why so casual?

Thoughts and input on anything related to wet shaving or men's grooming.
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okie
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why so casual?

Post by okie »

Shaving seems to be one of the few civilized areas of my life. I coach so I spend most of my time in shorts and T-shirts. When I go to the Doctor he is wearing scrubs in the office. When I go to Church the Preacher has no tie. I don't wear jeans to school even of Friday, but I never bust out the sport coat. I would stick out like a 3 headed martian. When I go to the Doctor I want him in slacks, shirt and tie wearing a lab coat. I like my Preacher in a nice suit.(for the most part my Preacher is good about this) It gives me confidence in them. Really my mechanic shop is the last one in town who seem to get it. The shop floor is clean the tools are neat and his shirt is tucked in. His pants fit. It is even a nice shirt. I have confidence when I walk in that they are going to do a good job and know what they are doing. Can we get back to proper dress in this crazy world. Am I alone feeling a man dressed porperly for his job takes his job serious.
shave well look good
Gene
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Post by Gene »

I tend to agree with this. I have noticed a distinct lowering of standards when it comes to how people dress these days.

Pretty sure I have mentioned I travel a great deal for work, mostly in airplanes. There was a time, not too long ago, that people "dressed" to travel...whether it was in a plane, train or some other conveyance. Not anymore! I can't tell you all the outfits I see men and women wearing these days. Honestly...late afternoon flights and people are wearing what I would swear was a set of pajamas to the airport.

Call me old school...I might be in jeans or khaki pants, but I have a nice shirt on; I am not only clean shaven, I am freshly shaved, and I don't look like a slob.
Gene

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dash maverick
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Post by dash maverick »

Amen brother! Whether you like it or not, people are going to judge you based on appearance... first impressions are everything. I may be a delivery truck driver but I am a professional delivery truck driver and I leave my house in the morning looking like one. I delivery to many different people everyday so I take my appearance seriously... that means clean shaven, clean scent, clean clothes/uniform and clean hands, even keeping the cab of the truck clean. I'll admit, in my profession many drivers look like dirty slobs, which really takes the "professional" out of "professional driver".
Anthony

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ateace
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Post by ateace »

+1 The pajamas in public is my big pet peeve.

My workplace is casual. I wear jeans and a pullover shirt almost every day. This is partly due to the fact that I may get into dusty or dirty tasks during the day. In the past, I would shave no more than Mon/Wed/Fri and no one would say a thing. Nice not to have to worry about these things sometimes.

Then, after a while, I began to feel like I should be a little more presentable, because I have to meet with people from time to time.

So I got into daily shaving, then switched to DE and did a modest upgrade to my wardrobe. I started to feel like a slob at work whenever I sported whiskers. At some point you need or want to look like you care how you present yourself to the public.
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KAV
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Post by KAV »

There are entire forums devoted to men's dress. Sadly, they have an atmosphere more befitting slobwear and I do not recommend them.
I've been slowly rebuilding a wardrobe ravaged by time, a apt fire and nephews. The truly difficult part is finding real men's clothing anymore. We've been emasculated to small retail corners with chicom uniforms of baseball cap, shorts or designer jeans, flip flops or tennis shoes.
I have a friend who makes custom ties and pocketsquares in Thailand, have a shirtmaker in L.A. lined up, a tweed suit maker in England and a shop in Pasadena that carries Alden shoes and some decent suits. This stuff costs MONEY. It's worth it to me still.
My return to WS is part of this. I could go into a whole sociological rant about american males being insulted in the media. Someday, God willing,
barney Frank may rise to the floor and introduce anti hate legislation against real men.
I think the popular sereis MAD MEN has reawakened many to what we lost during that pivotal social period.
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fallingwickets
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Post by fallingwickets »

thank goodness you gents haven't seen me.....the pj wearers on the aeroplane will look spiffy in comparison HAHA

clive
de gustibus non est disputandum
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desertbadger
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Post by desertbadger »

Yep, you've got a good point. "Out West" things tend to be more casual than what most people are used to. I was born in Michigan and I can recall even as a youngster people were dressed up on Sunday even if you didn't go anywhere.
If you take a look at the old screen footage of people in the great depression standing in the food lines practically all the men wore suits or at least a tie. They may have owned only one suit, but they wore it.
I'm from the generation that when you dated a girl, say in high school, the girl or at least her parents "judged you" on how your shoes looked. If they were leather and most were, they had better be shiney.
Regards,
David
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fallingwickets
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Post by fallingwickets »

the girl or at least her parents "judged you" on how your shoes looked.
yeah, the good old days. Now a soon to be repo'd escalade will do the trick

