Do you dress with the day in mind?

[puzzlegal]

@thorny_locust

If what you’re asking about is only emotional issues: I think I’m more likely to wear something I particularly like on a day I’d expect to be upsetting, because I’d take a bit of comfort from, say, a favorite shirt given to me by somebody who cares about me.

Same

@thorny_locust

I don’t think any of this means that you’re weird; or, at any rate, weirder than humans in general are weird.

Also same.

[Patx2]

I do not, but I’m a teacher and my grade partner has said the more dressed up she is, the more stressed out she is. I’m not sure, maybe she’s focusing in on her wardrobe to take her mind off of things. It’s gotten a bit funny. I’ll look at her, and say, that bad, huh?

[LSLGuy]

@Patx2

the more dressed up she is, the more stressed out she is

That’s an interesting half-backwards way to say it.

It seems to say that dressing up causes her stress, when the real intent is to say that being stressed out causes her to dress up.

I’m not criticizing your writing, just pointing out a perfectly cromulent but also odd English idiom that caught my eye. English be weird.

@Patx2

I’ll look at her, and say, that bad, huh?

I wonder if her class kids have twigged to this? As in “Oh shit, Ms. Smith has high heels; we’re in for it!”

[Chronos]

I wear a tie for work (I know, plenty of other male teachers don’t, but I can never understand the rules for “business casual” and so I just play it safe), so “dressing for the day” largely consists of choosing which tie I’ll wear. For instance, on days when the Astronomy Club is meeting, I’ll wear one of my astronomical ties.

[Love_Rhombus]

@Chronos

wear a tie for work (I know, plenty of other male teachers don’t

I do too, partly bc I just have a bunch left over from high school and partly because it makes me feel like an adult.

[Patx2]

True, that was ass backwards how I said it. I absolutely see what you mean.

[Love_Rhombus]

I dunno, it made sense to me.

[LSLGuy]

It’s clear. I’m not suggesting it’s wrong. it’s just an oddity of English that we can form sentences that way. e.g. …

The more she wears high heels, the more her feet hurt.

IOW, the heels are the cause and the hurt is the effect.

But …

the more dressed up she is, the more stressed out she is

IOW, the more dressed up she is, that’s a sign that her stress caused her to dress up. IOW, the stress is the cause and the dress up is the effect.

Both formulations are good English. But it’s not always obvious which part is cause and which is effect. In normal speech, it’s best to put causes before effects. But there is an idiom that puts them in the other order. Deciding which usage the author intended is not always easy. Sometimes it’s very ambiguous.

[DemonTree]

@LSLGuy

IOW, the more dressed up she is, that’s a sign that her stress caused her to dress up. IOW, the stress is the cause and the dress up is the effect.

Both formulations are good English. But it’s not always obvious which part is cause and which is effect. In normal speech, it’s best to put causes before effects. But there is an idiom that puts them in the other order. Deciding which usage the author intended is not always easy. Sometimes it’s very ambiguous.

I think it’s putting it in the order ‘what you notice’; ‘what you conclude from it’.

As for the OP, I don’t think I often know in advance when I’m going to have a bad day, so I couldn’t really dress for it. Besides that, I usually wear the same few outfits day to day - a set for casual and a set for the office, back when we had one - so there isn’t much choice anyway. Only if I am going to some more formal occasion do I have to conciously think about what to wear.

[LSLGuy]

@DemonTree

I think it’s putting it in the order ‘what you notice’; ‘what you conclude from it’.

Bingo! I was struggling to say that succinctly and you nailed it. Thank you!!

Which also makes it clear the shift is in the POV of the telling. Which knowledge also gives us the clues needed to know how to reliably interpret the two clauses in the larger context.

Specifically:
This

The more she wears high heels, the more her feet hurt.

is told from the POV of the shoe-wearer even if written in the 3rd person.

But this

the more dressed up she is, the more stressed out she is

is told from the POV of the observer seeing her state of dress even if written in the 3rd person.