Caps and gowns and flip flops

[Carlisle Blues]

U.S. Air Force. Drum & Bugle Corps (during basic training only). Honor Flight of the Month, May 1987.

That is so totally cool...:cool2: :eusa_clap

 

[Tango Yankee]

U.S. Air Force. Drum & Bugle Corps (during basic training only). Honor Flight of the Month, May 1987.

fftopic:
Ah, another Airman! (The AF is trying to incorporate the use of "Airman" as being the same as the Army's "Soldier.") I did my basic training in the summer of '80, the hottest one on record up to that point. We were also Honor Flight. How long did you serve and in what career field?

On topic: The school I work for has signs posted on the restroom mirrors asking "Would you hire this person?" I'm not sure many of our students get the point of the question. I've not yet attended a graduation ceremony here so can't say whether or not they make an effort to dress nicely under their gowns. I do know that when I graduated from HS in '77 I was wearing jeans and a buttoned shirt because I didn't own anything better--couldn't afford it, but I wore the best I had.

It all gets back to our usual lament of the casualization of America, where people just don't get dressed up for much of anything any more. Somehow, looking sharp has gone by the wayside. It just means that we stand out that much more!

Cheers,
Tom

 

[Paisley]

fftopic:

Aw, thanks!

I was a photographer, which sounds a lot more interesting than it really is (at least, to me). I was in for three years, and honorably discharged.

BACK ON TOPIC

Tango Yankee, nobody should be faulted for wearing their best clothes to their graduation.

 

[Johnny B]

I'm just about to go get my grad photos done. They insist you wear at the minimum a shirt and tie or else they won't seat you

 

[Paisley]

One of the worst things was we had a classmate die in a car accident that year, and one of her closest friends wanted to collect the diploma on her behalf (the family approved), the new principal tried to stop it stating something to the effect of, "Well we don't know if she really would have graduated."

The diploma, IF the school decided to award one posthumously, should have been hand-delivered to her parents, not picked up by a classmate.

Yes, a lot of the speechifying and self-congratulations of the faculty should be eliminated.

Graduates and their parents should keep in mind the heat, boredom and length of graduations if they're inclined to invite anyone but immediate family to the ceremony. Children under age 12 shouldn't have to suffer through them at all.

 

[JennyLou]

I don't remember ever being really conscious that clothing even *had* brand names when I was in school -- the only label you ever saw in public was the ankle patch on some kid's sneakers, but even that didn't carry any kind of cachet: most everybody I knew bought their clothes at Sears, Grants, or a local store called Epstein's, and nobody ever went around with tags hanging off. In that kind of environment, uniforms would have been rather pointless.

fftopic: I never got the brand name thing either. I was a kid who went to high school from 2000-2004 and I never really noticed it. Why does it matter? Maybe I wasn't cool enough to understand the need for brand name things. All my life and now in college, I wear cheap clothes that I get from thrift shops and stuff I make. I've never had to buy a purse because I always make my own. I just don't understand the need for brand name clothes and accesories. It is a better quality than say a bag from wal-mart? Does it last longer?

 

[celtic]

It is a better quality than say a bag from wal-mart? Does it last longer?

It really depends.

Some times brands indicate quality....

but more and more when products are outsourced so much, certain 'brand name' merchandise is often made in the same factory as non-branded things.

are a pair of blue jeans really WORTH $50? $100? $350?

i'm sure some here will tell you that their pair of Khakis are worth the extra money they paid for them because they fit better and will last longer.

and others will tell you to go to Wal Mart and Target.

it's truly subjective.


i know some women who swear by COACH bags...but all of them I have laid my hands on never really impressed me at all. (edit...I was referring to the coach bags in the second part of that.. )

for the price they charge for one tiny imported textile bag you could have a gorgeous handmade leather bag from a 'lesser' company...

but what do I know?

 

[Foofoogal]

you pretty much get what you pay for when it comes to shoes. a good pair of leather shoes will outlast 5 bad quality ones. fftopic:

 

[Foofoogal]

lol

Clothes: When you buy something new donate something used to charity. Buy traditional clothes, but wait for the off-season to acquire them. Go for high quality - not high price. Buy vintage clothing and avoid logo clothing and keep people guessing who the designer might be. Hint: There shouldn't be one!

How timely. I just saw this on main Yahoo page.


under this topic:
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/How-to-Spend-Like-a-Frugal-usnews-15357371.html

 

[LizzieMaine]

Some times brands indicate quality....

but more and more when products are outsourced so much, certain 'brand name' merchandise is often made in the same factory as non-branded things.

