I often wished, back in those days, that our school would institute uniforms. Not for the students, but for staff. Some of the stuff my colleagues wore looked as if they had just finished cleaning their garage and hurried into school. Still others appeared as if they merely grabbed something out of a donation bin. It was sad how many of them wore tennis shoes every single day.
But I also wanted the simplicity of a uniform for myself. It would save me a lot of time and money. It would free up a ton of closet space in my teensy little house, where I was already using two skinny closets and a dresser. I dreamed about just slinging on the same outfit every day, or some variation thereof. It seemed like Freedom.
Now I'm retired, and I've adopted the Uniform Policy that I longed for. In cooler weather, I almost exclusively wear black leggings. The tops are interchangeable, depending upon how warm I need to be. Thick sweatshirts and sweaters, long shirts, boho flowy shirts, with a black cami underneath as needed. In warmer weather, stretch denim shorts with a long inseam and those same boho tops with long sleeves. Camis underneath, usually. Slip-on Vans-style shoes in black, grey, and brown leather and faux leather.
I've learned that I dislike jeans--they don't keep me warm and they aren't comfy. I sit all folded up, and jeans don't move with me. Their fabric gets cold. I don't like the waistband and button and zipper. It feels...bulky. I don't like that. And do not get me started on bras. I avoid them whenever I can, which is 80% of the time. Thank you, spandex camisoles.
Do I have to constantly remove cat hair from my leggings? SIGH. YES. Do I remember back when I said I would never wear leggings and that I would ban them as public outerwear? SIGH. YES. I consider those two facts to be Minor Inconveniences.
I'm wondering--do you have an Unofficial Uniform? When did it happen?
I work at a university and my co-workers are slobs, particularly the faculty members. Like...have some dignity for your chosen career, my friends!
ReplyDeleteMy uniform is generally a dress/tights/scarf or tunic/leggings/scarf. It's comfortable, but looks polished. And it means I don't have to think very much when I get dressed in the morning.
NGS--I'm sorry to hear that the lack of professionalism continues on the university level among faculty. I think it's important to look one's best.
DeleteI was addicted to sweater dresses and fleece-lined tights when I first retired and couldn't quite get completely casual yet. And boots. So comfy and yet very put-together.
Isn't it great to have a GoTo Look?
I was a substitute teacher for a few years. I was SO surprised at what most of the teachers wore. What on earth? I felt like their dress set the tone in the classroom and it really was unprofessional. I love that you were a mystery to your students.
ReplyDeleteI enjoy getting dressed up on special occasions, but they happen rarely. In our house, we steer clear from wearing jeans to church - even the Saturday mass, but as the kids get older there's less I can do about that. I do wear jeans and I like them, but I only wear comfy jeans. My AG brand jeans feel like butter. I like leggings a ton, but I don't wear them as much in the dead of winter, because I don't think they are warm enough. Basically I wear leggings or jeans or workout pants when I babysit, with long sleeve t-shirts or zip up jackets/sweatshirts. I like layers. I also prefer pockets when I'm babysitting. As soon as my snotty, spit-up-making clients exit, I change my clothes if I'm going somewhere. I put on a casual outfit - but typically a slightly nicer, more put together look.
Ernie--You make the perfect point--the clothes of the teacher Set The Tone. I am a small woman and I needed to command the room immediately. One of the ways I did that is by the way I dressed.
DeleteBack when I was still RC and attending Mass, I was dismayed at how quickly people's dress eroded. Shorts and flipflops in the summer, jeans and sweatshirts in the fall. I mean, the important part is, of course, that Catholics attend Mass, but it seemed tacky. (At my niece's wedding, one of the altar girls was wearing jeans and flipflops under her vestments. Inexcusable.)
Pockets! I find them indispensable. I only buy leggings that have them on the leg. Gotta have those pockets.
Your wardrobe sounds fun and comfy.
