# The main factors in why people dress down much more today compared to previous generations? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [October 11, 2012, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-main-factors-in-why-people-dress-down-much-more-today-compared-to-previous-generations/637447 "2012-10-11T19:10:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 12
**Author:** ![Indistinguishable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/90ced4/32.png) [@Indistinguishable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indistinguishable)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2012, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-main-factors-in-why-people-dress-down-much-more-today-compared-to-previous-generations/637447/221 "2012-10-13T19:37:49Z")
> [@BMalion](#): > > Doesn’t look like the “red carpet” to me. :rolleyes: [Here](http://www.tshirtwatch.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2007/07/cwp-adam-sandler-zooyork.jpg), this is better. Of course a T-shirt and jeans isn’t standard red carpet attire (to which we should all say: So what? We’d look ridiculous constantly dressing as though we imagined ourselves on the red carpet…), but the guy can wear what he wants, and no one’s gonna give him shit. His image isn’t wrapped up in suits, and whatever you may think about him, there’s no denying that he has a successful, enviable life. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2012, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-main-factors-in-why-people-dress-down-much-more-today-compared-to-previous-generations/637447/222 "2012-10-13T20:49:46Z")
> [@Bouncer](#): > > Stop taking thoughts out of my head before I have them! I would only add that the companies needed the nerdy people badly enough that they waived a lot of the usual rules, and it became the norm. I can remember a time when hiring perks included leased BMWs for kids straight off the street. > > Regards, > -Bouncer- Except a lot of the companies got founded by the nerdly poorly dressed people. Jobs and the Woz weren’t fashion plates from the beginning. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2012, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-main-factors-in-why-people-dress-down-much-more-today-compared-to-previous-generations/637447/223 "2012-10-13T21:33:11Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > Jobs and the Woz This fall, on ABC. ---
**Author:** ![GreenElf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de053/32.png) [@GreenElf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreenElf)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2012, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-main-factors-in-why-people-dress-down-much-more-today-compared-to-previous-generations/637447/224 "2012-10-13T22:41:05Z")
I haven’t bought a suit since I was in college, and it no longer fits me. I’m waiting to lose some weight before buying another suit because they’re expensive. I’ve been waiting very patiently. ---
**Author:** ![Hey\_Hey\_Paula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hey\_Hey\_Paula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_Hey_Paula)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2012, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-main-factors-in-why-people-dress-down-much-more-today-compared-to-previous-generations/637447/225 "2012-10-14T00:21:26Z")
> [@kambuckta](#): > > We’re just way too cool to heed fashion. > > 🆒 Yeah, we don’t follow fashion - that’d be a joke! ---
**Author:** ![Troppus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a587f6/32.png) [@Troppus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troppus)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2012, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-main-factors-in-why-people-dress-down-much-more-today-compared-to-previous-generations/637447/226 "2012-10-14T00:31:01Z")
> [@Hey\_Hey\_Paula](#): > > Yeah, we don’t follow fashion - that’d be a joke! They’re doing it over there, but they don’t do it here. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2012, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-main-factors-in-why-people-dress-down-much-more-today-compared-to-previous-generations/637447/227 "2012-10-14T00:35:54Z")
> [@Enginerd](#): > > That’s the current style. Mmmm, steak and onions on my belt. ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2012, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-main-factors-in-why-people-dress-down-much-more-today-compared-to-previous-generations/637447/228 "2012-10-14T02:13:18Z")
I wish to take a moment to note that my mother in law wears a suit to fly on an airplane, and judges others for not doing so. She also got into a row with my wife a few years ago because she bought my wife a skirt, blouse and blazer _with shoulder pads_ and insisted she wear it to an upcoming job interview. The thing was seriously straight out of a parody of the early eighties. Then when my wife resisted, she amazingly told my wife she needed to stop worrying about fashion and just wear the right thing. Which. Is. What. Fashion. _IS_! ---
