Will we ever see a return to more formal clothes?

[Widebrim]

In that particular example, maybe it's because bagging groceries is a minimum wage job and even getting someone to take that job is tough enough without expecting them to buy a new wardrobe. A kid that looks presentable by your (and probably my) standards is either smart enough to find a higher paying job or doesn't need/want one.

Your first point has some truth to it, Jim, but I'm sure that when you bagged groceries years ago, there was still a standard as to how to dress. And to tell the truth, most boxboys/girls don't dress like they just came from a rock concert; I think that all supermarkets still require uniforms except on certain days.

Your second statement brings to mind something even, perhaps, more important: the un-leveling of the playing field. Even though as a society we pride ourselves on universal education and equal access, in some ways there is a greater discrepancy between classes and ethnic groups than there was decades ago (I speak of in the USA). Here in southern CA, for example, restaurants often will showcase photos of their establishments from years past, and such photos often feature workers of different backgrounds. Yet almost universally, if you look at the present workers in said restaurants, you will see a mostly un-diversified staff, and that includes areas which do have a mixture of ethnic groups, so it's not just a result of recent immigration patterns. Yes, there will always be groups at the bottom of the hiring ladder, but in years past that bottom rung at least had some representation from groups which now hardly frequent it, at least in major cities...

 

[John in Covina]

John, were you at the Chinatown Metro train station yesterday, the one right across from HOMEBOY industries? What you describe is what I saw/heard, except you left out using the F word over the glued-to-the-ear cellphone...("CHATO." That's a good one...lol)

It is the East LA ethnocentric version of "ghetto" best seen at the liquor store where the long socks are worn with fuzzy slippers or sandals while carrying a suitcase of lite beer.

CHA (short a sound) TOE not Chay toe as per George Lopez.

 

[Widebrim]

John, can you please relate the "Wallmart" conversation that you once overheard between a woman and her boyfriend/husband?

 

[John in Covina]

John, can you please relate the "Wallmart" conversation that you once overheard between a woman and her boyfriend/husband?

Here in LA there is a growing dislike of speaking in English and so for some English is used sparingly. It been a long time since i diagrammed a sentence in English but it has to do with the idea that you need Nouns, verbs possibly adverbs, adjectives, participles, and prepositions to make a sentence "work".

From a story told to me -
A young couple speaking East LA English were at McDonald's and indicating to her beau that she would like to go to Target to shop when they have finished their meal made the taciturn suggestion: "Target after!"

Minimized conversational English for young LA area adults - 101.

 

[Widebrim]

^^That's right, it was about Target. Thanks for relating it, though! lol

 

[JimWagner]

Your first point has some truth to it, Jim, but I'm sure that when you bagged groceries years ago, there was still a standard as to how to dress.

Not really a standard as such. The closest thing we had to that in the store was that bag boys wore white aprons supplied by the store. You have to remember that in those days most kids didn't have that much in the way of clothing. You had what you wore to school and to church. You probably had blue jeans for dirty work, but all the teens pretty much wore the same types of clothing as supplied by their parents until they made some money and bought their own. Families were bigger then (I have 4 younger sisters) and money was harder to come by. I don't believe I owned more than a week's worth of clothing until I starting buying my own. For that matter, the navy issued me more clothing in boot camp than I'd ever owned at one time before that. And we weren't poor. Just average.

Kids today quite often spend more on a pair of sneakers (or whatever they're called today) than I spent on all my clothes the whole four years of high school.

So, you wore what you had and that was the dress code back then.

 

[Tomasso]

Here you go, Jim.

 

[wandering-trader]

Anyone intersted in helping me set which hats go with which suit separates combos, as an "easy explanation sheet" for plain-clothes people?

If so, i'll make it a new thread.

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

From a story told to me -
A young couple speaking East LA English were at McDonald's and indicating to her beau that she would like to go to Target to shop when they have finished their meal made the taciturn suggestion: "Target after!"

Minimized conversational English for young LA area adults - 101.

As George Orwell would have said: doubleplusungood!

 

[rue]

Wow.... I forgot about this thread!

 

[vitanola]

A well-made suit CAN serve a practical purpose, but not necessarily in a modern, overheated office.

Our home dates to the late '40's (1847, I think) and although it has been carefully restored we have chosen not to install central heating in all rooms, some of which are warmed by their original coal grates. A good suit allows one to be comfortable the whole day when moving between cool and overheated sections. I find 60 degrees to be adequately warm when I'm properly dressed. My shop and office are in the village, in an 1860's space, and , again, the wearing of a suit allows me to save a considerable amount of heating fuel.

As far as the casual dress of the distaff office workers, well, at the turn of the last century, when as typewriters and stenographers they first entered the workforce in considerable number, the male "ditto suit" (coat, trousers and vest all of one material) was PRACTICAL, and not in the least formal. The female outfit of the day, shirtwaist over skirt, was merely the female equivalent of the male suit. The female office worker's wardrobe was not generally as tailored as the male throughout the Twentieth century, but can hardly be called "less formal", and at times could be formal indeed. Just think of the Chanel tailored suit so beloved of the post-war secretary.

 

[Bad Co]

Yes styles have a way of coming back