Uniforms and Dress Codes

Although this isn't a "My Favorite Things" post, let me state right off: I love uniforms. Military uniforms, police uniforms, nurse's and doctor's scrubs, UPS delivery person outfits, etc. I think school uniforms in particular are a great idea. Most of the schools here in Philly have a uniform of some kind, including the public schools, usually khakis and a polo or tee in school colors. School uniforms seem like a great equalizer, given the cliquishness, snobbery and, in larger urban areas, gang or neighborhood affiliation concerns that spring up around clothing for kids.

Choosing one's daily clothing can be a fun expression of creativity and individuality. It can also be a huge pain in the butt that wastes time and money and breeds insecurity, especially for women in the business world.

I worked at my old employer long enough to see its dress code transition from business formal to business casual to just plain casual, with most people at any given time not knowing exactly how they should dress. In the past we had such ridiculous dress code rules that required pantyhose (hated 'em!) for any skirt or dress shorter than bottom of the knee; forbade skirts shorter than a certain length above the knee; required ties for men (even in entry-level positions that didn't deal with the public); allowed skorts and "business shorts" so long as pantyhose were worn, then outlawed them a couple years later; required capri pants to be no shorter than mid-calf, etc.

Never again! 

Too much of everyone's time at work was spent reading the ever-changing dress code, determining if our own clothing adhered to it, monitoring the clothing choices of others and either reporting violations to their manager or having a conversation with them, if they were my employees.

Business formal appropriate footwear? I didn't think so. 

I also spent too much time and money purchasing appropriate clothes for the shifting dress codes and my own increasing responsibilities that required a more professional image. I bought as few suits and business-y dresses as I could get by with, and bought them as cheaply as I could. In my 20s, I sometimes used my work clothes as my "going out" clothes on weekends, when I couldn't afford to have a separate wardrobe just for off-duty wear. By the time the office dress code had relaxed to completely casual dress, I owned just two pairs of jeans, and was so much more comfortable wearing things other than jeans that I continued to do so most days.

Some people have a personal "uniform" they wear each day. Mr. 42 figured his out years ago, and it has greatly simplified his shopping and wardrobe storage needs. It basically consists of pants (jeans or flat-front khakis) and polo shirts (solid colors only, preference for no logo or not bigger than small pony/alligator, with pocket). In the summer, pants give way to shorts, also flat-front khakis. In the winter, polo shirts give way to solid-colored V-neck sweaters. 95% of the items in his wardrobe fall into those four categories. (He has a nice suit plus a few dress shirts and ties for the rare occasions that demand it, as well as a couple sports coats and a few items of clothing for specific needs like work-outs).

George Clooney modeling Mr. 42's uniform

End result: he is dressed and ready to go, looks polished, spends minimal time thinking about it each day and minimal time when shopping for new clothing. If a new polo gets bought, an old polo gets donated to the thrift store or thrown away if it's beyond usefulness. Same with pants.

I am SO jealous of this, and at the same time, I know it would never work for me. I really look awful in polo shirts. I also have a hard time finding jeans and pants that fit the way I want them to.

Totally my kind of outfit, from Soft Surroundings

I have developed a preference for loose, flowy palazzo pants and wide-leg styles that really don't go with polos. However, they do look great with the tunics and longer, looser tops I have also come to prefer. I like to wear blazers and cardigans, too, and I'm trying to figure out how to pull all this together into some kind of "uniform" for the dress code at my new job, about which I'm still unsure if it's officially business formal or business casual (not to mention how those terms are interpreted here in Philly). In other words ... plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose.

Do you have a uniform, formal or informal, that you wear most days?

My Favorite Things: Artist Trading Cards (ATCs)

When I first began exploring art again in my late 30s, I was short on materials and unwilling to spend a lot for supplies on what I was not certain would be anything but a passing interest. I found myself wasting a lot of paint and paper as I attempted to learn new techniques and improve my skills. The truly "failed" art would wind up in the trash, and after several expensive "lessons" of this variety, I decided to scale down in my projects in an attempt to preserve supplies and save money.

