# Requesting: tales of people being inappropriately dressed
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/requesting-tales-of-people-being-inappropriately-dressed/693328
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
**Created:** [July 17, 2014, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/requesting-tales-of-people-being-inappropriately-dressed/693328 "2014-07-17T02:31:43Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 3
### Author:  [@Charlie\_Wayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Wayne)
#### Post date: [July 17, 2014, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/requesting-tales-of-people-being-inappropriately-dressed/693328/41 "2014-07-17T19:03:27Z")
> [@CheshireKat](#):
>
> When I got married, my mom gave her credit card to my younger brother and told him to buy a suit for the occasion.
>
> He showed up at my wedding in a peach suit, wearing sandals. I don’t even know where on earth he found a suit that color. We still laugh about it. He definitely stood out from every other man there, but I don’t think it bothered him at all.
Did you never see the movie Dumb and Dumber?
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### Author:  [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)
#### Post date: [July 17, 2014, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/requesting-tales-of-people-being-inappropriately-dressed/693328/42 "2014-07-17T19:07:12Z")
Good heavens, I just went to kohls ( a reasonably nice department store) and someone was shopping in big fuzzy sleepy slippers.
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### Author:  [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)
#### Post date: [July 17, 2014, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/requesting-tales-of-people-being-inappropriately-dressed/693328/43 "2014-07-17T19:13:25Z")
> [@Ruken](#):
>
> Another time I wore tails and white tie instead of short jacket and black tie.
_Monocle pops out_
I do declare! How could you make such a grievous mistake? 😛
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### Author:  [@Charlie\_Wayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Wayne)
#### Post date: [July 17, 2014, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/requesting-tales-of-people-being-inappropriately-dressed/693328/44 "2014-07-17T19:17:29Z")
I once interviewed candidates at a major university for a job as a computer programmer/analyst.
Dress is definitely more relaxed in that environment than in a bank or insurance company. But people still dress in a reasonable way. They don’t come to work in rags, for example.
The job advertisement was for experienced programmers and asked applicants to bring in samples of their work.
One young lady came in wearing the shortest mini-skirt I had ever seen (this was in 1978 and the mini-skirt was fairly rare at that time and absolutely never seen in the work environment). She also wore a ton of makeup and looked like a “painted lady” from the Neil Young song.
This young lady was extremely friendly and flirtatious to me. She acted as if she would be willing to have sex with me if I gave her the job. I decided I had best be absolutely professional with her and just “pretend” she was dressed appropriately and her behavior was appropriate too.
I asked her for the samples of her work and she said she just hadn’t gotten around to bringing any.
I decided that there was no way I would ever hire her before the interview even began based on her appearance. But I treated her exactly like any other applicant.
The interview ended like all others. I told her that if we were interested in giving her a job we would call her back within a week.
When we didn’t call her back, she called me and asked about her job. I told her we decided not to hire her because we preferred a more qualified candidate. She started to get pushy about it on the phone demanding to know what was wrong with her.
I told her that a large factor was that the ad asked for her to bring in samples of her work and she failed to do that.
She then started screaming at me over the phone claiming all kinds of crazy reasons why I was being unfair with her. She was a Phillipino and claimed I was a racist among other things.
I let her rant for five or ten minutes because I was finding it kind of entertaining but I pretended to treat her with a professional air. Finally, I just told her I had no more time to spend with her and she could take it up with the business office if she felt I had treated her unfairly. But I kept detailed notes of the entire interview and the subsequent phone conversation.
I then sent a letter to the Personnel Dept requesting that lady never be hired by the university in any capacity and sent along copies of my notes re her interview and phone call.
I must admit I was a little frightened by the experience. I wondered just what I would do if she sued the university and I wished I had taken some pictures of her as she appeared.
I considered installing a camera that would take pictures of all future applicants. But I was told it was not legal. So I didn’t.
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### Author:  [@Dr.Girlfriend](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Girlfriend)
#### Post date: [July 17, 2014, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/requesting-tales-of-people-being-inappropriately-dressed/693328/45 "2014-07-17T19:18:34Z")
> [@No\_umlaut\_for\_U](#):
>
> Very visible public service position, very obese (~5’6", 320#) coworker who shows up repeatedly in yoga pants and a thong which rode up to her natural waist, which was a good 3" above the top of the yoga pants. If she’d only worn a shirt which was about 6" longer, it wouldn’t have been quite so awful.
You reminded me of a co-worker at a previous job. Also short and obese, and also in a very visible position. She was the marketing manager at the credit union where I used to work, and one of her job duties was to go out to the businesses in the surrounding area and talk to the employees about joining the credit union. Co-worker was known to be somewhat slovenly in her appearance at times, even by the office’s normal business-casual standards, so the big boss made a point of telling her to make sure to dress very professionally when she went out.
