Today I’m going to talk about ‘uniforms’ after the current news that was on TV this week. There was an MP, Tracy something or other (Brabin), who I instantly recognised as being an actress on TV. Jane said she used to be in Coronation Street but I’ve seen her on loads of programmes. It seems that the said MP was in the House of Commons making a speech in an off the shoulder dress. It rather resembled a cocktail dress and to me looked totally out of place in there. A lot may disagree with me, but the news was showing her off-the-shoulder, as in deeply off her shoulder dress, showing a lot of bare skin.
Dress how you want to?
I sort of looked at her and thought that it would throw some of the House into a flat spin and I was right. She was on the news afterwards, defending what she wore in Parliament. In some ways I agree with her, but that seemed to be a case of “I’ll wear what I want to”. She did look a bit like she’d been clubbing the night before and hadn’t had time to get changed, if you know what I mean. Apparently she’d been to an awards dinner and hadn’t had time to change. You’ve got to wonder why she didn’t just wear something suitable for the whole day ahead in that case!
Personally I couldn’t care less, but she was insistent that she was making a stand for all women to dress how they want to dress.
Or wear the Uniform of Work?
I wonder what she would think if men turned up in the House in shorts and a vest, or jogging bottoms and a t-shirt, because I know what I’d think. And it’s just the same thing. It’s nothing to do with the shoulder and having flesh on show. You wouldn’t expect a man to make a speech dressed like he’d been out clubbing either.
It’s about looking serious in the job and professional, which I think most people would agree with. To me it’s a bit difficult to take someone seriously who is showing their assets off. I’m no stick-in-the-mud, but there is a time and place to dress how you want to. I’ve got absolutely no idea what she was talking about, which kind of proves the point. We’ve all ended up talking about what she’d got on, rather than the point she was trying to make. But at least she got a lot of publicity from it!
Uniforms of Life
Children historically, especially the older ones by and large, don’t seem to like to wear uniforms. They don’t want to wear the same as everyone else. But have you noticed that most of us go through life wearing some kind of uniform?
Children and youths like to be like their peer group and wear ‘the right sort of clothes’ that are accepted by their friends. So they doctor their school uniforms so the girls have skirts that resemble belts, their ties are always any old how etc. When they get home from school they wear whatever is the trend at the time.
When I was at school in the medieval ages, we knew we wore a uniform and that was that, so we accepted it. Unlike today, we weren’t allowed to be lax with our clothes. Ties had always to be where they should be, not open halfway down the shirt as a token gesture. Everything had to be worn properly or else you were in for it. Berets were always worn in public, you weren’t supposed to eat in public or walk more than two abreast on pavements. There was always someone who would ring the headmistress up to complain. As a result, the morning after in assembly we would all be given a stern telling off for ‘breaking’ the rules and we didn’t do it again.
And that eyebrow trend!
One thing I don’t like among girls and young women are these painted-on eyebrows. I think they look ridiculous myself, but that’s me.
Maybe a lot of people think they look OK. They’re very square ended and I don’t know anyone who has square ended eyebrows. And so obviously painted on, to the point that they look absurd. But we’ve all been young and not wanted to be the ‘odd one out’.
Younger people like to be on trend with their peer group so again, they wear a uniform of sorts of whatever is currently in fashion.
I’ve seen things I like that other people wear and think that I would like to look like that, as old as I am, another instance of a ‘uniform’. People in jobs that need to protect their clothes wear an obvious uniform, nurses etc, the list is endless and so it goes on.
Older people tend to wear older people’s clothes if you know what I mean, although a lot don’t, myself included I hope! Others might disagree with me.
It’s amazing how different age groups wear their own ‘uniforms’. But wearing a very off-the-shoulder dress in the Houses of Parliament is going a bit far, don’t you think? I bet the poor MP’s had a heart attack at the sight of her with such a bare body. Or they might have had their tongues hanging out, who knows!!
Footnote to the Weather
The wind has dropped and it’s been quite calm and still, with lots of lovely sunshine. The barometer is flying up to dry at a rate of knots and the pressure is now about as high as it gets. So get ready as we are in for it at the weekend, with severe gales forecast, possibly up to 65mph. I’m thinking of hibernating! Jane took this video in Cleveleys yesterday – the calm before the storm!
[arve url=”https://www.youtube.com/embed/8YhRDl1exXk” title=”The calm before the storm in Cleveleys” description=”The calm before the storm in Cleveleys” /]
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