Have you changed your apparel?

[unclevlad]

It's interesting...not something I'd thought much about, but watching almost any sports, you see Vuori getting pushed to both men and women.  Sometimes Lululemon, too.  But this was a bit of a surprise today:

 

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/13/opinion/soft-hard-pants.html?unlocked_article_code=Zie0guICSsJ5A1zpTHmJjE0Eb9rCbB4tgCS0-l4D0dvtS3YP01x1RnfsdlSbTDQ7JZYNiXT5RRlvJvX4J9uQ1d1Qm4BdDN3da7Er1l0eqYpGb-J9-UcidJbcYulkh4tFZWl7UzXlkLSQC_D-6fnH318XE-jViDfLxKSiNeoavSaAlQ3GgdUfh5n0rIUhHQBZMIcqGd4Oz_GCb5pkOx3QHplxNyGRBsQLjQtaRzJqXcs3Rj3rDIQ3iAVilzgTK2HcK6RIoQM-L2OrPbrzT40sESicfdNi73g7cJnMyQQe_bIWHGUHiQ6VhLwh4yjAoUU4j8vcFZWQcVlF0g&smid=url-share

 

Interesting, if this is becoming a thing...but I'm reading that it's somewhat connected to NOT having in-person meetings with someone other than your day-to-day colleagues.  But...maybe not entirely.  There was another story yesterday about dress sneakers...and a picture of a meeting between House leaders and Biden, with several of them wearing dress sneaks...in the Oval Office.  It was also funny, because the Fashion Gurus were disgusted.  But if it's showing up *there*...then there's a definite trend.

[Old Man]

Americans have been trending toward informality in clothes for a while now, but the pandemic really kicked that into overdrive.  Athleticish wear is the new normal (e.g. "dress sneaks"), to say nothing of the current trend of wearing fancy Crocs. 

 

I'm all in favor of this trend--a big reason I like living where I live is that no one here wears a suit*.  Though I still wear a collared shirt to "work" when I work remotely; for me the mindset is important.

 

 

* Except the Mormons.

[Cancer]

I've been wearing "athletic shoes" for over a decade now, because if you look carefully you can find adequately close to dressy shoes that have the needed level of arch (and other) support in off-the-shelf shoes, without buying custom orthotics or similarly expensive footgear.  I maintain having two pair (a brown pair and a black pair; the latter are basically what NBA referees wear on court) since my work wardrobe comes in two palettes.

 

Sweats had been my non-summer home loungewear forever.  In general I don't wear them outside the yard, though.

 

Since fashion designers depend on making new s**t up and selling it to people with a much higher money-to-brains ratio than I have, this sort of thing directly threatens their livelihood.  The overreaction is predicable.

Edited May 31, 2023 by Cancer

[Pariah]

Due to the fact that I have arthritic ankles that could fail catastrophically on a blown DEX or CON roll, I wear hiking boots pretty much all the time. Work, out and about, church, whatever. I do have one pair of low top white sneakers I got because it wouldn't fit the other person, but I don't wear them more than about once a week.

 

Oddly enough, I did wear Crocs for most of the summer I did my Master's research project. I was working in a clean room that was also sensitive to electric discharges. So every time I went in, I had to put on a Tyvek smock and white Crocs. The Crocs were comfortable enough, but not supportive in the least, and not something I could foresee myself wearing regularly.

.

Edited May 31, 2023 by Pariah
Tyvek, not mylar.

[Simon]

Outlier here - about 8 years or so ago I found that wearing a kilt fixed some rather worrying degenerative nerve issues I was having (due to L4-L5 scoliosis).  It had gotten to the point that I couldn't stand in one place for more than 15 minutes without either severe sciatic pain and/or femoral nerve pain (left leg would go "dead" from the hip down).  Put a kilt on for the first time for St. Pat's one year and realized after about 6 hours of standing at the bar that I had been standing at the bar for 6 hours and didn't have any pain. Other than testing out the somewhat bizarre theory (and always finding that jeans, khakis, dress pants, etc. would cause the issues to come back), I haven't been back in pants since.  Don't even own any these days.

 

Plus side, is that no one knows what to make of a kilt when it comes to dress codes -- can be casual or formal with the simple addition of a jacket.

And some vintage work boots are the norm for footwear.

[Starlord]

All I can tell you is that Skechers changed my life.  The amount of time I can stand or walk without foot or knee pain has probably increased by 400 percent.

[Old Man]

1 hour ago, Cancer said:

I've been wearing "athletic shoes" for over a decade now, because if you look carefully you can find adequately close to dressy shoes that have the needed level of arch (and other) support in off-the-shelf shoes, without buying custom orthotics or similarly expensive footgear.  I maintain having two pair (a brown pair and a black pair; the latter are basically what NBA referees wear on court) since my work wardrobe comes in two palettes.

