Tuesday, December 02, 2008

Why is it that some men over 40 completely lose the ability to know how to dress casually? Monday thru Thursday, my officemate is good dresser. Nice suits, decent ties, clean shoes and everything. If he wasn't so annoying, I'd have complimented him on his taste, but that would lead to way too much small talk, so I pass. Sometimes at the end of the day, his shirt is untucked and his tie is undone, but that's to be expected after 8 hours. No harm, no foul. But on Fridays, or the day before a holiday, the wheels come off, and it looks like what we in DC call a bamma.

For example, on Friday, this dude had on a Cosby sweater that stopped RIGHT at his belt. It didn't hang even a centimeter off his belt man, so every time he reached up, reached down, or reach sideways, his whole midsection was exposed. To say the sweater was young, would be an understatement of epic proportions..but he didn't stop there. The jeans he had on did not quite make it to shoe level, and he had on what I like to call "Katrina Pants". I won't get into how tight the jeans were, but you can certainly come up with some imagery. And to top it off, he had some sneakers on that looked like they were totally in style in 1992. And then this dude just walks around the office like not a damn thing is wrong. But its not just him, because I have worked with plenty of older men who fall into this category. How does this happen?

5 comments:

maxwellsmusze said...

the same thing can be said of women over 40 my friend. there are even a few women in the 30 range who explemplify bamma-ness on casual fridays.

Jazzbrew said...

Being a man over 40 I must say that I (and my father) are the exception to that rule.

Papier Girl said...

i know the faux pas of which you speak--and sadly, there's not a whole lot we can do about it. Your office mate is stuck in a time warp--and it's called "I don't give a fuck anymore because DAMNIT i'm old and I shouldn't have to try anymore." Pathetic as it is--the very same thing could happen to all of us in a matter of years.

Best hold tight to your subscriptions to GQ, Esquire, and Details...you'll be needing them in the near future ;-)

£ said...

LOL @ chubbs' comment

but yeah what about men 55+ (my dad) whose idea of casual gear is madras plaid shorts, long black socks and some kind of pull on boat shoe?(which are actually cute but only if accesorized differently) I asked my mom what in the world happened(cuz according to her he used to be stylish) and she is just as confused as I am. we had to run intervention to prevent him from buying a pair of velcro sneakers! lol...wtf man? we had to explain to him that those would only be acceptable if he had bad arthritis or something else that had caused him to lose his manual dexterity. he finally backed down, but boy that was close. fortunately he can still clean up well when he has to.

and like MM said women are not immune. like at what age does a member of the fairer sex wake up and say "hey, nursemates is acceptable footwear for me...even though I'm not a nurse." Or: "a big shapeless piece of fabric works just as well as clothes with seams. I'll throw out everything else I own and just build a wardrobe of housedresses." I need to know, so I can make plans to never reach that age.

Janelle said...

give him an anonymous subscription to at least one of the magazines that Chubbs mentioned. Its the gift that will keep on giving and hopefully he will take the hint. hahahahahahaha

I declare here today that I WILL maintain my sense of fashion in direct correlation to my age (no bubble jackets and low rise jeans in my forties. hahahahaha). That's my pledge. And if I don't, please slap me with a Vanity Fair or Vogue magazine. hahahhaaa