Exactly. There was a time when there was often a real, tangible difference between brands of goods -- but other than shoes and perhaps coats, I think this has rarely been true as far as clothing and accessories are concerned. What's always driven the branding of clothing has been the style cachet of the name, not the overall quality.

Not to imply that this is entirely a modern-day phenomenon, of course -- in 1937, say, a woman wearing a Lily Dache hat was considered to be many ranks above a common working-class gal in a Merrimac Hat Company hat. But you'd never, ever see a Lily Dache hat in a small town. My grandmother never even heard of the high-end designers of her day -- to her, high-end clothing might have been what she got at the Puritan Dress Shop instead of things she made herself. The *marketing* of fashion brands was much more narrow in its focus -- nowadays, it's everywhere.

 

[Paisley]

fftopic: I never got the brand name thing either. I was a kid who went to high school from 2000-2004 and I never really noticed it. Why does it matter? Maybe I wasn't cool enough to understand the need for brand name things. All my life and now in college, I wear cheap clothes that I get from thrift shops and stuff I make. I've never had to buy a purse because I always make my own. I just don't understand the need for brand name clothes and accesories. It is a better quality than say a bag from wal-mart? Does it last longer?

Coach bags are guaranteed for life. The materials are top quality and they're made to last for decades. If a Coach bag needs repairs, they're done for free. However, part of the high price is the Coach shopping experience (the real ones are sold in chi-chi boutiques) and, if you get one of the cheaper fabric bags with the logo all over it, you can tell the world you had $500 to spend on a purse.

I carry a Duluth Pack backpack; the company also makes purses. They're made of top quality leather, canvas and brass, guaranteed for life, and the company will fix them for free. Since Duluth Pack doesn't carry any cachet or have fancy, high-rent boutiques, and caters mostly to outdoorsmen/women, the purses are around one-third to one-half the price of Coach bags.

By the way, the cheaper of these two brands manufactures its goods in the USA.

 

[HadleyH]

Totally fftopic: - but do you have pictures :whistling :whistling

lol I might have them somewhere .... Lol Spitfire!

 

[JJWord]

The diploma, IF the school decided to award one posthumously, should have been hand-delivered to her parents, not picked up by a classmate.

It was her best friend. Also the parents agreed, and stated that neither one felt they had the strength to make the walk up to the stage and collect the diploma.

One of the reasons why I know so much about the situation is I was a co-worker of both girls. I was actually at work the night she passed away, she was scheduled to be in and I remember the manager getting very upset, then he got the call from one of her parents, went stark white and felt horrible.

 

[Paisley]

This friend didn't raise her. She isn't going to think about her every day for the rest of her life. Nor is she going to feel a chill every time the phone rings late at night.

In their state of shock, the parents would have agreed to anything. They were right, though, not to go to the ceremony; I can think of nothing to tear their hearts out more than watching proud, happy parents whose children have their whole lives ahead of them.

I'm sure this friend meant well, but the school had a duty to give the diploma, if any, to the parents, not a friend, best or otherwise.

 

[JJWord]

I never said her parents didn't go, they attended the commencement (with extended family as well if I recall). I said they didn't feel it would have been appropriate to cross the stage or to draw more attention to their family's woe at an otherwise joyous occasion. They heard their daughter's name being announced along with everyone elses, and the friend crossed the stage to accept the diploma in her stead.

In the end the parents did get the diploma, the friend only acted as a proxy for the ceremony. No one objected to that aspect of it. The debate was over the fact that the principal originally denied even issuing a diploma, even though her grades were well above passing and there was no doubt by any of her teachers that she would have graduated.

 

[Paisley]

I hope you understand why I'm confused.

It sounds like that part of the ceremony went off without a hitch. You didn't mention that.

As for a family in mourning attending a "joyous occasion" and distant relatives going to the graduation of a deceased person: if this is the new mourning, I'm afraid I prefer the old version. Everyone was excused from such duties.

 

[JJWord]

True. Back then I thought it was good for the family to be getting out. Now that I'm older, and a parent, I don't know if I can agree with them going. Honoring the deceased is respectable, but with all those other families and people there...I don't know if I can call that mourning.

 

[miss_elise]

we had to wear a button shirt otherwise the hood had nothing to attach to...

this was at university though...

 

[Paisley]

True. Back then I thought it was good for the family to be getting out. Now that I'm older, and a parent, I don't know if I can agree with them going. Honoring the deceased is respectable, but with all those other families and people there...I don't know if I can call that mourning.

This case is a prime example of the fact that etiquette is not just a matter of common sense.

 

[nobodyspecial]

Seems funny to read about what people wear to a college commencement. I didn't attend my commencement; just can't stand a pat-on-the-back ceremony. I would have skipped my high school ceremony as well, but my parents would not have allowed me to miss it.