Beige (Last) Monday. . .

 

 

 

 

While it has certainly cooled off in my neck of the woods during the last several days, Monday a week ago was summer like, with temperatures reaching the low 80s Fahrenheit by early afternoon.  So, the beige cotton suit saw one final wearing for the season.  

I have since swapped seasonal items into the appropriate closets and will now enjoy flannel, tweed, corduroy through the next several months.  Along with the odd double-breasted suit.  I know, I know.  But I have reached the age where it does not bother me if others get a giggle from my attire.  

I enjoy my clothes and feel lucky to be in a line of work where, while more formal clothing has not been the expectation for many years, no one will drag me into the team leader's office for a lecture on the evils of neckties, sports jackets, or (shudder) a suit.  I've actually heard of this odd phenomenon in some corners of the corporate world and service industry now, where turning up in something dressier than khakis and the company fleece is viewed as harmful to team morale.

Indeed, a fellow menswear blogger, who has been largely inactive for the last few years, once mentioned on his blog that he was explicitly told by management NOT to wear a jacket or necktie to his office. What?  What??!! 

I suppose if "workers" look better than the supervisor occupying the corner cubicle that some might see that as a problem.  Appearing pulled together for the workplace and capable now seems to be seen as a liability at best and a micro-aggression, or similar affront at worst.  

Anything that threatens the popular notion that we are all the same must be stamped out.  The sartorial and social version of whack-a-mole I guess.

Or is it the fear is that the average person off the street somehow cannot "relate" to the person assisting them if the latter wears clean, non-rumpled professional attire and a necktie?  Oh, the horror.  

What an upside down time in which we live, eh?

-- Heinz-Ulrich