How things have changed, thanks to virus, virtual and vanity. Whoa. Surely not vanity. Not after how some people dress for their on-camera work sessions.

This work from home lack of dress-vanity is now likely to infect the office as well. The unemployment rate went down in September 2022, giving (scarce) workers more power to demand changes. Such as to the dress code.

Below is a post I wrote during the previous recession. (Remember that one?) Compare what I wrote then to what is likely to happen during the coming recession. (The one that is predicted daily, even though employers, nervous of the skills shortage, are hiring and placating workers.)

Holey jeans, tattered T-shirts and skimpy skirts, aka the American school uniform. I don’t like it. Not because I went to school wearing a jacket and tie, which I did, as did the girls, but because clothes ultimately do indeed make the man or woman.

You might argue that freedom of dress stimulates individuality and creativity. More likely it leads to expensive clothing accounts, morning cries of “I don’t know what to wear” and teens constantly running late looking for unsuitable garments.

Even so, you might still think it cool that kids go to school looking either like slobs or celebrities. I think it cruel and here’s why. School is where habits are formed and frozen. Poor dress sense is one such habit. One carried through college to that crucial first job interview.

In a tight job market, it’s not the early bird that gets the job. More often it’s the one with the decent feathers. (And habits.)

Welcome to my side of the nonsense divide.