For what occasions do you dress up? (lake, electric, 2014)

[2011KTM530]

Up here in the rural Dakotas, I wear nothing but shorts and tee shirts in the 90-100 summer temps, and long johns, flannels and bibs during the -20 winters. I’ve never seen a tie out here in the bush yet. Seems the normal attire is jeans, boots, tee shirt or button shirt and a hat with sunglasses and maybe a hoodie if its cool. Always, some article of clothing is either cammo or hunter orange most of the time. Men or women.

[nowhereman427]

Originally Posted by 2011KTM530

Up here in the rural Dakotas, I wear nothing but shorts and tee shirts in the 90-100 summer temps, and long johns, flannels and bibs during the -20 winters. I’ve never seen a tie out here in the bush yet. Seems the normal attire is jeans, boots, tee shirt or button shirt and a hat with sunglasses and maybe a hoodie if its cool. Always, some article of clothing is either cammo or hunter orange most of the time. Men or women.

Dress according to the environment and business industry that is your livelihood.

[Woody01]

Originally Posted by harry chickpea

Not wise. You never know what tats or scars that turtleneck might be hiding.

If you see a guy in a long sleeve t-shirt or even a turtleneck in weather where others are wearing short sleeves, it would be much safer to be very polite instead roughing him up. Just sayin'

FWIW, If you need a "man card" you aren't a real man.

Originally Posted by harry chickpea

I got to thinking more about that last joking remark, and how various people react to differences in the way people dress. Obviously, Roy Rogers attire is not common in some areas of the country, and south Florida clothing and golf clothing might be seen as unusual out of context. People who reach a certain level of maturity or worldliness don't give it more than passing notice.

Your friendly "warning" is ridiculous. All it takes is one viewing of "Billy Jack" to know that the person who gets roughed up might not be the expected one. FWIW, I've never had any whippersnapper take obvious offense to my turtlenecks, but then I do have a CC permit and sometimes a bulge in my overshirt if it gets pulled in certain ways.

Dude - Relax.....it was pretty clear I was kidding and being good-natured about it too.

Wear your T-neck proudly my friend.

[2mares]

Originally Posted by katharsis

We recently moved to a rural (but definitely not poor!) location, and I know that the people here don't dress up much at all -- but that being said, I was surprised when we went to a fairly upscale restaurant for a Valentines Day dinner, and it seems that everyone besides us were dressed in "everyday" jeans, the usual attire around here, so I am wondering if most rural people dress up only for weddings and funerals (if that)?

Now, granted, it was about five degrees outside, but I am just curious as to whether our experience is usual for most rural locations? (If you care to answer, would you please tell what state/area you are in? Thanks.)

P.S. We are certainly not snobs, and we love it that the year-rounders here are not pretentious at all, but we just want to fit in and not look like outsiders. (Btw, my husband wore slacks, a turtleneck and a sweater, and I wore a slightly dressy sweater and leggings set.)

Church.
Basically, here, regardless of income, you go as you are unless it is a special occasion such as church, wedding, funeral. Going out to eat generally is not considered a special occasion except maybe for young folks on a date.

[jerzdevil]

To some rural areas, dressing nice is simply not wearing something without stains or holes. Me I touch up my facial hair and wear old dress shoes with a spit shine, jeans or khakis with a clean tshirt, maybe under a collar shirt. One of my nicer hats that don't have sweat marks complete the outfit.

Wedding or life changing celebration? Then I wear the full suit, etc.

[nowhereman427]

It just depends on what she looks like

It's like a woman without make-up is like a car without polish.

[Submariner]

Here in rural Maine, it is nearly mandatory that whenever it is negative temps [-1F to -20F] everyone shifts to open sandals, gym shorts, and a t-shirt with a parka.

Formal wear is for weddings, funerals, and school reunions.

[Submariner]

Camo is strictly for tourists.

Hunters are required by law to wear blaze orange. You can wear camo so long as you cover it over with blaze orange.

During hunting, if you walk near the pavement without blaze orange, locals will stop to kindly remind you to wear blaze orange when outside.

[ClaraC]

This has been such an interesting thread to read through. Thank you all.

If you look at older "crowd shots" of Americans, (so, not times when they purposely dressed up for the pic), everyone was dressed up. Crowd shots of people downtown, crowd shots of people on airplanes, crowd shots of people in shopping centers, etc. Throughout time. Even crowd shots of ships arriving in America at Ellis Island. Everyone was dressed up. Everyone looked presentable. Until now. You go to an airport or a walmart, and people are wearing pajamas, or not covering themselves at all.

[MTSilvertip]

You just reminded me of something I noticed when i was stationed in Bosnia. People wore very nice clothes, They had satallite dishes on the railings of their apartments, and all of them had cell phones on their hip.

Thing is, most of them were barely scratching by. None of the dishes worked, none of the cell phones were connected, but as long as you appeared to have nice clothes etc., you weren't poor. Even if you hadn't eaten in days or had electricity or heat, you kept up the appearance, (facade) that you were doing fine.

Here the trappings of wealth aren't as important to rural people. We tend to be more independent and that means that impressing someone else isn't as important because you don't need the approval of others to find your own self worth. To me, the value of a person comes from their character, their honesty, how they care for their family. I'll go with a decent person in rough clothes anytime over someone that's all glitz and glamour, with nothing valuable in their heart.

The facade is superficial and shallow. Respect for the persons value as a human has nothing to do with how they dress. Beauty is only skin deep after all.