Setting the Record Straight

I meant to post this on Friday since it relates to my work place on Fridays. If discussions of men's dress style (not fashion, mind you...STYLE) bore you, you might want to consider skipping this.

Okay, "business casual" means a man doesn't have to wear a suit. There should still be some semblance of professional bearing in dressing - after all, it is called "business casual" and not just "casual." This is why I wear button-up shirts and ties to work. I am in the distinct minority, however. While most of the other men do wear khakis or some kind of slacks, polo shirts and t-shirts are WAY too common, in my opinion. But I can overlook most of that. After all, I suppose it ranks fairly high in employee satisfaction that guys are allowed to show the world they can't dress themselves, so be it. (For the record, the women tend to dress far more appropriately for a business casual environment.)

Then comes "Jeans Friday." Every Friday, employees are allowed to wear blue jeans - and when the proverbial crap hits the fan. People turn into absolute slobs. Men "forget" to shave. Hooded sweatshirts. Baseball caps worn INSIDE all day (don't even get me started on caps worn backwards or (heaven forbid) sideways). T-shirts with logos or sayings on them that really shouldn't belong in a place of business. All of this includes men and women.

Now, I don't think I am a vain person when it comes how I dress. I don't have a large or excessive wardrobe. The clothes I do have are not even high quality. I just believe that a person should dress professionally when engaged in a professional livelihood. Because I haven't owned any jeans without holes in the knees or butt, I have been wearing slacks on Fridays, but no tie. I mentioned in an earlier post that I had bought some new jeans, so I wore them this last Friday. Holy Over-reaction Batman! You would have thought the end of the world had happened from the reaction of some of my co-workers. Steve is wearing jeans and no tie?!?

Even at Church today, where men 99.9% of the time wear suits, I was wearing one of my nicest shirts with French cuffs (long topic made short: the cuffs have no buttons and require cufflinks), with a pair of my dad's old cufflinks (which I'm sure he doesn't know I have...Hey Dad, I have your cufflinks!). Some folk thought it was "really cool" (read: "really strange") that I had cufflinks AND a pocket square (folded up handkerchief) in the breast pocket of my suit coat. These comments were from the younger fellows. I don't suppose the older gentlemen even noticed, and if they did, they probably just smiled and fiddled with their own cufflinks.

Do I think I am better than someone else because I dress better different? Good Heavens, no! There are many more capable and competent men out there in the world. I am just lamenting a culture shift that is moving away from what I would enjoy. As an anthropologist, I have been taught not to place any greater or lesser values on different cultures or cultural practices. However, in reality, it is much harder to shake my own pre-concieved notions of what is "right" - especially since I am a participant in that culture and not an outside observer.

To finish up in my defense: I do not own $300 or $400 shoes (which is generally a sign that a man takes his dressing WAY too seriously). My black and brown shoes cost me, respectively, $0 (military issue dress shoes from Basic Training) and $25. I'm not obsessive about this stuff...just aware.