LMAO

clive

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dash maverick
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Post by dash maverick »

fallingwickets wrote:
the girl or at least her parents "judged you" on how your shoes looked.
yeah, the good old days. Now a soon to be repo'd escalade will do the trick
I find that sad and sickening. At 27, I'm not part of desertbadgers generation but find many of my values align with his. Frankly, I'm disgusted with my generation and find most are lazy, dependant and naïve; always looking for a handout (obama care?).
Anthony

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KAV
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Post by KAV »

It's hardly a generation thing. I see slobs of all ages and well dressed people too. I almost lost it as a pallbearer at a funeral recently. I'm holding hte right rear conrer. In front and in the middle was a guy in bluejeans and a black t shirt. His cellphone rang and he answered the call walking towards the alter.
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dash maverick
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Post by dash maverick »

KAV wrote:It's hardly a generation thing. I see slobs of all ages and well dressed people too. I almost lost it as a pallbearer at a funeral recently. I'm holding hte right rear conrer. In front and in the middle was a guy in bluejeans and a black t shirt. His cellphone rang and he answered the call walking towards the alter.
That's not just slobbish, it's downright disrespectful!!
Anthony

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TRBeck
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Post by TRBeck »

Hey, I'm in agreement that the generally slovenly public appearance of the general populace is disappointing, but can we abide by the rules of the forum and not throw in snide political asides and insults (chicom; Obama care)?

Regards,
Regards,
Tim

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gil3591
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Post by gil3591 »

maybe due to apathy in general towards our society. maybe we're getting out of the victoria area. i like to watch an old movie and look how the "general public" used to dress. hats, suits were the standard dress on the streets.
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DEF
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Post by DEF »

I don't dress up per se, but my daily uniform is khaki pants and a white, long-sleeve oxford shirt (specifically, the Lands End Hyde Park shirt, which is a wonderful heavy-gauge 100% cotton oxford). In cool weather, a sweater vest works well over the top. I guess you would call it classic "business casual."
Doug
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KAV
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Post by KAV »

I apologise for using chicom. I meant to say the heroic People's Army who own many of the factories cranking out the fine products sold at Wal-Mart. Runs off stage holding a huge red silk banner to the clash of gongs and applause from the politburo sitting in the balcony.
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dash maverick
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Post by dash maverick »

KAV wrote:I apologise for using chicom. I meant to say the heroic People's Army who own many of the factories cranking out the fine products sold at Wal-Mart. Runs off stage holding a huge red silk banner to the clash of gongs and applause from the politburo sitting in the balcony.
:lol: :lol: :lol:
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Post by 95% »

I'm on board with okie's sentiments, but especially with respect to older people. I'm in my sixties. There's not a whole lot we can do to stop the aging process, but at least we can try to look our best. Too many of my generation don't try. When I got into my fifties and lived in one of the most affluent zip codes in the country, I looked around, and everywhere I saw old guys with their hanging lower lips, shuffling along in the supermarket, wearing threadbare old shirts and pants and dirty tennis shoes. I said to myself, I'm not going to be one of them. The least I can do is to be well groomed and to wear clean and reasonably new clothes.

I won't mention older members of the other gender, with their mile-wide hips, pushing their grocery carts in Spandex pants, except to say it's an offense against public decency. There are simple alternatives to that kind of attire, if only they cared.
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KAV
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Post by KAV »

Another derivation is 'this is me' togs. I am a horseman, have a modest but very fine collection of tack and riding attire for both english. carriage and western. You will NEVER see me in riding kit off the ranch. I change, drive off for lunch and see Dressage women who make Rosie O'Donnell sound like Melanie Hamilton stomping around shopping centers in black jodhpurs , boots, prussian spurs and smelling of wet saddle blankets.
Then there are people who have Harley Davidson 'The American Legend' as their 24/7 mantra, reenactors of hysterical history, goths,punks,emos,religious cult members and survivalists in cammies.
I think I know the inspiration for the 'Cantina Scene' in STAR WARS. It's called EL-A. :lol:
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Post by bernards66 »

Okie ( and most of the rest of you ), all I can say is do NOT come to Florida! If you think it's bad where you are.....well....it's summer here almost all the time....think about what that means.....sigh. Just ask Dominic....he saw it. I'm over dressed in jeans and a polo shirt with the tails out....jeez!...I even have socks on. It's really bad. Nothing to be done except tend my own garden as best I can. That gent above had a point, though. It's gotten really difficult to even FIND quality men's clothing in many places, and if you do, it's often prohibitively expensive for many of us. It did not used to be that way. Very sad....and it's more general implications, culturely and psychologically speaking, are not encouraging.
Regards,
Gordon
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KAV
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Post by KAV »

Bernard called me a 'gent.' Sits up straight in chair. I'm so proud :D
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