I was familiar with Artist Trading Cards (ATCs) and also ACEOs from my time on Etsy.com. I bought a beautiful set of ACEOs from one artist, and it got me thinking about what I was trying to accomplish.

For those not familiar with ATCs (which are also a popular format with scrapbookers in addition to artists), they are essentially miniature works of art roughly the size of a baseball card or playing card (which some artists even use as their "canvas"), done in just about any medium, designed to be traded and collected among artists. Some artists have also commercialized this concept with the creation of Art Cards Editions and Originals (ACEOs), which are just ATCs that have a price tag on them. Wikipedia has a great entry that gives some background on the history and philosophy of ATCs and ACEOs and I'll let those who are interested read more over there.

As it turned out, the small size of ATCs were a great format for beginner artists. I was mainly doing watercolors at the time, and with the help of a set of miniature brushes, I was able to create very fine details, even with my rudimentary skills. I began experimenting with other techniques like pen and ink, collaging of two paintings on a single card, and with a synthetic type of paper called Yupo. Yupo is still one of my favorite materials, because it's basically a thin sheet of plastic that doesn't absorb the paint, which makes for some interesting effects as the paint dries. Plus if I really screwed up, I just gave it a quick rinse in the sink and started over. No waste, no worry.

I joined a Yahoo group of active ATC makers and traders and did a few swaps with other folks around the country. Some of my favorite ATCs that I created are actually no longer in my possession, as I've swapped them for cool ATCs by other folks. Here are a few I did that I really liked (click on any image for a larger view--remember, these are actually quite small in real life):

"Golden Orb," watercolor on Yupo, traded

Untitled, inspired by Klimt, watercolor on paper, traded (this one took
three hours to make with tiny micro-brushes)

"Lila and Lou," watercolor and ink on Yupo, traded

"The Dreamers of the Dreams," watercolor and ink on paper

"The Passengers," watercolor and ink on Yupo

"There it Goes," watercolor and ink on Yupo, traded
(the background here is a good example of some of the interesting
effects Yupo can produce)

"What They Saw," watercolor and ink on Yupo

I will also show you a few of the cards I received in trade (and one I purchased), all of which I treasure:

Clockwise starting from the top: "October Kitties," digital ATC by Cynthia Peck; "Daydreaming," mixed media ACEO, artist's name illegible; "Squidlicious," mixed media ATC by Melody Hansen-Herman; "Ornate 002" pen and marker ATC by Marissa Childers; "Seven-Day Forecast" mixed media ATC by Carolyn Dickson

Want to learn more or give it a try yourself?  First, know that you do not have to paint or draw to be able to make amazing cards. Collaging, stamping, sewing, cut/paste/glue, printing of digital images you Photoshopped and manipulated, etc. are all allowable and make for some amazing cards. Do a Google image search or visit Flickr for more ideas, plus here's a Wikihow that will help you get started. There's also a great book called Artist Trading Card Workshop by Bernie Berlin that is full of creative and cool projects you can try on your own. ATCs are also lots of fun for children, if you are looking for an art/craft projects for the kids in your life.

If any of you get started making your own cards and wanna swap, let me know.  :-)

The Potential of Paperforms

We bought a box of Paperforms at a cool design shop shortly after we moved here.  They've been sitting in the closet for a couple months, but I just saw a frozen yogurt shop that had used them to decorate an entire wall and it looked really cool.

Time to get moving with them.

The Paperforms are a creation of a local company called mio. You can read more about them and see the other designs here.  (This is one of several cool products they offer.)

(This is not a sponsored post, by the way.  I have no sponsored posts. Probably no one wants to sponsor a blog that only 8 or 10 of my friends and family read, ha ha!)

They're supposed to come 12 to a box, but somehow we got a baker's dozen plus a lagniappe in our box--14 tiles total.  I hope we have enough paint to cover them all.

Here's what they look like now. Will post another pic when we get them finished and installed.