ReplyDeleteI don't have a uniform... but I do care a lot less about trends and have a better sense of what suits me as I get older. At work a lot of people wear logo-ed clothes with the college name on it, and I will not... I do not want to dress like everyone else. (Maybe that comes from a lifetime of catholic school uniforms, who knows?)
maya--Agree, agree about reaching A Certain Age and dressing for myself and not following trends and styles. I'm not about logos or graphics or slogans, either.
DeleteI can imagine that spending years and years in uniforms can make a sizeable impact on your style later. I'd probably never want to wear plaid (if that was your uniform) again in my life. I'd probably eschew anything that reminded me of those clothes and revel in Choice.
I work from home, and I take my daily walk before work, so my uniform in the morning is yoga pants and a t-shirt. I get home from my walk just before 8am, so I don't have time to shower and get dressed. Once I do, then in the summer it is capris and a thin flowy top, and in the winter it is jeans and a sweater. Spring and fall are more complicated and sometimes involve wardrobe changes mid-day as the temperature changes.
ReplyDeleteWhen I worked in an office we had zero dress code, and people would often wear t-shirts. My boss decided to wear one once, and it seriously looked like he pulled it from the bottom of the hamper. It was SO WRINKLED. Someone commented on it, saying something snide like, "Nice of you to dress up today, Jim", and he didn't catch on that if you were going to wear a t-shirt, perhaps it could look clean and like it was at one point in it's life folded neatly. He just thought everyone else could wear t-shirts but not him.
My first job without a uniform, we had to wear dresses or skirts, no slacks allowed. When I moved to another job, at a university, we could wear whatever we wanted, and it took me quite awhile to adjust to being able to wear slacks. Even when I was cleaning out dusty boxes and so on, there I was in my dress and hose and heels. Eventually I relaxed, but it took awhile. At that point I was the youngest person in the office, and I felt like I needed to look professional if possible.
J--I think many men don't notice or care about wrinkles. If they're married, people probably say, "How did their wives let them out of the house like that?", which is unfair, of course.
DeleteI have short legs, so capris make me look boxy and even shorter than I am. My sister keeps telling me that no, I'm being silly, but I don't like the way they make me look.
The word Slacks--I rarely hear or see that word used anymore for women or men. It seems like it's been replaced by the term Dress Pants, at least around here. I wonder if it's falling out of use a bit.
(I just did a bit of googling, and it seems that, according to The Interwebs, Slacks is considered "dated" in usage. I guess we're old.)
LOL, look up the word 'dated' in the dictionary, and you will likely find my picture. When I was writing my comment, I thought, "Slacks? Who says slacks anymore?" but I went ahead with it because the term 'dress pants' didn't occur to me.
DeleteYou're right about many men not noticing wrinkles, though these were SO HORRIFIC that it was another man who made the comment. The women were too diplomatic, I think. It seriously looked like the shirt had been thrown to the bottom of a pile, while damp, and allowed to dry in a big wad. Horrific.
Also, BAH on the it's in my original comment. I know YOU don't care, but I hate when I make a mistake that is actually a pet peeve of mine.
DeleteJ--No, I don't care a whit about mistakes in Comments. I'm just so darned happy to have comments to chat about. But I get that it peeves you.
DeleteI've decided to bring back Slacks, and I'm going to use the word profusely in your honour. BRING BACK SLACKS! (It's our campaign slogan.)
YES! I'm going to a Holiday party on Friday, and I WILL BE WEARING MY SLACKS!
DeleteJ--I'm attending a wedding in December, and it's in a judge's chambers. Do you think SLACKS are okay, or should I buy a dress?
DeleteI am with you on the unofficial uniform! I wear leggings as often as possible. They are just so comfortable! Like you, I once pooh-poohed them, but I have come around to their irresistible magic.
ReplyDeleteSuzanne--We were seduced by the Siren Song of their comfort and their basic black.
DeleteWe are Business Casual at work, and as you've seen on my blog, I wear all kinds of different things that aren't jeans. I like mixing it up and not looking the same every day. HOWEVER, I have three pairs of black pants that I've had for probably a decade, and they usually form the foundation for my week.
