't make your style anymore proper than a teen wearing super shorts and a cropped tea. If you are going back to the past to determine what fashion is proper, where is the cutoff? By Victorian standards what was worn in the Fifties would be simply scandelous.
Now I too was born and raised in Oklahoma (mostly) and I remember quite well the delayed arrival of the "Hippie" movement. Not high tea style but oh so comfortable. I well remember my mom dressed in 'proper' fashion - the pillbox hat, the gloves, the below-the-knees dresses and skirts. Geez, what a PITA!
I've got nothing against high fashion, I love to check out the RTW each spring and fall. But most of that is not practical wear, not for here in Okla. If you let looks override functionality, you're going to ruin some clothes and fail at what you're trying to do. Except for women working in an office environment fashion simply doesn't work around here. I might be headed to the store, see a stranded motorist and end up helping the police pushing the car out of the road.
Let's face it, here in Oklahoma jeans and boots are practical clothing. All dresses - all the time just doesn't make the cut. Times have changed and a lot of the old 'rules' have been discarded as they are not pertinent anymore, and that's fine by me.
Now, baggy pants are ugly but that style has pretty much run it's course. I haven't seen anybody wearing them in at least a month. Times change, styles change, people change. Be the reed, not the tree.
PS. I don't know why my post is colored differently, and I can't see anything wrong with the post.
2nd PS, I see now, Chii, in the message above mine apparently failed to properly close the use of color in her post. Fixing that is above my pay grade.
I went outside once. The graphics weren' that great.
I can't excape ...
I converted to Islam right after I came to this site, and for a number of reasons still feel compelled to dress that way in spite of the fact that I am not such a good Muslim. It is odd how the mores we learn stick with us long after there is any logical reason.
According to the word of God
Bikini is quite acceptable wear for Islamic woman. If it is acceptable wear in the local tradition. So on Miami Beach Islamic women can wear modest bikinis while being true to the letter and to the soul of Quran.
Wery good explanation can be found here:
http://www.quran-islam.org/articles/women_dress_code_(P1150).html
(Hijab is actually Jewish tradition... Not Islamic)
One size fits all?
Sorry hon, it's not working. I didn't wear a dress, heels, and makeup this morning. Been on the 4020 JD mowing all morning with 18ft wing bat mower. Darn hard to work the clutch and breaks wearing heels, you know. Not to mention climbing in and out of that puppy. Nor would the above attire be fashionable in the dairy barn. I'm going to disagree on the "Daisy Duke" attire unless she's going fishing, chopping cotton, or slumming around the house. I know all about jeans and boots. I was born and raised on a working dairy farm. They work for going to town too. Very few are going to change to go pick up implement or tractor parts. We would need a bath before changing because I'm usually covered in dirt and grease. And it isn't always mud that is stuck on the bottom of my boots. Carrying broken greasy parts to the JD place to make sure one gets the exact replacement isn't the time to be wearing a gown and heels. But then those other people in Walmart or downtown didn't have to crawl under a drill or planter, or kiss a sick cow before they left the house did they? There is nothing wrong with fitted jeans and blouse along with cowgirl boots for town provided one has the figure for it. Still remember when half the guys wore spurs but those days are past. The ranches and livestock are mostly history now.
We are talking about the current crop of TV watchers who think a hard day is mowing the yard, raiding the fridge, or getting off the couch. They look like a disaster because they have no self worth. Too lazy to care or be bothered. And yes, some even dress like that on purpose because they think they are "something". They are as out of place as someone wearing a square dance dress (yep know first hand). They don't think of it like that because their mind only works in one direction. (the me has arrived mode)
There is a fine line between necessity and being a slouch because it takes effort to look nice.
Oklahoma born and raised cowgirl
I agree except for one thing....
...the makeup. Granted, I like the way I look with makeup on, but wearing it daily would be a hassle. For one thing, I'm not very good at it (imagine putting on makeup while on the teacup ride at Disneyland, and you're close to what it's like for a cerebral-palsied person). I also don't see the necessity of wearing it every day. Indeed, if I did, I'm more likely to be "read", I think. I've been "ma'am-ed" in sweats and "sirred" in a dress and full makeup (although that happens less often now that the hormones have done their job). The only explanation I can come up with for that is that I was made up when the circumstances didn't call for it (say, going to the convenience store for a loaf of bread). That in cis people's minds is the mark of a crossdresser.
I do, however, wear dresses more often than the average woman does around here (casual attire even when going to the theater is the norm for my community) and I always make sure my hair looks presentable. Too many of the women I see around me dress like frumps. Trans women are always advised to take their cue from women around them, but I have my limits.
I occasionally get women asking me what I'm "dressed up" for, even when I'm wearing what I consider a casual dress. But in the humidity of a Wisconsin summer, dresses are far more practical, believe me, especially for one in a wheelchair. They're much less binding and air can circulate.
Livin' A Ragtime Life,
Rachel
Off planet shuttle stop
Hi Barbie Lee:
If you're waiting for your ride, it's going to be a long wait.
Shuttle service to this section of the spiral arm was terminated after the UFO's stopped visiting. The galactic planners decided we were going to recycle ourselves and let the cockroaches have their chance.