Monday, May 11, 2009

What do you wear out to dinner?


The weekend was pretty nice even though the house is still a disaster zone. (see above) Seth made a lot of progress in his peeling and scraping paint and spackling. He's made it around to the south side of the living room. Any further and the furniture needs to be moved across the room. Time for sanding, priming and painting this half first. More dust. Seth sealed off the den with plastic and the living room rug is covered in furniture and plastic, the poor dog, who will be 17 next month, was so confused. There was no way to get to his usual spots, poor baby. Seth felt sorry for him and unsealed the den, as you can see in the photo.
(which also has a pink strip across the top. I have a bad feeling that a new camera may be in my future)

We went to the Star Trek movie Saturday night and then to a late, cheap dinner. It's a blue collar Portuguese Mexican restaurant. The owners are Portuguese and the cooks are Mexican. The grilled chicken is the only concession to Portugal, oh and the bread comes from the Portuguese bakery. The rest is Mexican. It's cheap and delicious.

Dh and I are old enough to have seen and loved the original show when we were in high school. The movie was fantastic! It was great fun and the new Jim Kirk is a hotty. I loved the references to the original series and the new actors in old roles managed to bring a freshness to familiar characters. Seeing Leonard Nimoy was a treat. Alex saw it in Korea on Saturday night and loved it too.

Mother's day was dinner at our favorite upscale restaurant. Great food, excellent service and plenty on the menu for Seth to eat. They will cook up anything up for me without butter. I wore my yellow Bottega Venetta knock off that I made last summer from Knipmode
and my new gladiator sandals and felt tres chic. I and the other middle aged or older women were dressed up. All of the younger women wore jeans, nice ones, but still jeans, heels and nice tops. Not great tops, no chic jackets, just knit tops. Most of the young women who post reviews on Pattern Review make lovely dresses and skirts or nice trousers. They make gorgeous jackets. They must wear them somewhere, so why not out to dinner? I love to get dressed up to go out. After all, where else am I going to wear the things I make? I certainly can't traipse around constructions sites in my good clothes! Mentioning this to my bff this morning, who is a Hebrew School principle and often fills in for the cantor or the Rabbi at services, she said that more and more women show up at synagogue in jeans these days. I feel weird even wearing pants to synagogue, much less jeans! My children still observe the dress up for the Sabbath rule. What is it with people these days. In synagogue or church it seems like a lack of respect, but what about going out to dinner, why don't people want to get dressed up any more? What do you wear to a nice restaurant? By the way my husband looked chic too, in black DKNY trousers and a white with black pinstripe dress shirt. A jacket would have been way overdressed. No sneakers either!

24 comments:

  1. Vivienne Westwood is often quoted as saying, "You have a better life if you wear impressive clothes." And I believe it! I tend to dress up a bit for work, although I do it because I enjoy it so much, so sometimes I just want to wear jeans to go out for dinner. But if the location calls for a nicer outfit? I'm all for it. I've discovered dresses and skirts the last few years and I do love a fancy shoe. I typically sew more dress-up-able garments than utilitarian ones--I think they're more fun.

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  2. Don't even get me started on this - I have blogged about it more than once. Most people are just lazy sacks these days - they have no sense of decorum and lack pride in themselves. I get so tired of the comfort cop out. Sheesh, people need to put on some real clothes when they go out in public - if you would garden, walk the dog or clean in it, don't wear it out to dinner, to go shopping or anywhere for that matter!

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  3. I dress up for work too. I'm self employed and work alone, but I like to wear nice clothes. I like to look nice when I go out, but if it's not a super dressy place I'll likely be in nice dark jeans, heels and a nice top. Not junky jeans though, and not light ones- there's a difference in my closet between Saturday jeans and going out jeans. And jeans would never be appropriate for any kind of church in my book.

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  4. Hmmm. For parties, I dress up. For dinner out... I think I'm in the dark jeans and heels category. I need something in between.

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  5. I don't go to many fancy restaurants any more--certainly not like I did when I was a young woman. For church, and when I do go to a nice restaurant, I wear a nice jacket, top, slacks and dress pants. My nails are polished, my hair is fixed up and I have make up on. I don't go anywhere looking unkept or shabby.

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  6. Just love your house! And DH is doing a wonderful job, tell him for me please.
    I don't go out much. When I do, my face is made up and so is my body :))

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  7. One of the things I adore about my current boyfriend is that he knows how to dress and NEVER GOES OUT TO DINNER IN SNEAKERS! *shudders*. I love getting dressed up to go out. Especially since my work wardrobe is so utilitarian and well, 6 year old friendly. I bet you looked tres chic darling.

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  8. I love a creative classic skirt and a lovely blouse. But I LOVE my jeans and yes I own a "new" pair of distressed -but-not so- distressed jeans, and are they comfy. Paired with a lovely jacket it can be some chic. Wear them to a dressy dinner or church? Nooooooooo. I have 4 sets of eyes on me (children) and there is a time and place for all styles. As I constantly say to my children (eyes rolling) "dress for the job you want,not the one you've got".And your house looks great Nancy. Lovely open floor plan with great ceilings!

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  9. I LOVED the Star Trek movie. It was such fun. I don't dress up on a daily basis these days, but I kind of feel I need to look nice when I go to church.