Co-worker went out on her visits on more than one occasion in skin-tight thin sweatpants material capris, very visible panty lines- sometimes even the print on her undies visible through the pants, a sleeveless t-shirt with armholes that gaped to her waist and revealed her stained bra underneath, and sandals with white socks. The big boss happened to be in our office when co-worker came back from her rounds and when the boss saw co-worker the boss had a fit. Boss sent her home to change and then suspended co-worker for a couple of days. Co-worker came back from her suspension dressed in the same damn outfit and got fired on the spot. :eek: Not too bright, that one.
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### Author:  [@Charlie\_Wayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Wayne)
#### Post date: [July 17, 2014, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/requesting-tales-of-people-being-inappropriately-dressed/693328/46 "2014-07-17T19:22:25Z")
> [@Anaamika](#):
>
> Good heavens, I just went to kohls ( a reasonably nice department store) and someone was shopping in big fuzzy sleepy slippers.
Sounds like a good disguise for a shoplifter to use to divert attention away from their stealing.
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### Author:  [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)
#### Post date: [July 17, 2014, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/requesting-tales-of-people-being-inappropriately-dressed/693328/47 "2014-07-17T19:24:39Z")
Maybe a year ago, a man & woman showed up for sunday mass at my church. Mohawk haircuts (dyed blue & pink, respectively), leather clothes (including leather pants), and multiple piercings. The girl had a chain that connected her ear to her nose. Very much not the sort who you expect to see at a catholic church in the suburbs. As far as I know, there wasn’t any kind of punk rock festival going on, nor were they shooting a new Mad Max movie. I’m an usher at my church; I did my best not to cringe as I greeted them, but I don’t think I succeeded.
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### Author:  [@Kevbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kevbo)
#### Post date: [July 17, 2014, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/requesting-tales-of-people-being-inappropriately-dressed/693328/48 "2014-07-17T19:25:13Z")
I used to wait for a bus in downtown Denver. The panhandlers worked the people waiting for the bus. I was a poor college student, so no, I didn’t have any spare change. Except one time I gave a dollar to a guy that was wearing a stained tee shirt that said “Take this job and shove it!”
For you youngsters, that was a popular CW song in the early 80s. May have eve inspired a movie.
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### Author:  [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)
#### Post date: [July 17, 2014, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/requesting-tales-of-people-being-inappropriately-dressed/693328/49 "2014-07-17T19:33:49Z")
> [@Soylent\_Juicy](#):
>
> … work’s Christmas party…
That’s really all you had to say! 😛
For some reason, work related Christmas parties really bring out the most, um, interesting attire. Females account for 99% of the offences. Ours is billed as semi-formal, men are expected to wear at minimum a jacket and tie, ladies a nice dress. My wife and I just shake our heads at the choices some of these ladies make. I mean, if fabric could scream…
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### Author:  [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)
#### Post date: [July 17, 2014, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/requesting-tales-of-people-being-inappropriately-dressed/693328/50 "2014-07-17T19:35:44Z")
A lot of the folks going to the courthouse next to my office have wardrobe issues. Some are straight out of the Hollywood Gangbanger fashion guide. Others are dressed to live their life according to the Word of the Prophet, Jimmy Buffet. This is South Florida, after all. A lot of the ladies will be wearing their best clubbing clothes. I have some sympathy for these last. They at least are trying to look nice. They just don’t realize that looking nice doesn’t mean looking _Fine_. Or they don’t have nice clothing of the church-going variety.
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### Author:  [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)
#### Post date: [July 17, 2014, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/requesting-tales-of-people-being-inappropriately-dressed/693328/51 "2014-07-17T19:42:37Z")
Whenever I have an opportunity to sit and people-watch, I mentally grade people’s clothing choices. And I give points for effort. Just as **Hypno-Toad** says, some people at least _mean_ to look nice.
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### Author:  [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)
#### Post date: [July 17, 2014, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/requesting-tales-of-people-being-inappropriately-dressed/693328/52 "2014-07-17T19:46:54Z")
Eons ago, when I was a teen, my mom used to rag on me for wearing long hair (I’m a guy), ripped jeans, and the like.
One day, she was ragging on my clothing choices as usual, when I noticed she was dressed all in black. I asked her what that was about, and she said she was just back from a funeral for a friend-of-a-friend.
“What, in those shoes?!” I asked - she was wearing all black, but her shoes were bright red with giant cartoon ladybugs all over them.
“Yes, what’s wrong with my shoes? They are very stylish and expensive!”
