The Raging Debate, looking back on Lex Anteinternet: Standards of Dress: Office, city and town wear ov...

Some time ago I posted this item on daily dress of, I suppose, yore:

Lex Anteinternet: Standards of Dress: Office, city and town wear ov...:  A motivational poster from the 1920s.  By modern standards, nearly any city worker would "look the part", even if they didn&#...

Since that time I've read an interesting debate, often quite heated, about modern "standards of dress".  This particular debate was centered on what people should wear, or do wear, to church.  It was interesting in that some people strongly argue for a heightened standard, and others maintain that it doesn't matter at all.

One of the most interesting comments I saw was from an engineer, who in the debate maintained that there was no need to dress in any special way to attend church, and that a person was better off not attempting to do so if their clothes were in any way older or ill fitting, but then admitted he'd recently testified as an expert witness in a trial and of course had dressed the part. He wanted to look professional, while maintaining in his daily profession, he of course didn't dress that way.

That's sort of interesting in that it shows a retained concept that in certain places there's a standard of dress we must meet, even if there's no formal enforcement of it.  However, at the same time, it suggests that we can skip the standard in places were otherwise fully acclimated and comfortable with, while perhaps in an earlier era, the standard was the standard.

Now, I'll note that I don't wear a suit, to be sure, most days and I'm really only commenting in general.  I don't wear a coat and tie to Mass either. But I do think that suggests that even now there actually is a standard in people's minds. 

It's also interesting to read where people think that standard is enforced, which is usually somewhere else.  In reading the comments, many people think that "only lawyers" dress that way, which of course isn't true any way you look at it.  Others have other occupations they believe dress in a certain fashion.  Everyone, somehow, is acclimated to broadcast newsmen dressing in that fashion, which is curious as originally they were only dressing to the standard of the day.  One person believed only Hipsters dressed in that fashion, which is really curious.  I don't know if Hipsters dress in ties or not, I meet so few, but its interesting that in the minds of at least some, the trendy wear ties.

Another interesting thing about this is how deeply some people feel about this topic. I suspect most don't, but some really do. Those who feel that a certain standard of dress should be met in various settings, or the equivalent for females, are really adamant about it. Oddly, those who feel strongly the opposite are also really adamant about that too.  Some feel that anyone arguing for a standard of any kind, any where, is some sort of fascist, and others who feel the opposite feel just as strongly about their views.  Those who argue for no standard are steadfast in their refusal to recognize that society in general is going to recognize a standard, like it or not, even if they themselves do in fact recognize it in their own conduct.

All of which means nothing in particular, really.  Just interesting to see how this is viewed.