After years of taking a less-than-attentive approach to all things sartorial, I’ve decided it’s time to smarten up a bit and make more of an effort to dress better. So in addition to losing weight and working out, I’ve started to pay attention to how things actually fit and how I can put together a clean, smart look without breaking the bank. I stay pretty well-groomed and keep my nails trim, and I can even tell you the difference between a blucher and an oxford, but I draw the line at getting a manicure.
Anyway, how much effort do you make to dress well? Does it matter much to you, or are you comfortable in sweatpants, baggy t-shirts and fleeces? Do you have a style, or do you go for whatever’s reasonably clean and within reach?
It depends on what I am doing that day. I live alone, and if I am not going anywhere, I prefer to wear a t-shirt, a size larger than I need (more comfortable) and I like to buy inexpensive t-shirts, because that way it doesn’t matter if I spill anything on them, etc. Sometimes when clothes are expensive, one obviously has to be more careful with them. Of course, if I were going out on a date, I would dress well, and set my hair and wear make-up. I think some women look worse by trying to do too much, for example, I think the dark (black) nail polish I see on women looks terrible. In addition, sometimes if I am fatigued, I wear pajamas during the day in my apartment. Also, sometimes in the winter, I will wear a coat over my pajama top, and go to the grocery store, etc.
The better I dress the better I feel, and my one major regret about no longer working an office job is that I have no excuse to dress up. I used to be a tweed skirt and cashmere sweater kind of girl.
I’m a stay at home mom now. I usually wear dark-wash jeans and a cute sweater with earrings and a bracelet or necklace. I wash and blow out my hair every day, have a minimal makeup routine that I often embellish upon, get regular haircuts and eyebrow waxes, and keep my toes pedicured in the summer. I do too much housework for manicures to be worth it. I also try to eat well and go to the gym regularly.
Now that I’m working at home, if I’m not going anywhere, it’s sweats and a shirt and a flannel most of the day.
That being said, I usually go somewhere EVERY day, so I go get ready and take a shower,wash my hair, blow dry and curl it, put on makeup, dress in jeans, a nice shirt, and tennis shoes. Unlike Sattua I don’t put on jewelry - I always always were the same jewelry and never take it off so I don’t have to do that step. Then I go out and do what I’ve got to do. But when I get back home, it’s back on with the sweats and shirt and the flannel. Actually, now that I think about it, even if I DID go into the office, I would still wear jeans. We can do that.
And yes, to me it does matter - I don’t want to ever leave the house in anything less than clean, pressed, and in good condition clothes, and I won’t go out without doing my hair and at least minimal makeup.
If I had a choice in the matter, I would live exclusively in jeans, T-shirt/sweatshirt and sneakers.
As it is, I go to work in dockers and a button-down shirt or a sweater…and of course, still have to put on a suit and tie for important meetings with clients.
I HATE, HATE, HATE getting “dressed up” in any fashion. I don’t think I look good at all in a suit and tie, and what’s more, I feel phony in that get-up. This all has to do, no doubt, with when I grew up and my hippie roots!
I have a good friend who says “I love wearing a tie.” This is completely beyond my comprehension, both from a looks and even more so from a comfort standpoint.
It has long been my contention that the world is fucked up because the majority of decisions on how it is run are made by men wearing button-up shirts and ties, which cuts off blood flow to the brain. (I’m kidding…and yet, not entirely.)
I go with a statement my dad made years ago, which I’ve no doubt quoted here in the past. He memorably said “I would rather take a beating than wear a tie.”
I wear a shirt and tie to work practically every day. Three or four days out of the week it’s a full suit; occasionally I drop down a step to a blazer. There’s a sort of a rotation–I don’t wear a given suit, combo, or pair of shoes more than once a week, a given shirt or tie more than once month.
Yes, it makes a difference–a psychological one, to me. I think better when I’m wearing a tie. I think BEST when I have a full suit on.
I dress well. I never put my foot down the wrong side of my trousers, and I button my shirt correctly every time. I haven’t had a problem with which shoe goes on which foot since first grade. I must admit I did go out in public not too long ago with my shirt on wrong side out, though.
