Quote Originally Posted by Tobus View Post
Striking a balance between "staunchly traditional" and "local crowd-contextual" is probably a good thing. But it's not always easy to find, and can take experimentation.
It seems to me, anecdotally, that the "norm" for dress in general here in the US has followed a downward slope toward hideously casual for a long time. I don't remember when I was a kid seeing people at the grocery store in dirty, torn jeans and tee shirts, nor women with bra straps showing from beneath tank tops, lycra shorts, sweatshirts and sweatpants, flip-flops and the like. I think perhaps this trend has carried over into other situations as well. Church used to mean jacket and tie. Now it seems more come-as-you-are even if you're in your jammies or just finished rotating your tires.
For me, part of the charm of THCD is that it is very conservative in the slow-to-change sense of the term. It recalls a time when people took pride in their appearance in all circumstances outside their front doors.
I am not suggesting that we all should return to Victorian standards, nor legislate fashion police, but criticizing anyone for conforming to basic standards of THCD appropriate to the occasion is ludicrous.
In short, maybe we should be discussing "overly casual" rather than "too traditional".
As always, YMMV.