People no longer have pride In how they drsss.

[Welliesandtweed]

I've increasingly noticed that people are getting scruffier and scruffier in how they dress.

Some of the secretaries where I work come in, In trainers, band t shirts, coloured hair, loose fitting, cheap tops. I wouldn't do the garden in some of the outfits I see. They aren't typically patient facing but on occasion are. I think it really lacks professionalism to turn up scruffy to work.

Same for people out for an evening meal in jogging bottoms.

On Saturday we had sports day at school and every woman was in a nice dress and men in chinos / short chinos and shirts. Children all in proper PE uniform. It was so refreshing to see.

I agree with you, I work in a corporate role and first impressions count and I definitely judge people who look a mess. I am old school though so I guess I am out of touch too. I think its a shame.

Personally, I think a nice pair of jeans with some adidas gazelles and a top in a colour that suits the wearer can look a lot nicer than some flouncy dress.

The world changes. Men don't wear suits 24/7 anymore and I think it's more important to be comfortable. I work in an architect's office where the guys generally wear trousers jeans or shorts and t-shirt if hot but dress smarter if meeting a client and it's quite acceptable for the girls to wear jeans and trainers. I had a meeting once with a woman who was head of a housing association - she was middle-aged, smartly dressed with bright pink hair and very professional. I loved her pink hair - it was great to see her individuality/personality peeking through. What a boring world it would be if we were all clones of each other. The only thing I would draw a line at for work attire is joggers and sliders - generally worn by sloths.

I wouldn’t care so long as they were clean and relatively tidy .
Looser jeans and trousers and band t shirts are fine .

I actually like bright hair colour as long as it’s cared for , I liked the trend for rainbow 🌈 hair and pastel colours in blonde hair , so pretty.
i do like a nice dress too but usually wear with trainers 👟 as my feet need the support and comfort ( I think it looks cute too even if it’s a bit dated now )

Pink hair and bright colours doesn't = looking like you've just rolled out of bed.

That's entirely subjective.

Stop projecting your own arbitrary preferences onto others.

No my manager was very strict about work wear, actually quite a nightmare. I turned up in smart jeans and a plain white T shirt for casual Friday once and she have me a .massive dressing down in front of the whole office. Apparently casual meant non Jean trousers and a smart shirt 🙄I thought casual meant jeans but apparently not.

Ditto. Work for one of the biggest wealth managers in the country and casual dress is absolutely the norm.

I'd also far rather spend my money on a ticket to a Maiden gig (or books) than those hideous 'sliders'. Or a silly pedicure with a white stripe to hide under my DMs ....

I saw them headline Download back in the day. One of the best festival sets I've ever seen!

Different offices, different dress codes. We had a smart casual dress code and so it was perfectly fine. The only no no's were ripped jeans, shorts or 'beach' flip flops. Our productivity certainly didn't decrease when we started wearing jeans!

This is true my ex H worked in a creative industry as an art worker and nobody could give a monkeys what they wore.

I think is is quite funny. I moved out of London 10 years ago and I still cannot get my head around that people here go to their local Italian restaurant soooo dressed up. Looks odd and inappropriate (and don’t get me started on the amount of alcohol ordered v. Food).

people are more casual post lockdown. I see men and women on the commuter trains off to the City in trainers and no jackets. They look happier for it.

im sat at my wfh desk in sports gear. That’s a jacket over my chair should I need to zoom . I take lots of calls and don’t feel more professional trussed up clothes I dislike. Of course, I’m meeting someone on their home next week and I’ll be smarter (no jacket or dress though).

Why would I want to show the shape of my body? Weird. People tell I’m a woman all day long.

Why would i want to be feminine ? I don’t understand

i can understand that sone people like the feminine look

i understand that some people like a less feminine look

why can’t you understand that not all people like that feminine look?

for me - I dress for me and for me alone and that means I chose and o don’t see that I have to favor any particular style, I don’t see that I have to show anything off - I am not a showy off sort of person

why can’t you accept that people ard different ? ,

@IpsyUpsyDaisyDoos Levi's soften after a bit

Not any I’ve ever had and I’ve been wearing Levi’s since a teen and I’m now past middle age. Had some pairs well worn for decades, physically wearing through on knees and back of thighs (used to fashion patch that when young) but still never comfy at waist even at that point. Would you say the Next are different? I’m willing to try as would like to get back to jeans but as this is my barrier (at a certain age just couldn’t be fucked being uncomfy whatsoever), I’d like to make sure they are different in this respect than Levi’s?

