tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1232112655035482837.post8963793203924121417..comments2024-02-11T00:20:16.619-08:00Comments on Robin Chapman News: America: The Nation of Bad ClothesRobin Chapmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10503563386747084298noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1232112655035482837.post-40656607370384927142011-03-25T22:45:01.364-07:002011-03-25T22:45:01.364-07:00Living in Florida I liked to wear long, caftan lik...Living in Florida I liked to wear long, caftan like dresses during the day when I was writing. Dresses are cooler in the summer and it makes one understand why the men in Arab countries wear a long gown. Maybe you're at the leading edge of change. I hope so.Robin Chapmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10503563386747084298noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1232112655035482837.post-21550987294558903512011-03-25T22:36:14.949-07:002011-03-25T22:36:14.949-07:00What a great subject! I remember in grade school,...What a great subject! I remember in grade school, we were only allowed to wear pants on rain & snow days (late 1960's/early 1970's in Wichita). Our teachers, whom I always thought were elderly but were probably the same age I am now, always wore attractive dresses. And now I find myself drawn to eyelet and cotton dresses and skirts for the spring/summer/fall wardrobe here in the high desert. It's so much cooler than slacks and I wouldn't be caught dead in shorts at my age. Just the other day my 21-year-old daughter and I stopped into Ikea after church, and a gentleman stopped us to say "It's nice to see ladies dress like ladies. You two look so pretty." It made our day!Laurahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09821965052839307657noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1232112655035482837.post-30609981842738009062011-03-24T12:58:09.977-07:002011-03-24T12:58:09.977-07:00Nah, you'd probably be chilly without them.Nah, you'd probably be chilly without them.Don Meulerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08653978028551384644noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1232112655035482837.post-71730911917565011142011-03-24T12:20:17.426-07:002011-03-24T12:20:17.426-07:00Why, do you want to borrow my elbow length gloves?...Why, do you want to borrow my elbow length gloves?Robin Chapmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10503563386747084298noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1232112655035482837.post-51937667151156203982011-03-24T10:39:36.491-07:002011-03-24T10:39:36.491-07:00And let me know when your "next party" i...And let me know when your "next party" is...Don Meulerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08653978028551384644noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1232112655035482837.post-72537702420589722272011-03-24T09:15:55.679-07:002011-03-24T09:15:55.679-07:00Have you seen PeopleofWalmart.com? Browse around t...Have you seen PeopleofWalmart.com? Browse around there for awhile and the world around you won't seem so bad. It still will be, but it won't seem like it.Don Meulerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08653978028551384644noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1232112655035482837.post-52143060137616548782011-03-23T20:03:40.915-07:002011-03-23T20:03:40.915-07:00Just think how different things are now, Janet, fr...Just think how different things are now, Janet, from being students in high school where we had to have our skirts a certain length and always had sweaters to match, tucked in our shirts etc. etc. I'm not one who always thinks the old days are better than today. It is just that the clothes are so bad today. I'm trying to figure out ... why???Robin Chapmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10503563386747084298noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1232112655035482837.post-65510240251942167032011-03-23T18:30:36.809-07:002011-03-23T18:30:36.809-07:00If you think the dress at airports and such is bad...If you think the dress at airports and such is bad, try Wallmart. There is an amazing number of folks who are fascinated by that culture. http://www.walmart-people.com/<br /><br />Janet ~<br />WilliamsburgAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1232112655035482837.post-22383647074936014482011-03-23T14:26:13.934-07:002011-03-23T14:26:13.934-07:00I was up in Business Class and it didn't look ...I was up in Business Class and it didn't look much better!!! Anyway, my family was laughing rather heartily when I started talking about this during their recent visit, so it is nice that it does actually have some cultural significance. One thing that is possible, I think, is that, just as this huge change has gone from one extreme (hats and gloves) to the other (blubbery looking sweat clothes) it might, one day, swing back the other way. So I'm putting my white gloves in the drawer, just in case.Robin Chapmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10503563386747084298noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1232112655035482837.post-63525527229907130412011-03-23T13:37:22.910-07:002011-03-23T13:37:22.910-07:00Robin: The view from the historian of technology a...Robin: The view from the historian of technology and culture--<br />1/clothing is not trivial; it is, as the book of the same title had it, "The Mirror of History" among much else;<br />2/context matters, so regarding what people wear in Steerage Class, when air travel became the equivalent of bus travel in socio-cultural terms, dressing for comfort became not only acceptable but essential for personal health; up front in First Class, you will still find up-dressers, even among us men;<br />3/recall that one of the goals of the Sixties radicals was taking down The Establishment, and that meant taking down any sense of formality in dress, demeanor, or interpersonal activities; hence professors in blue jeans at universities, as part of the assault on elitism, which included and still includes using first (or, formerly, "Christian") names in social transactions in which such pseudo-familiarity was frowned upon; and<br />4/the persistent puerility of society in general, with supposedly adult men dressing and acting like adolescents into their forties, phenomena frequently commented upon by social conservatives (like me) but not changed thereby.<br /><br />John Derbyshire at National Review, observing these behaviors and much else, thinks it adds up to the title of his book: "We Are Doomed" as a civilization. I disagree, and expect the return of some formality in dress, demeanor, and discourse, because it has real value for those who practice it--but explaining why is another essay entirely. --Steve ThompsonTTriderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14970829779370076613noreply@blogger.com