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.

just checked dixtionary scruffy - shabby untidy dirty

So no one is wearing drity things or keeping their home unclean

shabby can just mean old and worn out - so a poverty indicator as well as anything else. Let’s kick people when they ard down

But again people in jeans and trainers are not necessarily wearing worn out jeans and trainers with hols in and how bright colours or comfortable clothes would class as untidy I just don’t know

aome people are being very judgemental- if it’s not fitting a narrow definition of acceptable it’s just nit your style / it’s not shabby to dress differently to you but it’s very rude and untruthful to call other people shabby for their choices

I put in effort to understand that people like different things and not to judge them for their taste - but I think my first instinct to judge may have been accurate

My house is scruffier than me! It's clean and lived in and thats how i like it.

Trainers are often more expensive than "naice" shoes these days too. And worn as a statement.

Mine aren't, I buy mine cos they're comfy. But the price of some is eye watering.

That’s true. Back in the 80s young people were dressing as punks/goths/casuals (if anyone remembers them) and a whole load of other stuff. For younger people, of course. Seems more generic now.

after lockdown and I put back on my jeans - never again have I worn a pair of trousers with a fixed waistband 🤣🤣🤣. I’m happily scruffy.

Here in Glastonbury NHS staff have tattoos all over, dreadlocks, multi coloured hair etc and it's allowed. In my last trust in the south east we would definitely have been sent home for that.
It's because in this area they'd have no staff if they didn't allow it so everyone ignores it. As long as your uniform is cleaned and ironed. That's Glastonbury for you.

And good on Glastonbury! Its pretty similar where I live too

Trainers are not automatically shabby though! They fail to meet the definition of shabby ( cheap or expensive )

You'd hate me OP. 2 nose piercings, 2 lip piercings, a tongue piercing a STRETCHED septum piercing(the horror)! 2 ear stretchers. Pink & black hair, tattoos all on my arms and some on my legs. Band t shirts and shorts/ leggings are my go to outfits.

My fashion/style is alternative, because I am alternative(emo) and don't actually want to conform to 'nice dresses' or trends. We have this thing called free will, and I use mine to dress and be myself because life's too short and no one cares if you look fancier.

But, I also am a great single parent to 2 children and have a first class degree (meaning I can type without typos!)

Good grief!
Are you really that superficial? What are all these ‘scuffs’ like as a person I wonder. I would guess that they are concentrating on more important matters…not buying too many clothes,buying second hand,being clean , being kind etc.
Remember’ all brown boots and no breakfast’ ?

So alternative that you will be pretty much indistinguishable from all the other alternatives at Glastonbury this week-end.

Wear what you want of course. It's amusing that so many posters think band t- shirts/ tattoos, piercings etc are marks of individuality and free spirits.

It reminds me of a thread a while back where a poster thought it was hilarious to laugh at Jacob Rees-Mogg when they were at university because he wore tailored 3 piece suits, cufflinks etc. Now there's plenty of reasons to dislike him but mocking him because he wasn't dressed like every other student is a bit silly.

“Alternative” is a style with a name from history - rather mean to mock it - and it’s still alternative to mainstream so the mocking isn’t very clever either

Thing is OP not everyone will think your style is particularly nice but if it doesn’t bother them why should it bother you?

I've given up caring so much in the last few years. Used to do designer stuff and Botox but no more! It's all so materialistic and aspirational. My handbag cost more than my car once and I'm probably still paying that off.
I still wear make up and have my hair cut and coloured, I'm not a complete scruff but with age I've realised nobody cares and to live within my means.

"Alternative" is meaningless. Alternative what? Alt country, alt rock, alternative
comedy?
So many posters thinking they're something out of the ordinary with their tattoos and piercings.

I'm torn. I don't agree necessarily with OP, but I think clothes are massively important signifiers of all kinds of messages, conscious and unconscious. It's perfectly natural and human to notice these things - as animals we're evolved to do so - it's part of how we manage to survive - and of course we'll judge.

Of course you can tell a lot about a person from their clothes. Who could argue with that? I want people to see me in a way I'd like to be seen so I do take clothes seriously. If I want to look powerful and assertive, I'll try to dress more formally; if I'm after a relaxed vibe, obviously in a different way.

If someone really, really doesn't care about clothes or how people see them - then great - they must have a powerful personality which transcends mere appearances. But I'm not one of those people!

So many others insisting that conservative styles or silly grooming practices are somehow markers of respectability or 'femininity'.

Who has the time or incentive to get all didactic about the ways other people 'should' present themselves? 'Should', incidentally, is the most futile word in the English language. It is not going to make other people conform to what's nothing other than a subjective view.

What others wear affects me not one iota. What other people think of me is likewise none of my business.

And since I don't possess a crystal ball or the gift of telepathy, I have no idea whether they think it makes them look feminine, alternative, respectable, conservative, 'nice', a 'free spirit' or any of the other empty, superficial assumptions based on a person's hair, clothes or jewellery.

Really - who gives a bison's bollock?

This!
Alternative doesn't mean "I'm not like the others" it's literally a subgenre of clothing

Like Kawaii or preppy or jock...

Not sure why you're directing all that stuff about "femininity" to me. I never mentioned it beyond I suppose questioning the misogynistic assumption by one poster that women wearing clothes signified as "masculine" means they're powerful/ strong.

Actually not sure why you're directing any of your points to me. I never said, or even commented on, any of the points you're refuting.

My point was that I'm amused by all these free spirits in their band t-shirts, tattoos and piercings and purple hair thinking they're so original and alternative. In reality it'd be more original to turn up in an impeccably tailored suit.

Oh come off it. Alternative is virtually meaningless. It absolutely is being used as "I'm not like the others"

The poster was using to refer t a particular style - sorrry if you haven’t come across it but it has been around since the 1980s

but iI remember those days - and people used to bully people even then “oh think you are so different “ - what exactly does that mean as a taunt - that you ard just the same as everyone else ? Well yes everyone is the same and everyone is different

but it’s used a a taunt by people who actually want everyone to be the same and I like to think I am a little different from people who want to tease taunt and bully people for not conforming

I'm finding it interesting that lots of people seem to think a dress = looking nice, making an effort.

I wear a dress every single day of my life. Every season. Every occasion. I wear nothing but dresses. I don't own trousers, jeans, not even a skirt, because I don't like them, I like dresses.

I have occasion dresses, casual dresses, scruffier dresses I can do housework and paint in, summer dresses, autumn dresses, winter dresses, long, short, and midi-dresses, dresses I wear all year round. Other than leggings, tights and cardigans to wear with the dresses, I have nothing else but dresses in my wardrobe.

I assure you I am not dressed up all the time :)

Oh actually, I do have one singular t-shirt I wear with leggings to the gym. But it's almost long enough to be a dress 😁

What do you wear for participating in an obstacle course at school sports day, crawling around at soft play or a hike in a national park with the dog on a rainy day?

That looks really cheap and ugly. I can't believe how much it costs.

Is the school private? when mine were private I found people dressed nicely for events as they were social/connecting opportunities. I have put on a dress for sports day often do as I don’t want to race and blame dress🙈