1912 – Dress Code for Espy Children’s Portrait: White

There was a time that we knew (more-or-less) what to wear to the usual events and activities of our lives.  We had ‘school clothes’ and ‘dress shoes’ and ‘cocktail outfits.’  Our choices were dictated by time and place.  An afternoon garden party required a choice different from an evening dinner dance.

Nowadays, not so much.  In fact, when I ask Nyel what he’s going to wear for this or that occasion, his invariable answer is “Levis.”  Somehow, over the years, that has become the standard fashion choice — for both of us.  There are still degrees of appropriateness, though.  A ‘Montana Tuxedo’ (Levis with a sport coat, shirt and tie), for instance, is certainly more dressy than ‘Northwest Chic’ (Levis with maybe a shirt  or jacket from REI or another outdoorsy outfitter.)  For me, maybe a change of earrings.

2006 – Mom at 95. Dress Code always: a hat!

So, yesterday when a blog reader questioned me about the appropriate dress code for extras at Friday’s Blind Pilot taping at the church, I had to say I was clueless.  I passed on the question to the woman who is making the arrangements and she said, Thank you for asking.  There is not a specific dress code — please just wear what you would wear to a service or on a casual day.  Which, for Nyel is Levis.  For me… probably one step up, as in black, rather than denim.

As I remember, all of this vagueness and uncertainty about what to wear began about the time I moved here from California — back in the days when Twiggy and miniskirts and fashions from London’s Carnaby Street were still the rage, at least in the Bay Area.  I found that the Northwest seemed to have a fashion sense all its own — based on comfort, people said, and the incessant rain, I thought.  Even after forty years (which included Seattle’s most famous fashion contribution — early 90s grunge) I still haven’t figured out what to wear, when.

Sydney and Nyel: Daily Dress Code, “Oysterville Gothic”

Sadly, my wardrobe reflects my uncertainties about choice: bleak.  My response these days pretty much mirrors Nyel’s when it comes to dress code questions.  But I do take some umbrage with the ‘comfort’ argument.  If feelings count, I think I’d be more comfortable if I really, truly knew that one thing and not another was more appropriate.  This ‘anything goes’ attititude is kinda hard.