Dressing appropriately for your age.
- Thread starter Rusty Blade
- Start date
I have never grasped the baseball-cap-on-backwards thing but do see that some young guys can pull it off. I will say when I see a fellow over the age of 60 with that look... it just looks silly.
There is a difference in how exactly to look. There are ridiculous things. For example a T-shirt with a children's print on an adult man.
However ... who sets the rules, where is the framework?
In my opinion: clean, neat clothes, appearance (haircut, lack of vegetation on the face, hygiene)) here is the look of a normal person.
The rest is just a convention.
We are aging outwardly. The most important thing is how we feel. Our creteria
However ... who sets the rules, where is the framework?
In my opinion: clean, neat clothes, appearance (haircut, lack of vegetation on the face, hygiene)) here is the look of a normal person.
The rest is just a convention.
We are aging outwardly. The most important thing is how we feel. Our creteria
If I use Neil Young as the example of my age group, then yes. In my 70's and still dress the same as I did my whole life, jeans, pocket tees and flannel. Since retiring, I no longer own a suit, sport coat or dress slacks. I keep one dress shirt and tie in the closet for funerals. Dress pants are khaki cargo. I have made two changes in the last few years: I added 2" suspenders to my wardrobe and changed my footwear from a boot height of 8-9" to a more comfortable 5-6".
I do my best to dress like a dad. Collared shirt, khaki pants, and actual shoes.
Everyday I wear a button down, tie and slacks. May dress old for someone of my age (mid 20's) but who cares? I work at a bank. This dress is expected.
Good answer.
I'm about to turn 57. About the only thing that I can think of that is good about that fact is that I really don't care what anyone besides my lovely War Department and myself thinks looks good on me. Around the house I look like a teenaged girl shopping at Walmart. In public, usually jeans or casual pants, button down shirt, machine washable sports coat, casual shoes (loafers or oxfords) and maybe a fedora. And a revolver.
By the same token, 27 year old me went from crew cuts and conservative style to shoulder length with a beard to my chest for a while. Kept a tamed down but still rather long beard until quite recently but did lose the long hair.
There's also the peer group factor of the workplace.
Some businesses have a couple of tiers within an office, and as I've progressed from admin to management where we also had a call centre and social media and phone customer service centre, I've seen it all. But each tier dresses roughly in line with others in that tier.
At 72, I dress the way I did in college--in the summer, anyway: polo shirts (and, yes, I pop the collar), shorts, and--sockless--either sandals, deck shoes, or loafers. The remainder of the year, I wear polo shirts with sweatshirts or crew neck sweaters, jeans in varying shades, and chinos. For footwear, I'm partial to Argyle socks and wear everything from penny loafers to saddle shoes to Bluchers to Oxfords. All depends on how I feel.
I just went through at hat phase, which I think is now over (never did wear hats in college), though inclement weather will send me reaching for something to put up top. Too bad. I like the looks in principle, but they make me feel old. Sometime, I will pop on a cowboy hat, though, just 'cause it feels good to.
I just went through at hat phase, which I think is now over (never did wear hats in college), though inclement weather will send me reaching for something to put up top. Too bad. I like the looks in principle, but they make me feel old. Sometime, I will pop on a cowboy hat, though, just 'cause it feels good to.
I agree that many organizations have tiers, and that dress often reflects those tiers. There is an old saw that one should dress at work for the job one would like to have rather than the job one has. I would not take that too seriously and dress like the CEO. But I do not think it hurts to dress like the next step up. All dress is symbolic and sends signals.
I'm sitting next to the CEO this week. I'm probably dressing to a similar standard, if not a bit more "office", than him.
I dress appropriately for my age. I think there's a balance between looking too old-fashioned and chasing the latest trend in fashion. I dress in a way that doesn't call attention to myself. I shave daily, so haven't joined the
double-stubble or perma-stubble crowd
There are some things that are individual regardless of age. I am slender so wear trim-fitting pants, because roomier pants would look goofy on me. I seldom wear shorts in public because of my stick-man legs. In warmer weather I wear sandals.
I'm a schoolteacher and many of the middle-aged teachers try to dress down, the effect of which is to make them look ridiculous. The students must think it hilarious.
I avoid loud colored clothing and don't own any "theme" shirts or t-shirts with slogans, especially "old-fart" shirts with idiotic trivialities emblazoned on them. I wear glasses and go for a conservative look there, too. My genetics have allowed me to keep a full head of hair and I get regular haircuts to keep it looking neat. (No ponytail)
double-stubble or perma-stubble crowd
There are some things that are individual regardless of age. I am slender so wear trim-fitting pants, because roomier pants would look goofy on me. I seldom wear shorts in public because of my stick-man legs. In warmer weather I wear sandals.
I'm a schoolteacher and many of the middle-aged teachers try to dress down, the effect of which is to make them look ridiculous. The students must think it hilarious.
I avoid loud colored clothing and don't own any "theme" shirts or t-shirts with slogans, especially "old-fart" shirts with idiotic trivialities emblazoned on them. I wear glasses and go for a conservative look there, too. My genetics have allowed me to keep a full head of hair and I get regular haircuts to keep it looking neat. (No ponytail)
At 63, I wear the same kind of clothes every day:
Levi 501 shrink-to-fit button down blue jeans
Plaid button down shirt spring, fall and winter; golf shirt in summer
White's Boots or Mephisto shoes spring, fall and winter; sandals in summer
A hat--always a hat--usually a fedora or cowboy hat
Levi 501 shrink-to-fit button down blue jeans
Plaid button down shirt spring, fall and winter; golf shirt in summer
White's Boots or Mephisto shoes spring, fall and winter; sandals in summer
A hat--always a hat--usually a fedora or cowboy hat
There is a countervailing theory that the CEO has earned the right to wear whatever he wants to, and "you" have not. I think I see this most often in the the form of a suit without tie, when everyone else is wearing ties. It does seem like a signal of status to me. Not an indication that anyone should be dressing like the boss.
Certainly an interesting discussion point.
My personal "working assumption" is that the boss sets the tone for workplace attire, and the workers below him will follow his lead to a certain degree, and find a comfortable spot in the dressing spectrum close to him but below.
This works kind of like a rubber band ... if you pull too hard too fast, it breaks. If you have an office where faded bluejeans and "Affliction" t-shirts are the order of the day, expecting a sudden change to "IBM standard" is unrealistic; the boss who shows up like that expecting everyone else to follow is going to be sadly alone in his suit and tie. But if he starts with dark-wash jeans and polo shirt ... maybe he has a chance.
I know that some bosses do take the "I've earned the relaxed dress code" approach. To me, it's too much "do as I say, not as I do" and is going to cause resentment among those down the chain of command who have to meet expectations from The Chief which The Chief himself is unwilling to meet.
On the other hand ... or is it the "other other hand" by this point in the discussion ... I think an argument can be made that the more senior members of the workplace (and I refer more to age and years in the job than to position on the chain of command) tend to be allowed a bit more deference toward the more "individualistic" choices in what they wear. It's not "rank has its privileges" but ... "age has its privileges".
Unless they're welding. Keeps the sparks off the back of the neck.
I have seen one of our "Big Bosses" come to work in overalls. Until we had OSHA requirements, some of us did, too, but we're mostly blue collar.
I dress for work, which is casual outdoor, with steel toed boots. When I retire, I'll probably wear the same thing. As long as it's appropriate for the weather and circumstances, that's more important. I wouldn't even know how that's different from dressing like men in their twenties. I only know when I caught my reflection in a truck window, I looked exactly like my father at that age, so much so gave me a start.
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