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  10. I am guilty of the jeans and heels look at dinner. I usually pair mine with a twinset or top and jacket. But I have to dress every day at work so I'm looking for a funky, casual cool look for the weekends.

    I really want to see Star Trek too. I remember the original show too!

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  11. I wear whatever the mood I'm in at the time dictates, plus whatever is in my closet that I feel good in that day or night. Sometimes it's jeans, but usually slacks with a nice jacket, etc... It also depends on where we are going to dinner. The occasion also has something to do with what I choose.

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  12. Nancy - you and I must be from the same era - I have 2 pairs of jeans, and the rest are pants - mostly that I've made so they fit and feel good. But I love getting dressed up. I love getting grubby and then getting all dolled up and going out. I still wear dress-up to church even though a lot of the kids are more casual.

    LOVE the progress reports on your living room - my friend is building me a kitchen table right now and the sawdust is everywhere - but you really can't clean up till it's finished, even though it's hard not to do periodic neatening!

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  13. I have noticed this too, but I'm happy to report that my 24 year old daughter never goes out without being dressed appropriately. She loves to dress up! Also her boyfriend is Italian and so fashionable :)
    I think it must be how people were brought up. My mother always wore makeup, even just to go grocery shopping. And I never wear jeans out to dinner.

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  14. I wore my new Vogue dress on Mother's Day and I also noticed, much to my chagrin, how casual everyone else was. However, I think the uber-casual dress is a Northeast thing, particularly in the part of the country where you and I live. People dress nicer in the South and Southwest; my 16-yr-old DD noticed that the boys her age in the Carolinas at least wore khaki shorts and polos rather than the basketball shorts and tees the boys wear here. When I moved from Dallas to Boston I had the hardest time trying to learn how to dress down like the natives.

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  15. I have to agree with dressing for dinner or other outings. It is one of my pet peeves as well. I don't think it is considered politically correct to teach this in school as it was taught in my day. Sloppy boobs and cleavage, another pet peeve, for heaven's sake get a properly fitting bra! As for church - totally agree. If you don't own a dress, certainly you're still welcome at church but do dress in a respectful and modest tone.

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  16. Chagrined is right. I felt all spiffy and then I felt kind of old. But, you'll notice my dd, Alex commented that she likes to get dressed up and she's 23. She went away to boarding school where you had to dress for the all school meetings. No sneakers or t shirts allowed and the boys had to wear a blazer. There wasn't a dress code per se for every day, but appropriate dress was expected.

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  17. Sounds like you had a good weekend. Love the view of your house, only reminds me that we also have some things to do in that department.

    And dress style, you've probably never been to the Netherlands, you hardly see dresses and really well dressed people. Casual is almost everywhere, all the time. But I keep my jeans for home, and wouldn't go to dinner in them.

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  18. Nancy, I think that you look fabulous every time I see you, and love the fact that not only do you dress wonderful, you taught your sense of style to your beautiful daughter. Unfortunately, I didn't have a similar role model growing up with all brothers -- so it is a lot of Chico's for me -- but I do love their jackets, and tops.

    Wow, looks like you are keeping Seth busy!

    We saw Star Trek Sunday for Mother's day. It was so much fun! And Leonard Nimoy was a treat. I agree with everything you said about the movie.

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  19. Very occasionally I'll do the jeans thing out to dinner but that is only for week nights after work when I am too tired to change. And it's never a nice place, just local fare. Korean women my age all seem to dress super snazzy.

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  20. I don't get it either. Are jeans more comfortable than skirts and dresses? I think skirts look way better. I would rather wear jeans than slacks because jeans are way more comfortable. Shirt untucked is way more comfortable too. Obviously, I would dress up for services.

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  21. Other than I want to get out of the studio more often, and have a regular paycheque, one of the key reasons that I've been debating a traditional job is to get dressed up. I miss that putting it all together aspect of being part of the visible work force.

    Lauren posted a comment about getting dressed up and being self-employed. Thanks. It was encouraging.

    I'm self employed as a textile painter in a home based studio. I'm working on nine pieces for an exhibit in January and then plan to take a Year of Fashion. At the end of that year maybe - just maybe - I'll have more than a collection of black t-shirts and jeans to wear. I'm so (sew) excited. Before I started my business, I sewed everything from lingerie to outerwear and that went by the wayside with kids and work. It's been almost twenty-five years. It's time.

    I completely agree with some of the comments around respect. I attended a funeral a few years ago at which one woman wore short shorts and flip flops. I'm still amazed.

    - Myrna

    www.myrnagiesbrecht.com

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  22. My new fave dress up occasion are holidays and family get-togethers. We always have a big crew over for Thanksgiving and I love changing into a nice outfit for a fabulous dinner that I made. After all that cooking I've earned it damnit!

    This summer we're doing a family reunion in Mystic CT and you can be darn sure I'm NOT gonna wear Mom Jeans in front of my three SIL's. They are all younger than me so I feel I need to set the fashion standard for the family.

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  23. I always get dressed for family occasions and holidays! What fun is it otherwise? It separates all that work from sitting down and enjoying the meal.

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  24. people who wear jeans to s-gogue should be beaten..... :)

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