"Stuck In the Sixties"

The other night my wife and I arranged to meet another couple at the movies. When we got there I noticed that the guy we were meeting and I had on basically the same clothes. He was wearing a button-down collared shirt, khaki pants, and loafers with no socks. Since he and I are about the same age I thought to myself that we are products of the sixties dress code.

When I got home I took a look at the clothes in my closet and came to the conclusion that my style has not changed since 1963. I can not bring myself to wear a shirt that does not have a button down collar. I know you see people on TV and all with buttonless collars but that is not for me. 

Also I know jeans are the smart pants of the day but I am a khaki man and always will be. I have pair after pair of them hanging in a row in my closet and I like for them to look crisp and neat. I have bought some of the no-iron kind but I still prefer the creased look.

When I get dressed up it is usually gray slacks, shirt and tie, and a navy blue blazer. If a tie is not required I wear the same outfit but substitute khakis for the gray slacks. For years I wore the basic khakis and blue blazer combination to work, usually with a blue shirt of some type.

Then there are the shoes. I hate lace up shoes. During the week I wear loafers without socks. I have a pair that has holes in the soles but I love those shoes. They are the most comfortable things around. I do have a newer pair, sans holes, that I sometimes dress up my act with. On Sunday I usually wear my black loafers and I wear blue socks with them.

My socks are really a throwback to the sixties. I usually don't wear them but when I do they are the over the calf kind and are dark blue or black. If I do wear jeans I never wear colored socks with them, just white ones, and those have to be the athletic kind and not those half socks that many men wear now.

I never wear socks with shorts. I'd rather die first. And I prefer long sleeved dress shirts to short sleeved ones. And when I wear a pullover shirt I usually have one that has some sort of logo on it. That is a throwback to my Izod days.

My kids harass me by saying my clothes are so consistent they are like a uniform. And I guess that is true. But they had just better be glad I am stuck in the sixties rather than in the new fashions. Can you imagine a fifty-year-old man walking around with his pants hanging off him and his boxers showing? Now that would be gross.

So yes I am stuck in the sixties. I like it and it's comfortable. There are worse places to hit the "pause" button on your life.

 

 

 

 

 

©2004 Jackie K. Cooper

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