When I was in my early 20s, people would often ask why I was “so dressed up” and it got really annoying. As if it’s really weird to wear dresses and heels on a weekend. It still happens once in a while now that I’m in my 30s, but never in my area – I live in a part of Toronto where people tend to look “nice” – and the sloppy/over-casual people are probably tourists. I liked dressing up then and still do, especially in the summer and really, I blame the questioning on the so-called “casualization” of society. It’s part of that package where young children are addressing their parents’ friends by first name (sorry, kids under 12, you have to call me Mrs. Mintz, Ms. Cheng Mintz, Ms. Cynthia or Auntie Cynthia until I say that it is okay to call me just plain Cynthia. Actually, PARENTS, please introduce me as one of the four), the world of slouchy pants on males over 25 and so forth. I really shouldn’t have to apologize for this!
Some casual dresses from my closet that I might wear on a weekend
For young people, it’s only getting worse (I mean, take a look at this article from the Huffington Post – sensationalist, perhaps, but someone MUST believe in this). I wore a uniform in high school which included a button down blouse that had to be worn tucked in to my skirt (pants were later implemented as an option), a tie, tights or knee socks and black oxfords. Because so many of us didn’t tuck in our shirts, more recently, the school changed the tops to something that didn’t require tucking and was shorter. Many other schools did the same thing – except they went from dress shirts to polo/golf shirts. When worn with pants or kilts, it can look AWFUL. The kids look like complete slobs and would have been given a talking to in the 90s. I’m not the only one who has complaint. I once volunteered with an organization where a guy said that the kids at his high school alma mater look significantly sloppier than they did when he was there. All because of the more casual uniform. Oh well, I guess it’s welcome to the 21st century, sadly.
So this brings me back to the original topic. Because people are so brainwashed to wearing casual clothing (thanks to people like Mark Zuckerberg, known to wear hoodies to work), wearing anything neater than a sloppy t-shirt with jeans, muscle shirts, crop tops, etc… is considered “dressed up.” And it is sad. It does nothing to prepare young people for the “real world” – especially if they aspire to work in a professional, office setting. And because they’re so exposed to looking like they’ve just rolled out of bed (or heading to the club – that is the OTHER extreme), they will be in for a shock. And no one is preparing them for ANYTHING. How sad.
