Re the article below regarding appropriate fashion are off the shoulder dresses really all that much of a fashion etiquette faux-pas for dressy situations? I get that Vogue is annoyed but is it really that big a deal in 2017?
Sarah Palin Just Single-Handedly Ruined Off-The-Shoulder Tops For Half Of America
many religious places including the vatican require shoulders and knees to be covered out of respect.
whether or not you should dress that way in the white house, i guess, is determined by how much respect you think is necessary.
mc
Why does Trump have a gold brick on his desk?
I get all kinds of weird looks when I wear them, so I think the OP is onto something.
Why don’t you have a gold brick on your desk?
A gold brick for a goldbrick?
Daytime White House visits tend toward the business formal end of style so Mrs. Palin’s ensemble is more casual trendy that would usually be expected. Even though her top is lace, it does feel quite casual from the photo.
As for declaring the “death of the bare shoulder top,” that’s the standard over the top hyperbole journalism that’s ubiquitous in fashion magazines. It’s also ridiculously egotistical to declare a very popular style “dead” because a politician the journalist doesn’t like wore it. Obviously that writer is the fashion spokesperson for all of America.
Vogue did indeed recommend against (or at least, quoted someone who recommended against) open toes and uncovered shoulders for a White House visit, but note that the outfit that its writer wore cost $4,654.
I think they mean for a regular visit, when the president is wearing a regular suit.
Obviously they don’t mean for a REALLY dressy occasion, like a ball. Princess Di and many others have worn off-the-shoulder gowns for those. Melania wore one for the inaugural ball. Michelle Obama. Mike Pence’s wife. Nancy Reagan.
Vogue has a stick up its hypocritical ass. They publish photos of nearly nude teenagers to sell stuff (but it’s fashion!) but wag their fingers over open-toed shoes at the WH? Stupid. I’m not a fan of the Idiot Hat Trick that visited recently, but I’m not going to get on anyone about open-toed shoes.
Idiot Hat Trick. Ha! 
Another hat, Ted? Bro, you have little hair loss compared with your contemporaries. This is when you rub it in their faces.
Feh. Some people don’t know how to age gracelessly.
Note: Sarah is still nerdy hottish, Ted’s lady didn’t need the implants, and Kid’s lady would be hot just to see her face and hair. I will remain a sexist pig, but I won’t broadcast it again, today.
The more different occasions Vogue can concoct rules for, the more clothes its readers will need and the more ads it can sell. You wouldn’t want a woman to be caught wearing her casual afternoon pink baseball cap to a more formal evening pink baseball cap occasion, would you?
I thought the off the shoulder dresses/tops were inappropriately casual, but I was more taken aback by the gentlemen wearing hats indoors.
I thought her top was a little too casual, but not because it was off the shoulder – it was simply a casual summer top that was better suited for another occassion. The other woman’s dress was perfectly fine. This reminds me of all the fuss about Michelle Obama wearing sleeveless dresses.
I thought her outfit was hugely inappropriate for a White House Oval Office visit. Ditto the guy’s hats. Business attire is the only acceptable option, and business attire does not include hats or off-the-shoulder shirts. I’m not going to lose any sleep over the open-toed shoes.
Just a general comment here from someone who neither knows nor cares about “fashion” - it seems far too many people don’t know how to dress for certain occasions. I’ve read stories of people showing up to job interviews in jammy pants and flip-flops. I was at a wedding where the groom’s brother came in shorts, old boat shoes, and a polo short - he really looked great in the family photo. At my aunt’s funeral, her son-in-law came in a misshapen polo shirt, old, pilled polyester pants, and worn-down hushpuppies. I used to work in an aircraft rework facility, and one day, I watched a woman sashay across the hangar floor in a tight skirt, plunging ruffled blouse, spike heels, and quite a bit of jangly jewelry. Granted, she was one of the office workers, but even at that, she was dressed for clubbing, not filing.
I suppose on one hand, if your bits are covered, who cares? On the other hand, the way you present yourself says a lot about you. If you want to come across as a serious professional, you dress the part. Regardless of whether you think it’s right or not, people will make judgements about you based on your appearance, including your clothing and accessories. You can’t force people to ignore what’s right there in front of them.
Specifically regarding Palin - could she have looked any snarkier in the photo in front of Hillary’s portrait?
I don’t care what Palin wore in the White House, the fact that she was even there is more than enough to disgust me.
If they were there for some official business, I might want them to dress more formally. For a bunch of celebrities having their picture taken with other celebrities, I don’t see the problem. I think the magazine is grasping at straws to find some pretext to sneer at people whose politics they disagree with.
The “gold brick” looks to me like a humidor. Does Trump smoke? Maybe it’s Trump’s version of Reagan’s jelly bean jar.
This is the kind of question advice columns and etiquette columns constantly get about appropriate dress for different occasions. I do not know how or why this knowledge has been lost over the years. I know it’s boring, but if you go to the White House, to church, on a job interview in an office, to meet with a lawyer or banker or clergyman, to meet the pope or a head of a country, you should not dress to show off your assets, or as if you just walked in off the beach. No flip flops or shorts or t-shirts. No strapless/braless/or huge cleavage. No micro-minis, or tights, or yoga pants. You aren’t there to troll for a sex partner or recruit bros for a volleyball game. Wear real shoes, cover up your bits, look boring and proper with a shirt and skirt, a shirt and real pants, or a nice dress. What’s so hard about that? (my own addition: at weddings, don’t try to detract from the bride. I know one mother in law who showed up wearing an egg-yolk yellow suit and hat (with feathers!). Don’t wear black, black is for mourning. Don’t wear white, it looks like you’re competing with the bride. Yes, yes, I know I am just ‘full of it’ and stupid and wrong and old-fashioned. Those are my rules.)
We should seriously ENCOURAGE Trump to smoke. “Hey, Don! FDR chain-smoked cigarettes and was re-elected THREE TIMES! Can I get you a carton of Camel straights?”
Some of us poor assholes just get bad advice. A friend of my wife’s got married at a seaside resort in Maine several years ago. A daytime wedding in a casual setting, and I asked the Ukulele Lady if I should pack along a suit and necktie. She said NAHHHHHH, it’s casual.
So I showed up at the reception in khakis and a striped shirt, and was the only man there not in a suit and tie. SHE looked great and perfectly appropriate in her summer dress and flats.