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By Lyn Daunoras
10/23/03

  Watching old movies, one can’t help but notice the change in 
women’s appearance over the years.
  Men have stayed pretty much the same with the disappearance of 
hats and addition of more casual apparel, both a plus.
  But women?
  Did anyone realize that the women’s movement toward freedom 
would include the freedom to discard as many of their clothes as 
the law would allow?
  It wasn’t all that long ago when women indicated class. They 
looked so elegant in their decorative gowns, picture hats and 
gloves, short for day wear and elbow type for evening.
  Okay, so we can do away with hats and gloves. That’s passe but 
women can still capture attention with a taste for beauty instead of 
flaunting rags than a homeless person would reject.
  I usually watch awards shows, despite their boredom, to see the 
queens of stage and screen outdo each other in their exquisite 
finery. Most are still stunning in spite of the tendency to show off 
their implants by letting them spill out of the lowest cut gowns they 
can find.
  It is difficult to differentiate between class and porn these days.
  It is definitely a day for casual attire. Secretaries once were 
doomed to wear tiresome business suits but now they can cavort 
around the office in mini skirts and low cleavage. And if any 
remarks are made they can always rely on some hungry attorney 
to get them a healthy award for being harassed.
  But they are still not satisfied. Now they have casual Fridays when 
even men can wear blue  and T-shirts, usually reserved for yard 
work and shopping.
  There are some strange new habits, too. Usually, bras are 
verboten but, when they are worn, the newest gig apparently is to 
display bra straps as though to prove they are being worn. Odd, 
one was always able to tell the difference without having it waved 
at them.
  One July afternoon during Brookfield’s Brookfest, a friend related 
having seen a young girl he thought was a Miss Teenage America 
and sought to card her. She indignantly assured him she was a 
queen, not a teenager and ultimately purchased beer to prove it.
  The queen was wearing shorts and sleeveless top with two 
straps showing on each side. It suddenly occurred to him that 
there were quite a few young ladies walking about the park with 
two straps over each shoulder.
  My friend observed that, of all the women with this curious fashion 
fad, the queen was the most tastefully dressed. She wore a 
sleeveless blouse designed with double straps over each 
shoulder but the more common arrangement was one blouse 
strap and one undergarment strap over each shoulder.
  Huh? The friend asked in puzzlement, whether the purpose of an 
undergarment wasn’t for it to remain under something, straps 
included. Ah, well, what do men know.
  In fact, what do spoilsports like me know?
  Even restaurants have given in to the more casual look now. 
Where once they insisted that men wear ties, and even kept some 
on hand in case one turned up without one, they now have caved 
in and anything goes.
  Kind of sad. Somehow it looked like an evening out to see well 
dressed patrons enjoying an expensive meal. Seeing them in blue 
jeans, one wonders why they aren’t at Big Mac’s.
  Wake up, Lyn. It’s a new day. No necessarily a great day, but at 
least new.

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