Thursday Appointment Style. . .

A sunny, warmer Thursday yesterday, so out came the tan belt and shoes when I dressed in a few of the usual suspects to shuttle the Young Master from school to a mid-morning appointment and then back again. Child safely deposited and signed in by 10:15, and I was back home by 10:35.

Now, some scratch their heads and wonder aloud why you should bother to dress for similar kinds of appointments (doctors, dentists, orthodontists, law offices, bankers, air travel, etc.), either your own or your child's, when almost everyone else looks like they just rolled out of bed and pulled on whatever was handy from beneath the it. Frumpy is the new lingua franca it seems.

Here's the answer.

People in all walks of life simply react better to and treat you with a higher level of polite deference and respect when you present yourself well and look like you have more than a couple of active brain cells functioning somewhere behind your eyes. There are, admittedly, adherents to a certain school of thought who take offense at that and make a great show of their outrage. Nevertheless.

I've been on both sides of the table, as it were, and can attest to this. Outré hairstyles, an over abundance of visible body modifications, denim and leather, or stretchy exercise gear of one kind or another, -- not to mention a windbreaker and white socks worn with black shoes/sneakers (Check out the adult males in almost any waiting room in 2024) -- don't have quite the same effect as clean, pressed, and relatively pulled together. Like it or not, appearance is important, and how we present ourselves speaks volumes to the world.

Here's modest proposal.

Why not put your best foot forward when you leave the house? The easy answer is to dress more presentably before walking through the front door to meet the world, so that you might make a favorable impression with whomever you interact.

You just never know.

-- Heinz-Ulrich

Comments

The Problem of "Business Casual" Attire. . .

This is how it's done. Business Casual the RIGHT way, ladies and gentlemen. Even during the summer months. A photograph (taken by Studio B Portraits ) which appeared in 425 Business Magazine in May 2017. T his post on the problem of business casual dress began as a quick postscript to a previous blog entry last week but quickly grew and grew as additional thoughts occurred, were developed in more detail, and revisions made. So much so, that it seemed, eventually, like a better idea to make the initial P.S. afterthought into its own entry . Are ya ready, Freddy? Then, here we go. . . ------------ U nless you actually plan to sell beach snacks and trinkets on Cozumel, become a serial barista, or greet customers at a fancy nightclub after taking out huge student loans to attend university somewhere for four or five years, plus an MBA afterward, it's really a better idea to err on the side of (somewhat) more formal work at...

Friday on Campus Style. . .

S omewhat atypically, I was on campus for several hours today helping with an interview that is part of a larger documentary project on which a colleague and I are working. Although I am behind the camera (I'm the audio guy in fact), what better reason does one need to dress presentably? Exactly. Everything worn, barring the recently purchased University of Wisconsin socks, a gift from the Grand Duchess, has been in the rotation for a while now. And, of course, there was the Panama hat, which I'll wear until we pass October 1st when the felt fedoras reappear. -- Heinz-Ulrich

The Power of Ideas. . .

T he end is nigh! The autumn semester/term approaches. And while we still have almost two months of summer left according to the calendar, "Summer is over and gone," as the crickets sang in Charlotte's Web . At least for those of us who head back to the classroom in less than a month. In advance of a meeting with my program director late Monday morning, I spent about 40 minutes total during the weekend to jot down several ideas about planned workshops and related activities for the coming 2024-2025 academic year. At an opportune moment, I mentioned "I have a few ideas," and opened my leather portfolio. My director was highly receptive to almost everything I suggested, and we had a very productive planning session for just over 90 minutes. Just about everything I sketched out on Sunday aligns with his own ideas. It's nice when meetings go that well, and two related things occur to me in hindsight. One, it pays to exercise...

Classic Style

Search This Blog