 

Ironically my yearslong case of plantar fasciitis went away when I switched jobs and started wearing flat dress shoes at a standing desk.  I'd spent my entire life being told that I needed shoes with good arch support and it turned out that that was the problem.

 

The biggest pandemic change for me is that I almost always wear shorts now.  I think I went a year during the pandemic without wearing long pants or jeans.

[Cygnia]

Hubby's been working from home since the pandemic -- he's been enjoying wearing t-shirts, shorts & jeans these past few years (he's a controls engineer -- if he has to go to the office, he's wearing an oxford and khaki pants).  And he has a standing desk at home.

 

Me?  I'm in either sweats or cargo shorts.  What I loved about going to my ol' Friendly Local Wine Shop for tastings is you'd have people obviously dressed up and then there's me at the bar sippin' a Zinfandel in my Wine Coven sweat pants and polar bear hat and nobody shaming me for it.

[unclevlad]

My at-home wear, as a Professional Leisure Specialist, swapped from cargo shorts to gym shorts...partly cuz, well, gym shorts are cheaper, and breathe better.  That's summer...roughly May 1st to November 1st down here.  If it's cooler, I stick mostly with sleep pants.  Same idea;  they're comfortable and cheap.

 

I switched to Sketchers too, for the most part, some years ago.  Partly cuz they're easier to find in WIDE sizes....I wear a 4E.  And for just beating around town (at most)...slip ons are just convenient.  I like monk straps too, but they've seemingly gone out of style.  Not that many out there.

[dmjalund]

3 hours ago, Simon said:

Outlier here - about 8 years or so ago I found that wearing a kilt fixed some rather worrying degenerative nerve issues I was having (due to L4-L5 scoliosis).  It had gotten to the point that I couldn't stand in one place for more than 15 minutes without either severe sciatic pain and/or femoral nerve pain (left leg would go "dead" from the hip down).  Put a kilt on for the first time for St. Pat's one year and realized after about 6 hours of standing at the bar that I had been standing at the bar for 6 hours and didn't have any pain. Other than testing out the somewhat bizarre theory (and always finding that jeans, khakis, dress pants, etc. would cause the issues to come back), I haven't been back in pants since.  Don't even own any these days.

 

Plus side, is that no one knows what to make of a kilt when it comes to dress codes -- can be casual or formal with the simple addition of a jacket.

And some vintage work boots are the norm for footwear.

my guess is wearing a kilt subconsciously affects your posture

[Simon]

1 minute ago, dmjalund said:

my guess is wearing a kilt subconsciously affects your posture

Not really (and I thought of/tried that)...I think it's more about having the hips completely unencumbered/unbound.  

Part is where jeans and most pants ride -- right on the notch on the back of the hip where the sciatic and femoral nerves descend -- the scoliosis is such that those two nerves are compressed on the inside of the curve (they originate between L4 and L5).  So those two nerves are under some compression from the start...add in a second point with jeans/whatever and it goes into a feedback loop.

Part is having as little in the way of my hips moving as possible -- any lack of motion on my hips is transferred directly to the spine, significantly exacerbating the compression of those nerves. My hips have a tendency of getting out of line (too many years in gymnastics and a generally misspent youth)...so I have some issues with movement from the start.  I've definitely noticed an inability to move my hips well when wearing jeans (couldn't take a large step up onto a ledge, etc. as my hip would just...stop).  A kilt rides at your true waist (just over the top of the hip bone...immediately below your navel), so everything is much freer/easier to move.

The reaction of most women to a guy in a kilt is something that I wish I had known about in my single days...and definitely doesn't hurt 😉

So I'm a serial-kilter now.

On the thread topic, I tend to a decidedly casual look >95% of the time -- work boots, kilt, t-shirt. On the rare occasion that I need to be more formal, swap the t-shirt for a dress shirt, full kilt hose in place of scrunched-up socks, add in a vest and potentially a jacket and I'm good to go.

[Duke Bushido]

 

 

 

 

Forty years, Double H brand, same model, steel toe, round toe, size 12.

 

Three pairs:  when they are new, they are the dress shoes.  When they start to show a scuff or two, or age makes them polish up with creases, they are the everyday shoes.  When they don't take polish anymore or are too scuffed to bother, they are the work shoes.

 

I get about five years out of pair, and they are the most comfortable shoe I have ever owned, thick as racing leathers, amd tougher than a Huddle House steak.

 

 

[dmjalund]

when i worked in an office, i wore white long sleeve shirt and tie even though others were wearing casual shirts and no tie, because i did not want to reveal the relative lack of shirts in my wardrobe and i could concentrate on collecting an assortment of ties.

 

but out of office i wear what i have always worn jeans, t-shirt and when weather is cool enough, a black jacket, usually leather.

[Cancer]

I still have the tie I wore for my PhD defense.  Almost wore it yesterday, when the department's happy retirement party for me was.