Don't people dress up any more?

We went to a friend’s house for lunch recently. She really doesn’t mind what I wear, but I usually try and dress nicely. On this occasion I decided for a change to wear a pair of smart jeans. Almost as we were going out of the door, I rushed upstairs and changed them for a pair of formal trousers. Just couldn’t bring myself to do it! When I got there she was wearing - jeans! That was a first!

Smart casual to me means tailored trousers in a fabric other than denim eg grey flannel.
Never see jeans as smart. Useful and comfortable everyday wear.

Had lots of dressy clothes and heeled shoes for ‘do’s’ in the past. Glad that retirement has put paid to most of that.
Now I would only dress up ( somewhat) for weddings and any parties.Much better to feel comfortable, but as others say, dress appropriately for the occasion, whatever it is.

I can't even stretch to smart casual - I am scruffy casual!

For me it's my one pair of decent leather shoes rather than Sketchers.
The only time I try to smarten up is morning shopping. I still have my 'decent' clothes from when I retired ?20 years ago, which I wear then. Most other morning shoppers seem to have the same idea.
And there's a generation even older than even me who stagger around, propped up by their trolleys, and I think, I'll be there soon .
Occasionally I shop in the afternoons, when the younger generation are on their way home from work, and they're more up-to-date with their styles.

We were staying in Penang for a few weeks and decided to treat ourselves to lunch at the Eastern & Oriental Hotel, a sister hotel of Raffles and it had a dress code. Had all the gear except a proper pair of shoes so I bought a pair from the market but unfortunately we walked the short distance and the soles of the shoes became unstuck from the heat from the pavement! I turned up with flapping shoes. Soooo embarrassing!

I have photos of my dad on the beach, making sand castle and he's wearing leather shoes, a suit and his jacket is over the deck chair and his white shirt sleeves are rolled up to his elbows. Mum is wearing a pretty cotton dress and leather Clarks sandals. Didn't they have casual clothes in the 1950's?

Do you remember those adverts for Flash on TV where the housewife is mopping her kitchen floor tiles, wearing a summer dress with a full flared skirt and high heeled shoes?

Do you think they will ever change the sign for womens loos as women no longer wear skirts??

This?

I think I'll have to move up north as I love dressing up smart, especially if I'm going out (and I love going out), but I live in the south east and have noticed that I'm often the only person not wearing jeans. DH is Scottish, however and when we go to any family events over the border, I know we'll all be tarted up to the nines .

In the'70s me and my friends used to dress up just to go to the pub! We wore long flowing maxi dresses or hotpants and knee high boots. It was great. We went to Venice a few years ago and I stocked up on long dresses (not gowns, just summery long dresses) and lovely tops and skirts. When we got there everyone was in shorts or three-quarter jeans. I was amazed.

My DGD (living in the SW) dresses up if she and her fiancé are going out to eat at certain restaurants but if it is her mother and I going with her she just wears her jumper - mind you to be honest for us it is usually after late night shopping!!. DD lives in the north and mostly dresses up an outfit with fancy earrings and necklace in the evening. I have to rootle through my suitcase when with them to find the suitable top.
I rarely wear a skirt or dress now but that is mainly because we have a gravel drive and it absolutely ruins any heels - the better quality the more damage it seems to inflict! My footwear mainly consists of flat boots or flip flops and a pair of loafer type smart shoes and a pair of Marks sandals for driving - as the Gendarmes can have funny opinions of women’s footwear if they stop you.
The French living in the more country areas do not dress up much even for things such as a wedding or funeral - the families of the bride and groom may do but not most other guests - surprised me as I went quite smart. Most funerals I have been to people just have the normal ‘popping to the supermarket’ look.

I don't do dress-up either and haven't worn a skirt for years. I like the idea of tarting up an outfit with a scarf but scarves end up in a tangle round my neck and make me hot. If we go out for dinner I can do smart casual but generally notice the other diners haven't bothered much. But so what? We should not be defined by our clothes, should we? I do insist on 'clean', though.

I try to dress to my best every day I wouldn’t leave my bedroom without having had shower, hair wash, earrings pendant and makeup ( only eyeliner and lippy) on but do I wear skirts, dresses etc .....nah never have since I was about 30, doubt I ever will now I have lots some height and can’t wear high heels so don’t feel I look that good in dresses or skirts although I ve still got a good pair of pins
If I m going out to lunch I ll wear a top I don’t wear regularly and maybe a scarf to bounce it up but I ve never owned ‘evening wear’ my friend goes on cruises and has a very different wardrobe to me but when I meet her for lunch she looks no better
It s what you feel comfortable and look good in I feel uncomfortable in blingy clothes

I suspect that most people, like me, don’t like buying clothes that they can only wear very occasionally. However I do look back longingly to the days when we wore long skirts to go to a classical concert. Apart from the odd wedding I really can’t remember the last time I had to dress up.

I did buy a (sequinned) Christmas jumper for the first time last year, as we'd been invited to a couple of events which specified: "Wear something Christmassy" and "Wear your Christmas jumper." I also knew that our daughter would enjoy wearing her Christmas jumper, which she's had for a few years now. It was fun to join in with the frivolity. Not sure fluttERBY123 whether this is a northern phenomenon or not. Our daughter lives in the south, but insists that she's a northerner by nature as she's spent most of her life here.

I'm a southerner and I wore a glittery jumper at Christmas, as did DD.

My DGM always, said if you are buying something for yourself or your house, you might as well buy something that looks nice on you or you will enjoy looking at.

I cannot imagine buying anything for myself that I didn't feel I looked good in. Also, every day I wear blusher and pencil in my eyebrows, entirely for my own satisfaction, so that if I catch the sight of myself in the mirror, I am happy with the reflection.

I still have the lovely 'mother of the groom' outfits I wore for my sons' weddings. I did wear one last year when we went to a 'posh frock' dinner at a local stately home. However, to wear really posh frocks I think you have to be going to a Hunt Ball or a Rotary charity ball, and neither of those are relevant for me. It's nice to dress up a bit, but OH usually would prefer to wear a slightly smarter pair of trousers and similar sweater. However, I like to wear the few bits of good jewellery I have (inherited from my mother) on any occasion that I can manage.

Same wardrobe as you Bathsheba. It also wouldn’t occur to me to “dress up” to go to a London theatre and I’d say most other theatregoers feel the same unless they’re American. At one time I would have made a big effort so times have certainly changed.

I love an excuse to dress up I was the only person on Christmas day at my son's house dressed up I wore a red and black dress tights and short boots my family all asked me why I'd dressed up

I have noticed that even on holiday staying in hotels a lot of people do not bother to dress up for the evening. I personally do although nothing too elaborate.