What is it?
JUST ABOUT NOBODY WEARS NICE CLOTHES ANYMORE, NOR DO THEY, ADULTS AND CHILDREN, WEAR MANY DIFFERENT TYPES OF CLOTHES FOR DIFFERENT ACTIVITIES, AS WAS ONCE THE NORM!
Even before there were department store, even long before the Victorian era introduced "consumerism" for everyone, people of all stripes, extremely wealthy to the very poor had "special" clothes to wear to church or temple. Special clothing for different events...confirmations, weddings, funerals. And then the "modern" era of consumerism hit!
The department stores of the 19th century, both in Europe and in America, were not just a place to buy many different things, all in one place, they represented adventure, a special trip/day out, a place to meet friends, and yes, many of them also had tea rooms and/or restaurants.
Christmas and Easter offered a time to do up the stores big time, offer special lunches, breakfast with Santa and yes, picture taken with Santa and the Easter Bunny.
Until relatively recently, kids had school clothes, play clothes, Sunday "best", and some had work clothes.
For adults, the more wealth, the more one used to need many different outfits for day and evening.
Then, in the late 1960s, the Commies, using the damned "HIPPY MOVEMENT", began, with much force, to get rid of all traditions, manners, normal families ( and by extension, families doing things together ), religion, and the whole idea of GROWING UP!
Today, almost NOBODY wears anything suitable; let alone proper for different occasions!
Then throw in the fact that as the years go by, whomever is designing clothes, are making ugly, unsuitable, trash...at every level!
The whole idea of "special clothes" has long ago gone by the wayside and so, you have people wearing T-shirts and stupid dungarees ( that's "jeans" for you youngsters )to the theatre, to work, everywhere. Heck, there are even people who wear pajamas to grocery stores and on airplanes!
Also, people are far more isolated; they no longer join clubs and spend far more time, all alone, but hooked up to cell phones, laptops, etc. and don't feel the need to bother to look "nice"...even when they ARE out of society.
Nopardons, you’re absolutely right.
The Left has attacked everything that is American, in every way, right down to how we dress.
All an effort to ensure that the America of our ancestors - the nation of the protestant work ethic, the rugged individual, the limited government, the Judeo-Christian tradition - would be scrubbed from the historical record.
And it has left us with the current cultural and economic desert.
“WEAR MANY DIFFERENT TYPES OF CLOTHES FOR DIFFERENT ACTIVITIES”
i still wear many different special clothes for many different activities. I have special clothes for painting - ones that already have spilled paint on them. Special clothes for using with 2-cycle engines like string trimmers and chain saws. special clothes for auto repair and oil changing. special clothes for hot weather like shorts and t-shirts. special clothes for cold weather like goose down jackets, insulated gloves, insulated headgear, and Sorrel boots for deep snow. special clothes for indoor activities in my own home like plain underwear and sometimes a fuzzy robe if it’s chilly. the list of my special clothes for special activities is nearly endless.
I went to a local bank this AM and the teller was a very nice young man WEARING A BOSTON CELTICS SWEATSHIRT.
I called their main office when I got home-——asking why not business attire. They said that they would look into it.
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To add to your point - you’ve seen the videos of New York/San Francisco streets at the turn of the century...just being ‘out and about’ the vast majority were ‘dressed up’ (men wearing hats, ties, etc.)
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When people very seldom flew, they always wore their best clothes. Look at real old photos from the 20, 30's and 40's of baseball games. All the crowds wore their best clothes and hats were in style.......
Hear, hear, Nopardons! Very well said.
I did insist that he not wear camouflage to his father's funeral though...