ReplyDeleteWhen I'm at home it's yoga pants, t-shirts, & a zip up hoodie (I like something with sleeves that I can yank off easily when I get hot), and NO BRA. Alas, I do have to wear one outside the house. I do wear jeans out & about, but you're right - they are not comfortable.
Bug--It's upsetting to know that a woman invented the bra, isn't it? They've certainly gone on to become Instruments Of Torture (bras, not women, although a case could be made for both at some point, I guess).
DeleteI think Business Casual has gotten sort of muddied up, too. Does anyone even know exactly what that means anymore?
Way back in the day at my company the dress code was suits and ties for men and appropriate business wear for women. Then it brought in Casual Friday - no jeans though. Then when we got bought out things stayed the same for a while...and then they allowed jeans on Casual Friday and so on and now we can dress casual all the time. For a while there, things were ok. But now? Hoodies, leggings, graphic tees. I'm fully expecting someone to show up in the jammies one of these days.
ReplyDeleteGigi--I often lament the General Casualization Of America. I mean, look at the way people dress on airplanes and in restaurants. It's horrid. I simply cannot stand seeing ONE MORE PERSON in pajama pants in the grocery store. Or one more man wearing a hat in a restaurant.
DeleteYour workplace is no doubt trying to be accommodating to the younger workforce, which often expects a more lax dress code (or lack thereof). I find it sad. I prefer people at work to look and act like They Are At Work. But...I am Old.
I certainly do! And it does not include either stretch tights or anything boho. Boho(?) Stretch jeans, although I am with you on the bulky zipper thing or stretch trousers with an elastic waistband. (Ah!), cotton tee and as many sweaters as the weather requires. (Today that is two, one cotton and a wool one on top of that.) Do I look like something out of Nightmares of the Arctic. Yes. Do I care. No
ReplyDeleteI can envision you tap-tapping into your classroom, polished and ready to jump on any errant apostrophes you found. I spent a lot of years in pantsuits, formal ones, with polished loafers; that worked as a uniform for me. It was pantsuits because I was, then, newly released from the demand that Woman Wear Skirts. Don't get me started on nylons with seams that had to be attached to a girdle or other instrument of torture with toggles. Just go with me on the pantsuits,
Damn this is funny. I am coming back to the comments; love it.
Mary--If I feel I have to wear more than one sweater, I turn up the heat. Or, if I am stationary for a time, I put a heating pad at my back. I refuse to bundle up as if I am at a Scout Camp-Out.
DeleteYes, I did tap-tap a lot at my school since it had terrazzo floors, and my classroom had its original hardwood. Those few extra inches my highheels provided helped me look less diminutive behind my lectern (or at least I thought).
I was also a fan of pants/slacks (see my discussion with J, above) and smart jackets. Thankfully, I never had to worry about nylons that attached to girdles although I remember my mother's and her battles with them. She referred to her girdle as That Damn Girdle, and hated it immensely, being always a stout person.
Please look into the miracle fabric that is Polar Fleece. I love that stuff. It warms me instantly.
My unofficial uniform for winter/cooler days is leggings and a longer top to cover my assets. I workout at least four days, so this could also be my workout gear. When its hot (most of the time in FL) I wear denim or workout shorts and a t-shirt; my orthotic flip flops or sneakers.
ReplyDeleteI do like wearing jeans and have several that are comfortable, but can't wear them during the day in the warm months or I'll die.
I stopped wearing underwire bras at the beginning of the pandemic and I could never go back. Soft bras for the win!
I remember when I was working as a hair stylist: I spent all day in a fashionable outfit with while wearing PUMPS. Now, I can't imagine walking as far as the mailbox wearing pumps. *sigh*
BB Suz--My former hairstylist (pre-Susie) always wore high heeled espadrilles and open toed shoes and sandals. I didn't get that. Why would you want your feet covered in other people's hair?
DeleteThe heels I couldn't fault since I wore them all the time myself.
Who the heck invented underwire bras? I'll bet it was a man. Perhaps a woman should invent and market the Underwire Jockstrap or Underwire Banana Hammock.
Another member of the Sisterhood Of The Leggings! What did we do before they became into our lives?