IN AN EARLIER column, I wrote about the tendency of our dress standards to slip right down the drain. I complained about the fact that many people today are dressing inappropriately as a matter of course - to wedding receptions, the symphony, the movies, parties - whatever.
We are living in a "dress down" society that is almost addicted to "casual Fridays."After the column appeared, I was pleased to receive a note from an expert who agreed with me - Judith Rasband, director of the Conselle Institute of Image Management in Provo. For 36 years she has served the clothing industry as an educator, author, speaker and consultant.
She enclosed an intriguing article she wrote for her industry, called "America's Going Down the Tube in a T-shirt!"
In lively prose, Rasband describes what she calls a decline in dress standards from 1960 to the present: "Visit any movie house or mall, and you'll see people wearing more T-shirts and jeans or sweats than any other type of apparel. Try people-watching at fast-food and midlevel restaurants, airports and public schools. You'll see the T-shirt as the most common piece of clothing. Check out business offices - particularly those with the casual Friday dress-down day that has eroded to include the entire workweek."
In Rasband's opinion, the decline in dress standards "goes hand-in-hand with cultural decline, manifested in productivity and participation, personal identity, manners and ultimately, morals."
To demonstrate her point, she cites the fact that most school-teachers have been dressing casually for years. "With teachers looking more like students, discipline has declined along with SAT scores."
She argues that as people dress alike, they begin to feel and act alike. They lose variety, individuality and personal style.
"People who wear only T-shirts and jeans or sweats limit the range of thoughts, feelings and behavior that a variety of clothes can stimulate, project or reflect . . . It appears that when people stop dress-ing for different occasions, they gradually stop doing and going - there never are any special occasions."
Rasband worries about the impact casual dress may have on manners - suggesting relaxed or nonexistent courtesies. "One does not hesitate to give a swat on the seat to someone wearing jeans - but a swat on the seat of a suit-or-skirt wearer? Not likely."
In a discussion of morals, she notes that jeans are used today in lewd advertising, suggesting that a person in jeans somehow becomes sexier. She notes the photographs of members of both sexes in unzipped jeans in various provocative poses.
Despite the suggestion that people should relax and enjoy themselves, "there are consequences to such attitudes and actions, and they cannot be ignored."
Rasband is not a fanatic. She believes there is a place for a T-shirt and jeans - at the beach, in the mountains, after work, in the yard. But, she says, if a person spends "all day, everyday, wearing T-shirt and jeans or sweats, you risk experiencing the negative halo effect - look sloppy, think sloppy, feel sloppy, act sloppy, be sloppy."
Rasband dares people to be trendsetters - to dress with some care, coordination and creativity. "Take joy and a healthy dose of pride in how terrific you can look." The result, she thinks, is that they will become more productive, more creative and more interesting.
Amen. Rasband deserves thanks for agreeing with me with such creativity and clarity. Once more you've heard it here. We should all dress up once in a while.
Dennis Lythgoe's column is published on Tuesdays and Thursdays.