**Author:** ![Trick\_Rider](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Trick\_Rider](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trick_Rider)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2012, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-main-factors-in-why-people-dress-down-much-more-today-compared-to-previous-generations/637447/229 "2012-10-14T04:07:47Z")
I’d be more inclined to believe that GQ is a troll if I didn’t already know someone like this. Last time I saw him, he was wearing a suit and fedora to 50 cent wing night and looked ridiculous. Everytime I dress up, I feel like that guy. Most places I go, I look just fine in jeans and a T-shirt. I will sometimes were a button-down short-sleeved shirt. But anything approaching dress clothes makes me feel like I’m wearing a costume. The OP keeps bringing up the boost in confidence that dressing up gives a person, but it has the opposite effect for me, and I’d be willing to bet that a lot of people feel the same way. ---
**Author:** ![gamerunknown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/6bbea6/32.png) [@gamerunknown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gamerunknown)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2012, 10:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-main-factors-in-why-people-dress-down-much-more-today-compared-to-previous-generations/637447/230 "2012-10-14T10:29:13Z")
> [@BMalion](#): > > Doesn’t look like the “red carpet” to me. :rolleyes: Only Henry Rollins was on an actual red carpet and according to the wiki article the traditional red carpet events are the Met Ball, the Academy Awards and Baftas. I concede few people, if any, turn up to those in jeans and a T-shirt. ---
**Author:** ![Frisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@Frisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frisco)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2012, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-main-factors-in-why-people-dress-down-much-more-today-compared-to-previous-generations/637447/231 "2012-10-14T15:58:24Z")
For whatever it is worth, I’ve walked the red carpet at the Emmy Awards, wearing a tux. I’ve gone to the hardware store with bed head and a more-stained-than-not t-shirt. My pinstripe suits have been on the trading floor of the NYSE, and I’ve worn sweatpants to the grocer. And I’ve stood inches away from U.S. Presidents, wearing suits every bit as nice as they were wearing. I can tell you from personal experience that many people treat me better - noticably better - when I’m dressed nicer. When I dress up, I am usually making a statement of respect for the people I’m with. When I dress down, I am not. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2012, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-main-factors-in-why-people-dress-down-much-more-today-compared-to-previous-generations/637447/232 "2012-10-14T16:00:46Z")
> [@Trick\_Rider](#): > > . The OP keeps bringing up the boost in confidence that dressing up gives a person, but it has the opposite effect for me, and I’d be willing to bet that a lot of people feel the same way. You are right. Anything with lapels might as well be a zoot suit as drawn by Tex Avery. And I doubt there’s been a social benefit: sure, now nobody has to be the guy with the worn-shiny spots of wool, or the ill-fitting off the rack suit next to the richer guy in the tailored or custom-made suit. But somebody is still always fatter or balder or yellower of tooth or whatever else that dressing-up was supposed to balance out with some dignity. ---
**Author:** ![Uber\_the\_Goober](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/58956e/32.png) [@Uber\_the\_Goober](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uber_the_Goober)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2012, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-main-factors-in-why-people-dress-down-much-more-today-compared-to-previous-generations/637447/233 "2012-10-14T16:41:31Z")
Ya know guys, sometimes trolls dress nicely too. This guy, whether he knows it or not, is a better candidate for the subject of a pitting rather than the OP of one. He’s an elitist, as his name suggests, and espouses values that aren’t shared by other people. He views these people as somehow deficient or ignorant. That makes him a douchebag. He’s probably not coming back here, at least not under that username. He’s not gonna be convinced, because he’s in love with himself and his perception of what other people see in him. ---
**Author:** ![Mapache](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/58956e/32.png) [@Mapache](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mapache)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2012, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-main-factors-in-why-people-dress-down-much-more-today-compared-to-previous-generations/637447/234 "2012-10-14T18:58:04Z")
[quote=“digs, post:210, topic:637447”] Oh, do remind me to die in Hawaii. [QUOTE] Well, you don’t actually have to die to dress da kine local style. i lived there for seven years and never owned a suit or tie, and the pair of shoes I was wearing when I got off the plane slowly curled up and dried out in the back of the closet. The only people you saw wearing suits were either lawyers, defendants going to court, or extras on Hawaii 5-0. And here in Mexico almost all politicians, bankers and lawyers usally wear slacks, jeans, or Indian-style loose white pants with tenis and a light leather jacket or a guayabera shirt if it’s hot. And I still don’t own a suit or necktie and don’t want to. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2012, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-main-factors-in-why-people-dress-down-much-more-today-compared-to-previous-generations/637447/235 "2012-10-14T19:36:49Z")
