Dress codes are no longer apparent in public places these days. Forget casual Fridays, as sloppy sweats continue to be the top choice most any day. Post-pandemic remote workers are more willing to go into the office three or four days a week when they can resume working from home the other days. It seems that that those who have had to return to the office are continuing to wear their pajamas out in public.
The trend now is putting together the oddest combination of garments to complete each outfit. Sometimes one will get a glimpse of sleepwear or lingerie in the supermarket aisle. In addition to popping into a store for a quick cuppa-joe, a look at other customer’s clothes can give one some entertainment while waiting. Returning from a recent trip to the big city, I joined a long coffee shop line. The people ahead of me in line were perfect examples of the ongoing home or work clothing battle faced by so many of us each morning. The line was composed of someone dressed up in something that would have been perfect for an adult’s Halloween party, someone dressed for bed, and someone sporting a well-worn lumberjack jacket with a pair of creased denim jeans and shiny black dress oxfords.
Not a schoolgirl by any stretch of the imagination, the lady at the front of the line donned a fashion-forward, short, green plaid shirtwaist dress with skin showing peek-a-boo style in both the front and back of the dress to get her morning coffee. It’s a brave new world, all right.
By Dolly Viscardi