It kind of sucks for me because I don’t get the chance to dress well very often.
I work from home and have done so since I was in my 20s. I don’t see anyone all day, so it’s just jammies for me. I do go out every day - to the gym. But then I’m in gym clothes and being that I’m a fat person it’s not gym clothes but gym clothes
If I go to the store it’s before or after the gym. I don’t have time to gussy up for the grocery store, so it is what it is.
When I do end up going out on the weekends, I look pretty decent. But it’s hard to keep on top of looking good when you literally only wear “clothes” like every two weeks. Blah.
I never turn down a wedding invite because it’s a chance for me to buy a new dress and wear jewelry and look good and stuff.
I have some pretty great resale shops around here. All my every day clothes are from resale, so they’re a step up from jeans and t-shirts. Still jeans or Chino type pants, mind you, but nicer embellished tops and tunics, no t-shirts. This way, I can also afford better shoes and undergarments, so I have comfortable feet in euro style shoes and good bras. I’d say I have a casual style, but one that goes anywhere and most venues save a restaurant with a dress code. I do have a couple outfits to use for those type places, or night clubs. Don’t do much of that kind of going out any more, though. Maybe a couple times a year.
I’m shaped rather spherically, so getting clothes that fit is kind of a pain. The ones I buy are fairly nice, but I wear them over and over and they fall into disrepair. My office is very casual, so I usually do khakis and a casual button-up, switching to jeans on Friday and through the weekend.
I’ve decided to start dressing a little better, in an effort to feel a little better. I just got measured for my first custom suit, and if I like it when it comes in I’m going to get some more pants and a sport coat from the same maker and step my daily game up a little bit.
I dress as necessary to blend in in whatever venue I expect to be. I do think that matters, because to do otherwise is to crash the tone of the event/venue, and I think it’s disrespectful of the other people present. Example, a person who would attend a funeral in jeans and t-shirt when everyone else is wearing suit&tie is an ill-mannered, self-centered boor.
Having said that, I’m most comfortable in jeans and T-shirt, though I’ll dress up as the occasion dictates. I hate suits and ties; I had to buy one for a funeral three years ago, because it had been over a decade since the last time I wore one. I’m thankful that I have a job in a lab where I can blend in with a jeans and a golf shirt (and steel-toed boots).
My wife and I occasionally go out for dinner to an upscale restaurant, i.e. for two of us the bill comes to $150-$200. I wear khakis and a button-front shirt, which is about the right level. And yes, I look askance when I see another diner in jeans and T-shirt;
I wear jeans and T-shirts when it’s warm, jeans and sweat shirts when it’s not.
A few years ago, we had customers visiting the building where I work. Our CEO made a point of telling me that I had to wear dress pants, so I went out and bought a pair, along with a dress shirt to go with them. Apparently me wearing any sort of dress clothes is enough of a notable occasion that when one of the managers saw me wearing them she took my picture.
Casual for me. Rarely, psychological comfort will take precedence (weddings, funerals, etc.) and I’ll rent a suit. That comfort is a relative thing, though, because I’ll feel relaxed at the event but self-conscious on the way there.
I work at a place without a dress code, and I wear anything from jeans and a pullover sweater, to a dress with jewelry and heels. It depends on how I feel and if I’ll have to do any work with filthy books that day.
Filthy as in covered in decades of dust, not raunchy.
I enjoy dressing up, but I also enjoy having the choice not to do so. I would hate having to work somewhere you had to wear a uniform, or where you had to fall on one end of the formality spectrum or the other and stay there.
Edit: I just want to say, too, that dressing formally doesn’t mean being uncomfortable. Wearing a dress and comfortable flats or well-made heels can feel just as good as wearing jeans and a sweater. Or better, if you’re wearing jeans that are too tight in the waist or an itchy sweater.
Then I go out and do what I’ve got to do. But when I get back home, it’s back on with the sweats and shirt and the flannel. Actually, now that I think about it, even if I DID go into the office, I would still wear jeans. We can do that.
