A pessimistic view with a bit of optimism at the bottom.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-12418046
"Dressing down is the easy option but we risk losing something precious, argues Alex Bilmes, editor of Esquire magazine. And too many workers are mixing up the idea of casual with sloppy, he warns.
"The downside is that everyone dresses scruffy now as if they're about to pop out to Superdrug. People are taking 'relaxed' too far to include wearing baggie jeans and track suit bottoms."
Some professions like waiters, policemen and lawyers still understand the value of looking the part, he says.
"They're not stuck in the past, they know it's reassuring to people to look smart. If you needed a lawyer, went down to chambers to find one wearing shorts, a T-shirt with a logo and battered trainers, are you going to choose him?"
It's not all doom and gloom though. After a malaise in the 80s and 90s, formal styles are back in vogue with a "real buzz" around the traditional tailoring of Savile Row and Jermyn Street, he says. Men hoping to climb the career ladder would be wise to go back to classic English tailoring, he says.
"If you put on a tailored suit and pressed shirt you are putting on a suit of armour. You will walk a bit straighter and taller and people will take you more seriously."
Stop the rot: bring back the stocks, the pillory, the cane, the birch, church on Sunday, Ovaltine, saying one's prayers and National Service.
Last edited by NJS (2011-02-11 05:57:10)
These stories appear every few months, to be followed by an equally breathless "Return of the Suit" piece. I suspect the net effect on what people actually do is negligible.
I am still of the opinion that a dressed down/scruffy appearance indicates a scruffy mind.
Mind you Albert Einstein apparently preferred sandals and no socks!
Ho Hum
^Chensvold use to do that with his copy on sprezzatura and Miles Davis. Except he made his writing worse each time.