Why we should dump “casual” from our vocabulary.

[CAJUNLAWYER]

Down here the dress code for lawyers is chinos, button down shirts and shoes. (three or four of us wear top siders w/o socks). For court appearances add a tie and a blue blazer. Me, I wear bow ties so people can pick me out quickly when they haven't met me. (plus the ladies think they're cute on me ). We had a no tobacco rule in court but I was grandfathered in because I never spit in court-learned the trick from an old DA. I could voir dire a jury all morning with a chaw tucked in. Save the suits for Jury trials weddings and funerals. Haspel seersucker and poplin for the summer and lightweight worsted dark grey or navy for the winter. I'm a simple man.
When I was young I owned a Tux (shawl collar only ) and set of tails and confess that I have owned white linen suits in my distant past-but they got dirty if you looked at them wrong so I quit wearing them many years ago.
For "yachting formal" it's blue blazer, white shirt club bow tie, club cap and a pair of clean shorts. After 5 it's topsiders; Before 5 it's flip flops or barefoot.
Underwear always worn with long pants, but optional with shorts.

 

[Nevada Ed]

I have read that it might be impossible to find a tie in 5 years. It is a French fashion statement from the 1800's rebelling against the then fashion of wearing a full scarf that has long outlived it's time, IMP.

I always thought that French cuffs and Links were a Class act,
as well as a tie with the correct knot and long enough to cover
your belly button, if needed.

 

[Exaviator]

Being born in 1940 and having worn a uniform all of my working life, I am of the old school thinking that that the attire that you chose should be appropriate to the occasion...

 

[BC38]

An individual's personal definition of what is "appropriate for a given situation or circumstances" is where this whole argument breaks down.

What I see as appropriate to a given situation may seem highly inappropriate to someone else - and vice versa.

FWIW, we can either accept what is currently considered "appropriate" attire, or we can rage against it.

Is it a deal-breaker or a game-changer either way?
Is it a hill I'm willing to die on?
Or are there other more important battles to be waged?

Everyone has to decide these questions for themselves.

IMO, there are a lot more important things to be spending my energy fighting for rather than battling to maintain a dress code standard from the last century.

But that's just me....

 

[Rustyt1953]

An individual's personal definition of what is "appropriate for a given situation or circumstances" is where this whole argument breaks down..

Mic drop!

 

[TX-Dennis]

Last time I went for jury duty the dress code said, "collared shirt required, no jeans with holes, no flip flops." That's considered "dressed up" these days.

 

[CAJUNLAWYER]

I always thought that French cuffs and Links were a Class act,
as well as a tie with the correct knot and long enough to cover
your belly button, if needed.

Ties should touch yer belt. What is the proper knot???? Four in hand with button down. Windsor or half Windsor for spread collars. Bow ties should not be worn with button downs technically but I break that up east rule and wear them with button downs with great impunity. Now if I could ever find an oxford cloth button down with french cuffs (real ones that you have to fold over) I'd be on that like stink on dodo but only one and ONLY for special occasions. But alas the dressiness of the true french cuff demands broadcloth and does not go with the casualness of the oxford cloth.
All this is what growing up in uptown New Orleans and shopping at Perlis will do to you..... And DON'T even get me started on the carnival balls Fun while I was young, but mighty glad that part of my life is over

 

[Mule Packer]

I'm gonna have to go with ZZ Top on this one because "Every girl crazy 'bout a sharp-dressed man."

Seriously though, during the almost thirty years teaching at a university, I saw professors wearing short pants, tank tops, and flip flops. While I didn't usually wear a suit to school, I always believed a professor should at least dress better than his students. Normally my attire consisted of a long-sleeved button-down shirt, silk tie, new, creased and starched Wranglers, hand-tooled belt, and a pair of hand-crafted boots. Sometimes with a sport coat, sometimes not. And of course, a nice beaver-felt hat in my office. Although I wasn't wearing a suit coat with slacks, I was still one of the better dressed employees on campus.

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mB3SOEsk3zw"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mB3SOEsk3zw[/ame]

 

[raljr1]

Ties should touch yer belt. What is the proper knot???? Four in hand with button down. Windsor or half Windsor for spread collars.

Many years ago, I took a class once on dressing for interviews. I'll never forget what the instructor said about tie lengths. The tie should reach the top of your belt and be no longer than the bottom of the belt. He commented on ties too long by adding, "It's a tie, not a cod piece!

I'm long thru the torso, and a Windsor knot uses too much tie so I used a four in hand or sometimes a half Windsor.

 

[NFrameFred]

Style and dress is a matter of personal taste and common sense, and I’m with the Fudd group that thinks things have become too “loose” and standards ain’t what they used to be or what they oughta be. BUT ……..unless it’s accompanied by a return to manners, politeness and a recognition of decorum in public, dressing up some these days is like putting lipstick on a pig.

I had an old preacher who said, “ you can give a pig a bath with shampoo, put a bow in his hair and spray him with that Channel Number Five (not to be confused with ‘Chanel’, I guess) but first chance he gets he’s headed for the wallow in a mud hole, ‘cause …. He’s a pig.”