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THE LEN LESSER REPORT  

THE LEN LESSER REPORT

 

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FA$HION IS A $IGN OF THE TIMES

I have been married for 40 plus year to my wife, Ella , and I still really do not quite understand how women dress. She has not until lately cared about being in fashion. Recently puffy scarfs have adorned her neck even in the sweltering heat of the summer months. The colour black seems to be back in fashion and her skirts and sweaters are ok for funerals. Many women seem to think that the colour black makes them thinner and bright reds and yellows draws unnecessary attention to their extended dress size.

I even went with Ella to browse through six dress stores on the fashionable Richmond Row to help her pick out the perfect dress for the holidays. I was the only male who dared to enter the domain of
women’s fashion who tried in vain to dialogue with the all female sale’s clerks.

Every item of apparel that I picked out for Ella was either too flashy or too expensive. " No black" I yelled when she browsed through the expensive shmatas. A shmata, is a Yiddish word, used in the fashion industry that translates into a rag. It seemed that everything I thought was in fashion Ella rejected
out-of-hand.

After her dragging me along for what seemed an eternity while I constantly reminded Ella that the
parking meter was about to run out of time; we made our adieu to the women’s shopping Mecca without the dresses that we came for. But, Ella found to her delight two pair of shoes and a purse to match the future dress that she did not buy.

Of late have you noticed that the majority of women regardless of their age are wearing their shirts/blouses not tucked into their belts? Perhaps wonder of wonder they are trying to hide their well-defined- tummy rolls around their waist. Letting everything hang-out while being covered up by your ample size blouse sure takes away unwanted stares of thin models zero size girls who dare to tuck their blouses into their yoga tight pants.

Regardless of sex and age ripped jeans are now in fashion for both men and women.. Exposed bare
legs thighs/knees all the way down to the ankles are now in fashion. Check out the retail clothing store’s pricing, $120.00. and up, it seems that the more gaping holes in the jeans the higher the prices.

Soon we will have people emulating the fairy tale musical,, by Hans Christian Andersen, The "King who had no clothes" or Lady Godiva who rode her horse bare naked down the road.

If you go to the malls in London there is Victoria’s Secret that sells minuscule itsi- bitsi- bikini lingerie.
The company was founded by Les Wexner who is now 78 years of age. His raison d’etre for starting the firm was that he was too embarrassed to shop in department stores for his wife. Don’t laugh, Les is the wealthiest person in Ohio worth $7.6 billion dollars. I am so old fashioned that I donate my ripped faded old farm worn jeans to the St Joseph’s Hospitality Center. I enjoy buying designer jeans from the TSC store for $19.99

Men don’t you laugh at the women’s new dress code. How do you dare and stand there with your very large balloon beer belly sneaking over your belt buckle while all the while trying to look cool?

Some youngish men, age 20-40, even go so far as to wear their baggy pants way below their belt line with absolutely no shame. No need for them to even wear thin bare underwear to try and cover their bulging bare bottoms. I find the bare rear-end view absolutely appalling.

To show off their masculinity many men seem to enjoy not shaving and have a goatee at the end of
their lip. Those men who are balding have adapted the "Yule Brenner" bald look that makes it hard to fathom if they are going bald or just trying to be in style. Trust me: I have seen them at the Y and they
are bald as a bowling balls.

The times are a changing and so is fashion. I am not very comfortable with the new changes. I was taught by my parents that being neat and tidy was to have your shirt tucked into your pants and being shaved and well groomed was not a fashion statement but rather a matter of good taste. Perhaps I am wrong?

Len Lesser is a education-career counsellor in Dorchester

Len Lesser

Len Lesser posts a report every week

You can email Len at lenlesser@hotmail.com