@HoppingPavlova I've got some bootcut ones from Next and they are really soft.

You are wildly, wildly out of touch and I’m stunned that you’re only 43. You’re only in your 40s and you’re shocked by pink hair? Really?

Your idea of ‘making an effort’ is simply dressing to your personal taste. I’m 49 and I have - SHOCK HORROR - coloured hair and I wear trainers to work.

It isn’t any less effort to put on jeans, a t-shirt and trainers for work than it is to put on trousers and a blouse. It doesn’t take any longer to dress in or choose the clothes you dislike than the ones you like. Effort doesn’t come into it. It’s simply personal taste.

If your employer cared about these things, they’d impose a dress code. But they clearly don’t.

It’s incredibly entitled to think that other people should dress according to the extremely narrow style range that you personally happen to find aesthetically pleasing. It’s absolutely none of your business what other people choose to wear; they aren’t there to be decorative for you. It’s exceptionally shallow to think that people’s clothes are the most important thing about them.

I spent nine hours in A&E on Sunday night. One of the three doctors who treated me - the most senior, in fact - and the radiographer who did my x-rays had full sleeve tattoos. The radiographer had a green streak in his hair and I think pretty much every doctor and nurse I saw was wearing trainers. Every single one of them was kind, attentive, charming and completely professional and at no point did I feel any lack of confidence in their ability to treat me. Because, y’know, I’m not a shallow snob and I judge people on their abilities and behaviour rather than their appearance.

Exactly. Why is there an assumption that women’s bodies are designed to be showed off? I’m no less a woman today in my baggy t shirt dress than when I’m in figure hugging clothes.

I do agree that most people dress very generically and in a dull way. It’s absolutely lovely to see people dressed well. The general black and grey uniform looks like a collective depression to me.

Those advocating scruffiness (nice clothes are superficial), do you apply the same logic / lack of standards to your home interior?

A lot of posters aren't advocating scruffiness. They are saying that you can look nice in lots of things. So my house is decorated how I like it and what I think is nice. OP would probably hate it as their isn't a floral curtain, bedspread or sofa in sight.

That doesn’t mean the clothes were inappropriate. It means you have only had jobs in places with a strict dress code.

I work for a very old and serious organisation connected to an extremely venerable profession. The only things prohibited by our dress code are sports kits, ripped jeans and t-shirts with slogans on them. I like clothes and style but that doesn’t mean dressing formally.

And yet the OP was complaining about garish colours...

People aren’t advocating scruffiness though. Just a different style.
My home is decorated in a way that I like and that suits my taste and style.

Mine were always really comfortable, but they do seem to have "size" issues, I'll concede that. I was skinnier (and less skint) when I had Levi's.

My Next ones are always comfortable. I basically live in them. Just switch out for leggings at a bloaty time of the month or when I'm feeling REALLY lazy.

It's not scruffiness. It's just a different style to "nice" dress and heels for the office / a sports day / general life.

I rarely wear make-up, I don't own heels (I am 5'9 though so I have never felt the need for added height), I pretty much live in jeans or leggings and a t-shirt or hoody. Love trainers, hate "shoes" because they hurt my feet (majority, and I get fed up trying to find those that don't). I have a much smaller waist than chest (even when I'm overweight) so blouses / shirts or anything that buttons at the front never looks right because I need it bigger at the bust than the waist. So I either look like my boobs are trying to escape or like I'm drowning at the waist (or in some styles like I'm straight up and down but massively fat).

I'm always clean. I smell good. My hair is brushed and not running "wild" as is it's natural state. I'm just more comfortable than I would be in "office attire". I feel good. I don't feel self conscious. I am happier in myself which means my work is better because I'm more focused.

These are all good things. The fact we're allowed choices at work now doesn't mean we're scruffy. Just means we're different to you.