So, I took a couple days off the end of last week, and Monday was supposed to be the last day of our "relaxed dress" extravaganza at work, but it's been extended until the 14th of September, so I have more time to explore my collection.
This latest extension of "relaxed dress" makes me wonder if the powers high up are not contemplating permanently relaxing the dress code here. Face it, most of us grind at a desk all day and never ever meet the public. For me, that would be a mixed blessing. I own a lot of clothes (and shoes) I won't need to wear ever again unless I have to present before some governing body and that's not likely. On the other hand, I don't own a lot of clothes that actually fit anymore, and not needing to buy new dress pants would save me hundreds of dollars, especially if you count in the dry-cleaning costs, which I must, because I'm fussy. If you're going to do it, do it right. I don't iron, and dress pants look like crap after two passes through the washer, unless you buy cheap double-knit polyester from K-mart, in which case they look like crap before you put them in the washer. On the other hand, they don't look any worse after you wash them... but that's not a win in my opinion.
Don't get me wrong, I snub my nose at no-one who shops at these places for honest economic reasons. (Although I will add as an aside, my extremely "frugal" sister won't shop at WalMart because she finds their business practices unethical and reprehensible, and she falls quite far to the right of middle, no less.) That's the real kicker about civil service, they pay you crap AND demand that you dress formally, which for people with families, means you are forced to shop at K-Mart for you dresses, ties, dress shirts, shoes, if you intend to both feed and clothe your family. Contrary to the ideas of the people who made these rules, your outfit doesn't say "white collar professional" but instead screams "underpaid government worker".
But I digress.
Back to the shoes thing, these are my favorite "every day" boots. Some off-brand I found really cheap on ebay, the style really grabbed me, kind of old-timey, reminiscent of depression-era working class shoes. I could be an extra in "O Brother Where Art Thou?" with these babies on my pups. I replaced the leather insoles with some good quality Dr. Scholl's and they're very comfy. I love the height, they're high enough to be boots and give a little ankle support, but low enough they don't attack my achilles tendon. As stiff as they are, they don't rub anywhere and my feet don't hurt after a day of stomping around. They're truly odd boots though, they have leather outsoles with rubber treads glued on. You don't find real leather soles much anymore, especially not on cheap boots. And trust me, they are cheap boots, the leather is clearly from the rear end of some poor expired buffalo in some depressed part of the world, my guess would be former soviet union or South Asia somewhere. But they're just so darn stylish, who cares if they're not heirloom quality? Nothing is forever.
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