Funny story I just remembered that totally relates to what people notice about how you dress. Okay… so I was at an academy required by child protective services investigators. The man who runs the academy is not born in the U.S. I can’t remember where he was born. Possibly the Phillipines. His role this particular day was to teach the “diversity” portion of the academy. One can imagine that as an investigator it’s important to not make assumptions based on your biases in terms of color, religion etc.. During one portion of the class this instructor gave us a sheet of paper that had a list of things on it related to bias. You had to go around the room and ask people if that had every happend to them. Well one of the questions was something about having people make an assumption about you. I can’t remember how it was phrased. A young guy walked up to me with his paper and asked if I could say yes to any of the questions. We were standing next to the instructor. I pointed to this question and said “yes… people often assume that I’m gay”. The instructor looked at us and without any surprise in his voice said “really? is it because of how you dress?” LOL…. How funny is that??! the DIVERSITY instructor is asking me if people think I’m gay because of what I was wearing. Now are you all wondering what I was wearing? Ha ha… I like to travel light. So I’d gone to this four week academy with nothing but jeans, cowboy boots and about ten white t-shirts (keeping it simple) The dressy part of the outfit was a very expensive belt with an ornate buckle. The kind you see in high end stores.

I notice modesty, which I think often is a reflection of social class and religious preferences. I also notice the presence or absence of a natural radiance. We have modesty standards in our LDS faith. Shirts need to have sleeves, even just cap sleeves, no tank tops. Shorts should be walking short length. My daughter, 16, with her first paycheck, bought herself shorts that were hardly covering her cheeks. I took her out and we found some cute capris, that even she agreed were more comfortable, and which she wore out to the movies with friends. Families can choose to enforce these standards, no one is turned away from church for wearing anything inappropriate, and it is not mentioned from the pulpit, but it is very useful to us parents to have these common standards because the fashion industry certainly doesn’t have any. The big dilemma is always prom dresses that tend to be strapless. This year I found yellow chiffon material that perfectly matched my daughter’s yellow dress and was able to add some beautiful cap sleeves. The other problem we have is that all my girls are busty and skinny. So the challenge is to find something that fits in the shoulders and waist and isn’t too tight in the chest. The girls have friends who are spilling out of their shirts. The boys have to love that. One of my big tips to my daughters has been to dress down, without makeup for the first few days or even weeks of their college classes. That way, their gloriousness is a little more subdued and they can watch and evaluate the boys they see without drawing undo attention. Once they know who seems interesting and who seems like jerks, then they can turn on the charisma and approach who they want. It helps to avoid all the unwanted attention they seem to naturally attract. Beautiful girls are a challenge and a gift.

I do not notice mostly. I am a UC Berkeley graduate with a entrenched 60’s attitude… thank (input your favorite deity) that I am able to eat in most of the really great SF Bay Area restaurants in a t-shirt and shorts or jeans!!! Too bad some of them still have dress codes. That said , I do notice two things: 1) is s/he smoking? If so, I move up wind or far, far away, and 2) is s/he barely dressed? If so, I admire their courage, and if their body is pleasing, I admire that too! BTW: dark hair with electric color highlights (red, pink, blue, orange, yellow, whatever) is extremely pleasing!

You dont’ have to spend a fortune to look well groomed. How you dress tells people what you think of yourself. If you are careless with your appearance, dirty, wrinkled clothing, filty, cracked feet sticking out of old flip flops, how can you have credibility, especially in the workplace? I can’t believe how some people show up for job interviews. I am glad to see that the college girls are trying to wear dresses and cute clothes. And, the last time I was in D.C., I noticed that men of all ages were back to dressing like professionals. When I am in my garden, I look like hell, and that makes sense, but why would I want to appear in public that way?

I make jewelry so I always notice interesting earrings and pendants. I also admire women who can pull off kind of a bohemian chic. It can be clothes from a resale shop put together seemingly haphazardly but they just look really cool and confident. On the other hand, when I’ve tried for this look, I look more bag lady than bohemian. I will also admit to making snap assumptions about people with mullets ( and they are out there.)

I look at the complete package, What are the circumstances..i.e. Job interview, type of job and or where is the person at the time. If I am interviewing someone for a job, I would expect that they would dress the part of a professional. This would apply to any job applicant no matter the job description, Not to say only in suit(Women) suit and tie(Men) but a clean neat buisness casual look. It is important to understand the job you are applying for but most importantly you only get one chance to make a lasting impression and if you don’t walk in looking like you invested a little time and effort in to your appearance..What does that say to me regarding your caring about my buisness. When out and about downtown Chicago sitting at one of my favorite coffee haunts, I love to people watch and am amazed at the various attire choices of those around me. The one that kills me and I completely have to contain my laughter,are the guys who wear their pants cinched so tight with a belt “under their buttocks”, that even their asses are dying for air lol. I guess they have to cinch them so tight in order to keep them atleast attached to their person since the intended use of the human ass is to aid one in keeping their britches up. And then I feel robbed of any visual stimulation, as the underwear is usually a completely boring plaid pattern, I mean if you want to show us your drawers at least give us some color..Perhaps a design of some sort….I’ll even settle for cartoon characters;)