Remember Those Days?

I want you to think back years ago.  Times have changed.  It’s amazing how it has changed so much though in such a short period of time.   I say this because of  an article I read --  “North Dakota high school eliminates dangerous threat to male students: Yoga pants”.   Years ago it was the Sears catalog where all the boys looked.  It wasn’t at the girl sitting in front of them.

From grade school to high school and even in college, every school I attended had a dress code.  It wasn’t just schools that had dress codes either.  There were just some places we would never go without dressing “properly” and that especially meant going to work.  Remember those days? 

The first time I realized things were changing at school was with my grandkids. What I was surprised at was how some of the teachers dressed – not the kids. I’m not sure if there was a dress code for students but there certainly wasn’t much of one for the teachers.    When we were in school teachers were expected to be an example from the top of their heads to the bottom of their feet.  Remember those days? 

We never went to church wearing anything but our Sunday best.  We certainly never thought about going to town or the airport without dressing up.    For a woman to consider going to work, a meeting or any important gathering in slacks … well, that was just not heard of either.

As a female we even had a special class in school that was just for us.  The class was all about coordinating polka dots, stripes or NOT. It wasn't about wearing slacks or skirts. We already knew the answer to that one. However, guys had guidelines too.  They were expected to tuck in their shirts and look well-groomed right down to the shave and haircut.  That included wearing a belt to hold up those jeans and not let them slip down to their knees.  Now do you remember those days?

Things have definitely changed.  Can you imagine showing up for school or work wearing yoga pants or even jeans? What about the jeans with the holes in them or even the pajamas we see at the markets today?  What would have happened had you showed up wearing shorts.  Can you imagine going out that front door with rollers in your hair?  Today I would ask … who uses rollers?  Actually, there’s no reason to even answer any of those questions because we all know what would have happened.  In that time, we would never have considered it.  Was it because pride prevented it or were we just afraid others would point a finger and talk about us?

Well, I don’t know what’s good or not so good. We all see things differently.  I know I certainly like my yoga and stretch pants.  They are much more comfortable than the jeans because jeans restrict how much we can eat where the yoga pants don't.  That can be good or it can be bad.  

What about this dress code?  What about it?  I may not know but I do know it’s more fun people watching today than it used to be.

‘Tis life on the road.

“A woman's dress should be like a barbed-wire fence: serving its purpose without obstructing the view.”