> [@Frisco](#): > > I can tell you from personal experience that many people treat me better - noticably better - when I’m dressed nicer. As pointed out in this thread, there are times when the reverse it true. The perception when people overdress are just as skewed as when they underdress for a situation. > [@](#): > > When I dress up, I am usually making a statement of respect for the people I’m with. When I dress down, I am not. Again, it depends on the situation and the people. You’re experience is not universal, and it’s becoming less of a factor every year as tastes change. ---
**Author:** ![Damuri\_Ajashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Damuri\_Ajashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damuri_Ajashi)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2012, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-main-factors-in-why-people-dress-down-much-more-today-compared-to-previous-generations/637447/236 "2012-10-14T23:55:15Z")
> [@gamerunknown](#): > > It’s still the case as far as I know. My friend is a personal trainer to a doctor working in London and was invited to his engagement party. Turned up in a suit with black label Johnnie Walker and they had Bollinger on tap. Everyone suited up, Maseratis and Lamborghinis dotting the driveway. The one guy to enter in jeans and a T-shirt was a jeweller on the Sunday Times rich list. Unless you’re a rock star or someone whose public image demands that you dress like that, going to a formal event in jeans and a t-shirt is pretty rude. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2012, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-main-factors-in-why-people-dress-down-much-more-today-compared-to-previous-generations/637447/237 "2012-10-15T00:36:18Z")
Allison Lurie wrote a book years ago, _The Language of Clothes,_ that noted that while the privileged people of earlier ages dressed up to flaunt their Conspicuous Consumption, modern privilege flaunts itself today by dressing down in a display of conspicuous outrageousness. ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2012, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-main-factors-in-why-people-dress-down-much-more-today-compared-to-previous-generations/637447/238 "2012-10-15T13:04:44Z")
> [@Damuri\_Ajashi](#): > > Unless you’re a rock star or someone whose public image demands that you dress like that, going to a formal event in jeans and a t-shirt is pretty rude. I don’t think anyone’s said one shouldn’t dress to the occasion or to expectation. ---
**Author:** ![Damuri\_Ajashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Damuri\_Ajashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damuri_Ajashi)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2012, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-main-factors-in-why-people-dress-down-much-more-today-compared-to-previous-generations/637447/239 "2012-10-15T22:47:50Z")
> [@jz78817](#): > > I don’t think anyone’s said one shouldn’t dress to the occasion or to expectation. I was just pointing out that our dress code hasn’t changed so much that anyone can wear a t-shirt to a formal event no matter how rich they are. The suggestion was made that really rich people do this. They don’t. Not with any regularity. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2012, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-main-factors-in-why-people-dress-down-much-more-today-compared-to-previous-generations/637447/240 "2012-10-15T23:12:20Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > Well, he wasn’t a _real_ James Bond. > > This is as good a place as any to note that [pleated pants for men](http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390443982904578046832950796870.html?mod=googlenews_wsj) are allegedly making a comeback, which is a loathsome development. [These guys](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P76KE5iiYT8&playnext=1&list=PLCFFB8CB487028F0D&feature=results_video) beg to disagree. (Youtube clip, sound of course.) Anyway, I don’t get the universal abhorrence of pleats. I don’t particularly care for the style, but I don’t think it’s horrible either, at least not if the trousers are correctly fitted. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-main-factors-in-why-people-dress-down-much-more-today-compared-to-previous-generations/637447.md?page=11) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-main-factors-in-why-people-dress-down-much-more-today-compared-to-previous-generations/637447.md?page=13)