What are you wearing, and why are you wearing it?

With microphone in hand, I have been known to ask the glitterati, “What are you wearing…and why are you wearing it?” It’s the latter part of the question that I find interesting. Why do we wear what we wear? Because our job requires it? Because our grandmother left us her favorite handbag? An expression of our identity?

The answers are often interesting. But when I walk down the street and gaze at what my fellow citizens are wearing, I have to ask the same question.

Spandex two sizes too small (at a certain size, spandex should not even be an option), Jeans hanging down so low I’m subjected to an unwanted view of some youth’s boxers, or extra tight, ultra low rise jeans, exposing muffin top folds of fat spilling over the sides as the inevitable thong on display gasps for oxygen.

There are rips, stains and an endless showcase of dishevelment. If that’s what is on parade in one of the world’s fashion capitals, what does the rest of the country look like?

Please understand, this is not some snide commentary from the fashion police. It’s not about couture; it’s about clean, pressed and scrubbed. It’s about self respect and a kind of decency and respectability in public.

This season we saw a mix of seventies disco and 40’s glamour; yet we also saw pajamas walking down the runway! On the one end, it was nostalgia for sequins, dancing and frivolity coupled with a reminiscence for a more glamorous, more romantic era when the world, post WWII, had promise and order and rebuilding to do. On the other end of the fashion spectrum, a slouchy, “why bother to get dressed at all, no one is going to see me as I sit behind my computer from home all day” attitude, because these sentiments are a reflection of how we feel at the moment. And if fashion trends are a reflection of how we are feeling, pajamas say, naked, casual and slightly inappropriate. I can’t help but feel that the breakdown of presentability I see on the street is a reflection of a breakdown in society and increasing lack of civility.

People, I beseech you, we have work to do, we need to rebuild both economically and socially. So why don’t we start by spit shining our shoes and rolling up the sleeves of a freshly laundered shirt or flattering dress that is hopefully made in the USA in a size that fits and try to get back to work in a civilized manner, because we have a lot of rebuilding to do. So let’s look like we know what we’re doing while we’re at it and, more importantly, look like we care. Actors have always sworn that their character is completed by the costume, so let’s try that approach, worst case scenario, a more attractive show.