Emo Chic

From a thread on MetaFilter is this analysis of the emo fashion look. In case you’re not familiar with it, emo is a fairly clean-cut look featuring sweaters, ties, and the like.

On a recent shopping trip the father of an emo high school student was surprised (and delighted) when his formerly goth son wanted a V-neck sweater, white button-down shirt and fitted jeans. And for Christmas? He asked for a narrow necktie. […]

I can’t say that I’d try this myself, but it’s still much more tolerable than some recent boneheaded fashion trends (pilgrim-style shoes with buckles as one example).

Shorts at Work

At AIVIA, the dress code has never been well defined. I mean, sure, I can generally gather what’s acceptable and what’s not, just from observing (and that's what I have done). However, it would be convenient that have that kind of thing in writing.

For instance, as the weather here gets warmer, I was pondering whether I could wear shorts to work. I mean, coworkers and I already wear jeans, t-shirts, and sneakers, so I figured that shorts wouldn’t be too much of a stretch. All the same, I didn’t want to just try it and be on the wrong side of a guess ;).

Luckily, someone happened to answer my question today: Chris (an ASP developer here) wore shorts today. So, that's a good sign. And, if more people than just Chris wear shorts, then maybe I'll give it a try ;). After all, it can get up to 77-78 degrees at my desk in the afternoon (according to the digital thermometer on my desk), so it’d be rather nice to be able to code in shorts.

Also on the subject of shorts, we had some clients over in the office today for some all-day meetings. And, between meetings there were intermissions (is that the right term?), so I met some of them. And, one guy was wearing shorts but with a long-sleeved t-shirt. And.. it just looked odd to me. Of course, tradition is that the middle-step between long-sleeves-and-long-pants and short-sleeves-and-shorts is short-sleeves-and-long-pants. So, it just looked odd to me, as if someone chose to wear mittens on his feet, or something.

After some thought, though, I just couldn’t put my finger on what aspect of his attire was specifically out of place. I mean, from a physics point of view, it makes sense to insulate the vital organs (long sleeves) and go for less leg-clothing than to go straight to short-sleeves while retaining long pants. Still, though, other than the tradition-aspect of it, I can’t really give a rational reason as to why I don’t like long-sleeves-and-shorts. Hmm, maybe it's just me.