Has the casual Bay Area vibe turned us into fashion ‘don’ts?’ – San Jose Mercury News. This article hits the nail on the head on how we dress today, which has become too casual. This fantastic article was written by Angela Hill in the San Jose Mercury News on February 19, 2012. Referenced in the article is “Etiquette for Dummies”, by Sue Fox. One major point made (in the article) is how we dress does have an influence on how we act and feel.
One item that Ms. Hill did not address was comparing Bay Area dress to other areas in the country. In my own humble opinion, I would say that in the East Coast cities like Boston and New York, people do dress a little (okay, maybe a lot) better than the Bay area. Bay area casual appears to be antithesis to the book: “Dress for Success”.
The reasons why California dresses down are several. First, warmer weather. The warmer the weather, there is less need for layering. Comfort is more important. As weather becomes more tropical, there is less clothing period, and items like ties and jackets are sometimes just crazy to consider. Second, areas like California have had a stronger counter-culture personality. Californians are more accepting of surfer-dudes, hippies, grunge, and alternate life-styles. And what counter culture doesn’t dress down? Third, the West Coast does not have the deeper traditions that the East Coast has. “To preserve the family name”, is not a mantra seen in California. Business men and professionals, Doctors, lawyers, etc. in California, dress nice, but on a whole, still dress less formal than the East Coast. These are just my observations.
In the article (see the above link), there are a number of pictures of people wearing casual pictures, most are all cheaply, foreign made, not that the U.S. does not make T-shirts, but baggy pants, sweat pants, $10 shoes are not made here. The clothes, on many of the people pictured, look awful and cheap, and that maybe they spent a whole $20 on their entire wardrobe. How much did it cost to produce in China $3. This is what the world of clothing has devolved into: cheap, awful and disposal. Throw out those ugly clothes or give it to the Goodwill and buy something nice, buy something American- made for a change.
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