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### Author:  [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)
#### Post date: [July 17, 2014, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/requesting-tales-of-people-being-inappropriately-dressed/693328/53 "2014-07-17T19:55:19Z")
> [@JuliaSqueezer](#):
>
> for my parents’ 50th wedding anniversary, we hosted a Sunday afternoon reception at a fancy historical hotel in their small town. The hotel has a destination restaurant and regionally famous head chef. We used an upstairs room and had catered hors d’oeuvres, open bar, wine trays and big dessert table. Fancy-schmancy invitations hinted at its fancy-schmanciness.
>
> A cousin’s wife showed up in white gym shorts with butt cheeks hanging out, a stretchy striped tube top and flip flops. I still don’t know if she even realized how bad she looked in comparison to the others there. He didn’t look much better.
>
> At one point she said to me “My kids are hungry. They don’t like those little sandwichy things. I thought you’d have like, ham and potato salad and stuff.” They left after a couple of hours and let us know they were going to find a burger place so they could get some “real” food.
>
> I had the best laugh later, when I got the photos developed. Their kids had grabbed the disposable cameras off the tables and stuck them down their pants. So there’s that.
While she doesn’t sound like a very classy lady, mismatched menu expectations may indicate a breakdown of communications between party-planner and guest. Or maybe she just couldn’t read 😛
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### Author:  [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)
#### Post date: [July 17, 2014, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/requesting-tales-of-people-being-inappropriately-dressed/693328/54 "2014-07-17T19:56:09Z")
A whole page & not one mention of People of Walmart?
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### Author:  [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)
#### Post date: [July 17, 2014, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/requesting-tales-of-people-being-inappropriately-dressed/693328/55 "2014-07-17T19:57:39Z")
> [@Charlie\_Wayne](#):
>
> …She also wore a ton of makeup and looked like a “painted lady” from the Neil Young song.
> …
That was [Ian Thomas](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ian_Thomas_%28Canadian_musician%29) actually. The brother of SCTV’s Dave Thomas.
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### Author:  [@Charlie\_Wayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Wayne)
#### Post date: [July 17, 2014, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/requesting-tales-of-people-being-inappropriately-dressed/693328/56 "2014-07-17T20:07:17Z")
> [@Leaffan](#):
>
> That was [Ian Thomas](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ian_Thomas_%28Canadian_musician%29) actually. The brother of SCTV’s Dave Thomas.
Oops. My mistake. Thanks for the correction.
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### Author:  [@joyfool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joyfool)
#### Post date: [July 17, 2014, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/requesting-tales-of-people-being-inappropriately-dressed/693328/57 "2014-07-17T20:20:17Z")
The three that spring directly to mind all involve my mother. \< sigh \>
1. Back when rat tails had long since gone out of fashion, my mother still sported one. Which she would proudly wear to church… in cleats. Not that she was trying to be eccentric, mind, she really saw nothing wrong with wearing cleats to church.
2. When I got married, we did so at home plate on a softball field. Our guests had chairs lined to watch our nuptials around the infield. Being the good daughter that I play on TV, good old mom was ensconced on the front row. For the occasion, she chose a white mini-skirt and matching jacket. At the time, mom was 45. Now, I give her credit just for dressing up and in a skirt no less. So that wasn’t really the problem. What was? The lack of underwear, turning my union into a horrible cut-rate parody of _Basic Instinct_. No Sharon Stone, that woman.
3. My mother-in-law passed away several years ago. My mother decided the proper attire would be a black sweatshirt with the Lipizzaner stallions emblazoned across the front.
No wonder I like Crocs.
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### Author:  [@Kimballkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimballkid)
#### Post date: [July 17, 2014, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/requesting-tales-of-people-being-inappropriately-dressed/693328/58 "2014-07-17T20:28:27Z")
I once wore white after Labor Day.
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### Author:  [@CheshireKat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CheshireKat)
#### Post date: [July 17, 2014, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/requesting-tales-of-people-being-inappropriately-dressed/693328/59 "2014-07-17T20:37:09Z")
> [@Kimballkid](#):
>
> I once wore white after Labor Day.
Shame on you! I’ll bet your mama taught you differently since you were knee high to a grasshopper. 😃
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### Author:  [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)
#### Post date: [July 17, 2014, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/requesting-tales-of-people-being-inappropriately-dressed/693328/60 "2014-07-17T20:40:38Z")
> [@Hypno-Toad](#):
>
> A lot of the folks going to the courthouse next to my office have wardrobe issues. Some are straight out of the Hollywood Gangbanger fashion guide. Others are dressed to live their life according to the Word of the Prophet, Jimmy Buffet. This is South Florida, after all. A lot of the ladies will be wearing their best clubbing clothes. I have some sympathy for these last. They at least are trying to look nice. They just don’t realize that looking nice doesn’t mean looking _Fine_. Or they don’t have nice clothing of the church-going variety.
I’ve had that problem with some clients. They just don’t own “acceptable” court clothes. We would get them some before trial.
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