Holy Moses, that series of revivals is … words fail me.
No shit. I have co-workers younger than the O.P.
However …
… I learned a new word today, so this thread revival served a useful purpose after all!
Please do not summon that particular demon back.
I sit in a cubicle all day and could be wearing a grass skirt and sandals for all most people who come by the office know. But I wear chinos and a dress shirt and tie. Nobody has ever told me I have to, though, just seems like I should. Management upstairs, who are much more front-facing to the tenants, dress more traditionally business-like, save for one manager who, I suspect, is in his IDGAF stage and often walks through my office wearing a sweatshirt, though I think he gussies up if he’s going to be meeting with the tenants. If I’m leaving for somewhere right from work, I’ll wear jeans; I should add that I don’t own any blue jeans at the moment, my denim is all grey.
When COVID hit I saw the writing on the wall “Now’s my chance to work full time from home”. I upgraded my home system. Better desktop, 43" curved screen. I did not ask work for a single dime. I was gonna be productive from home, and not complain about hardware. It’s mine. Did not need anything from work except a login so I could remote in.
I worked at a financial company for many years and watched the dress code loosen up. Except, that is, for my dept. Never mind that we were on a secured floor and were not only never seen by the public but were inaccessible to most other employees. The reason? Some big wig from “the early days” decreed it and nobody thought about changing it. The rules for our department were finally changed when we went to hybrid shifts after the return from COVID. Most people - especially the men- were thrilled and you saw everyone in jeans. I couldn’t see the appeal for wearing jeans in 90 degree weather, so I very rarely participated.
Popliteal, huh? Sounds like a word a coroner would use.
Well, I’m required to do so now, after that meeting with human resources after an unfortunate incident during an all-hands Zoom call.
Why would you have to wear pants if all that was showing was your hands?
My mistake may have been to remain undressed below the waist. And to stand up as I was presenting during the meeting.
My wife works in finance. A "naked call option" is a thing in finance. I know next time I exit the shower when she’s on a Zoom call while working remotely out of our bedroom, it doesn’t mean what I think it means.
I have worn slacks and tie to court (in pro se) and am always the best dressed defendant. One guy in the hallway thought I was an attorney even though I did not have a $600 suit on, just a tie, button down shirt and pants. Today court attire for many (not all) are “not my worst clothes”.
IMO, people producing professional work product is what creates a professional work environment. Where and when they are doing it and what they wear as they do is essentially irrelevant.
BTW - welcome.
If either of my parents had been on the jury, they would have been far more likely to acquit a defendant who dressed up, and far more likely to convict a defendant who dressed down. I know that may seem shallow, but juries are not completely rational, and any little bit helps.
Guess I’m old, too. What happened to “respect”? Show some respect for the deceased. Show some respect for the family. I’m not expecting people to show up wearing suit-and-tie, but at least a polo and khakis, not a ripped t-shirt and nasty jeans.
Nope; you just understand decorum.
BTW, welcome, and I love your user name 
Way to move the goal posts. I think most people would agree that would be disrespectful to wear, except nothing in what you quoted said anything about “ripped shirts & nasty jeans.” All they said was “shorts and t-shirts.”
Welcome to the SDMB!
I think that a big part of it is, honestly, many American men today simply do not own even a single suit.
U.S. society, as a whole, has grown far more casual, attire-wise, in the last 30 years, and unless you need a suit for work, a lot of guys – particularly those who are young enough that they never worked in a business-attire environment, or went to church when you were expected to wear a suit – simply don’t see the need for attire that (a) they would only rarely wear, and (b) isn’t something that they find comfortable to wear, because they’ve rarely, if ever, actually worn one.
I work in advertising and marketing. When I started my career, in the late '80s, business attire was absolutely the expectation at the places where I worked. In the late '90s, over the course of just two or three years, we rapidly went from “business attire every day” to “casual Fridays” to “business casual everyday.”
While I haven’t generally needed to wear business attire for work in decades, my primary client for the past nine years has always expected us to be either true “business attire” (suit and tie), or at least “nice business casual” (sportcoat, dress shirt, slacks); even before I worked on this client, I always tended to get at least a little dressy for in-person meetings with clients (sportcoat + dress shirt).
Anyway, even with less call for dressing up, I’ve always made sure to have a couple of nice suits, a couple of in-fashion ties, and a half-dozen dress shirts, in my wardrobe. And, my personal rule is that, if I’m going to a funeral (or a wedding), I wear a suit, unless I’ve been specifically instructed not to.
Anecdotes: in the past five years, I have twice had to go to funerals for parents of some of my college friends, in small towns in Wisconsin.
Actually, that’s what my BIL wore to my mother’s funeral. I didn’t move the goalposts of what is respectful; I gave an extreme example of what isn’t.
I can attest to the capacity of humans to not recognize the professional boundaries of “casual”. In the late 90’s our conservative aerospace business went from casual Fridays to casual every day (and I never saw our sector president more uncomfortable than during his videocast wearing a flannel shirt instead of a suit).
The very next day after the announcement, I was walking down the hall when I saw one of my scientists walking towards me (I managed about 50 people in a research department). He was wearing: running shoes and running shorts under an open lab coat. That was it.
I stopped him and we had a discussion about appropriate attire for “casual” as well as appropriate attire for working in a lab with dangerous chemicals.
While 90% of employees understand the line between casual and inappropriate, the rules tend to be written for the 10% that don’t (I call it the tyranny of the ten percent).
I attended the funeral of one of my wife’s friend’s mother about a decade ago and wore a black suit. Three different people approached me telling me what a wonderful service it was thinking I was employed by the funeral home.
Yes, welcome Nellie.
Agree 100%. I’m 64 years old.
Having everyone or anyone in a suit and tie or women’s equivalent seems harsh, cold and unwelcoming to me.
Was interviewing for a draftsman’s position (mapping) decades ago (like 4 of them). All the draftsman where wearing ties. WTF? Mapping in particular uses huge drawings. You are always leaning over them and reaching.