I like to say that in Wisconsin, formal dress is a sweatshirt and jeans. My wife chides me since that is a big exaggeration. Real formal dress here is a sweatshirt with a tie and jeans.
Just kidding. Plenty of the Badgers own a tux or a formal gown. People everywhere like to fit in. For years, I wore a sports coat and button-down shirt and a tie to class. But as I looked around, I realized that very few faculty wore such clothes. I decided I was putting myself in a generation and group what I didn’t really want to be part of.
At one time, I could depend on looking all right for church with such clothes but again, nowadays, only the senior senior men dress that way and not all of them.
When I was in kindergarten, I walked home for lunch each day and walked back for the afternoon session. One day, I thought I would dress up and look nice for the afternoon. I was wearing long pants and a nice t-shirt that day. I thought a tie would add to my appearance. I only had pre-tied ties that fastened around the neck with a little belt and hook. I didn’t understand that the belt and hook were typically hidden beneath the collar of one’s shirt. I put the tie on with the t-shirt and proudly went to school. My teacher phoned my mother to let her know about my chosen mode of fashion. Mom had been working in the kitchen when I left by the front door. But that was more than 60 years ago and I have forgotten all about it now.
When we attended church in Europe in 1974, we were careful to not wear jeans. Again, I had a jacket and tie on. When we returned in 1998, we found many of the Europeans were wearing jeans and no tie to church.
I heard of a candidate for an appointment to a southern US university who removed his jacket near the beginning of his presentation. I was told that such a level of undress was strongly frowned on. His move was unacceptable to the faculty he wanted to impress.
Last summer, I was in Vienna and I looked over the crowd at an outdoor cocktail party at a music concert. Most of the European-looking men wore tuxedos but several Africans wore other kinds of clothing.
