When did dress down Friday become dress like we are going to Home Depot Friday

When Did Dress Down Friday Become Dress Like We Are Going to Home Depot Friday Maybe it’s my obsession with Project Runway and shows like What Not to Wear, maybe now that my anti-depressants have kicked in I am dressing better for work, or maybe I am just getting old and turning into curmudgeon that I long to be, but when I look around me at the work place and other social gatherings I am growing more and more shocked by what I see. Igrew up in the 70’s where high fashion was considered a pair of Levi’s and Bruce Springsteen tee shirt. Then off to college we went and just as we graduated (well those of us who graduated when we should have and did not take the 17 year route like yours truly) entered the work force armed with our degrees and new books like Dress For Success, and GQ’s Guide to Looking Good. Soon the power tie was in and the Springteen shirt was out and as my friends and I climbed the corporate ladder of the 80’s, we dressed to impress. Even those of us without power jobs worked for companies that actually had a dress code and unless we were working the stock room or the docks, we were not permitted to wear jeans or tee shirts. I think it was somewhere in the 90’s when someone had the bright idea to make work less stressful and instituted dress down Fridays, or casual Fridays, and while I think it is fine to dress casual on Friday, that does not mean that I show up for work looking like I am ready to go to a Lynard Skynard concert. What I notice on an almost daily basis are people who for whatever reason just don’t seem to care what they are dressed like. It’s like we have become a society where we set the alarm to allow us to sleep until the last possible minute and then decide that it is okay to throw on a pair of jeans, sneakers and a casual shirt and show up for work. My question is when did we as a society stop taking pride in the way we looked? When did we decide it was okay to show up for work dressed like we were ready for a day of house chores instead of presenting ourselves to the business world. Until recently, I was just as guilty if not more so guilty than others. I did (and still do set the alarm until the last possible moment), I did come to work in jeans and tee shirts and sneakers and you know what? I felt horrible about myself, I felt embarrassed to sit in meetings where my colleagues had on a shirt and tie and was ashamed when I passed someone in the hall who took the time to put on a shirt and tie and I was dressed for the mall. Luckily, something hit me recently and I began dressing up for work. The first day I came to work in a shirt and a tie everyone told me how nice I looked, and by the end of two weeks people were telling how much better I looked and you know what? I feel more professional in a shirt and a tie than I do in jeans and a t-shirt with Bruce Springsteen and the E-Street Band on it. I have found that the more I care about my appearance, the more I care about my performance. You see, do to circumstances beyond my control I was caught up in a nearly two year depression that just consumed me and now that I am out of the depression, I am dressing better and feeling better about myself. Some readers might think (as I often thought) “they don’t pay me enough to dress up” ya know what? Yes they do!!!!!!! Now I not talking about high fashion or suggesting we should all turn into Carrie Bradshaw’s and spend our entire paycheck on clothes, but these days there are just too many bargain stores where you can shop and buy business attire for the same price or in some cases less money than you would spend on a pair of jeans. Has anyone priced a pair of jeans lately? They are running in at close to and in many cases OVER $100, and don’t even get me started on the cost of a concert tee shirt-for what I have spent on Bruce Springsteen tee shirts alone during his last three tours I could have bought a week’ worth of wardrobe. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t ever want to be the guy who spends his Saturday in a pair of khakis and a starched shirt and as long as Bruce is playing I will wear him proudly, but there is a time and a place for everything, and work is not the place to advertise your favorite band, that is unless your work in a CD store