Anyone else forgotten how to dress?

[DocDave]

So yeah. The Mrs. and I were planning a nice dinner out. Nothing fancy, just a night out for dinner. Great I thought. This gives me chance to wear some of my clothes that I haven't worn in ages.

I went to my closet and started pulling out clothes. An OCBD here. A pair of chinos there. Some socks over here. A sweater or two. And blammo! For the life of me I couldn't put an outfit together. I was left standing there, looking at all my clothes, trying to figure out what goes with what. What will make a nice, casual outfit.

Approximately 10? 15? minutes later I threw together some semblance of a decent outfit. But wow. Just plain wow. This covid jazz better end soon, or else all I will know how to wear are comfy pants and t-shirts.

[mebejoseph]

I've not only forgotten how to dress, at various times during all this, I've forgotten parts of the processes of taking showers, shaving, and driving my car. Also, I've gained so much weight, half my clothes, at least don't fit. I worked so hard to lose weight over a three year period, and it's all back on in a few months.

I wonder if I'll remember how to tie a necktie.

[mark4]

I mean, I'm not walking around naked so...I guess that means no. Joking aside I haven't devolved into a total slob. I have not worn anything business or business casual in a while but still wear what used to be my off-duty kit pretty much every day. Changes with the weather but it has cooled off now to the point where I'm wearing jeans or the F&T 365 pants, and either a flannel, OCBD, or other casual shirt. Maybe with a sweater or light jacket if necessary, but those haven't been all that necessary so far here in the DC area. Have not worn a tie in months.

Speaking of sweaters, fucking moths man. They leave my chunkier knits alone, and so far have not messed with the cashmere, but my merino wool sweaters...for some reason they really go for those. Can't decide if I should just chuck them all or leave a couple for the moths to eat under the assumption that they'll go for those first and leave everything else alone. Or maybe I get some of that permethrin spray that tick-proofs hiking clothes and just hit my entire sweater collection with it.

[Alex.C]

I've not only forgotten how to dress, at various times during all this, I've forgotten parts of the processes of taking showers, shaving, and driving my car. Also, I've gained so much weight, half my clothes, at least don't fit. I worked so hard to lose weight over a three year period, and it's all back on in a few months.

I wonder if I'll remember how to tie a necktie.

I feel your pain. I'd lost around 20-25 pounds last year, and damn if it isn't all back with a vengeance. Pants that used to be loose are now too tight, for the first time in my life I have an honest to goodness gut, I hate it. Diet starts Monday, amiright?

[mebejoseph]

I feel your pain. I'd lost around 20-25 pounds last year, and damn if it isn't all back with a vengeance. Pants that used to be loose are now too tight, for the first time in my life I have an honest to goodness gut, I hate it. Diet starts Monday, amiright?

I've been starting one every day for the last two months

[neminat]

I've been starting one every day for the last two months

Thats where i am these days. I have been at it for 2 weeks because i refuse to buy new clothes. gaining weight is a tough reality that no one wants to really face or do anything about.

[idvsego]

I have a little bit of that but what I have found I do more often is go to the same couple of outfits. My favorites. I wouldn't say they are getting worn more often but every time I get "dressed" they are what I go for. So I think my wife has seen my in 6 outfits since pandemic hit lol. Its partly because they are my favorites and partly because they are already ironed. If I wear a shirt to dinner, and only dinner, I might not launder it. If it has no visible dirt or odor, I just hang to air out and will wear it again if I have a similar situation...which is basically everytime I leave the house. So yeah, I end up wearing one of a handfull of shirts because theya re ready to go. On the days where we do plan on being out for over 4 hours, I have made an effort to pull a different combo out, but its tough sometimes lol.

My kid thinks I never change clothes because my WFH uniform is tech shorts and a black 32 Degree tee, which I have about a dozen of. Its supposed to rain all weekend so I actually have a task to iron all of my shirts. I had an old thread about this I think..I had to reinvent my wardrobe a little when I went to working from home (3 years now). That kind of made me better equipped for this than most I suppose. I agree with one comment about sometimes forgetting the basics. I get up and work and sometimes its 3pm and Im like..."I havent showered and I have a DR appointment at 5" or whatever. Its easy to loose all track of everything.

as for the weight...I count myself lucky that I am only up about 8lbs. Its in all the wrong spots of course, but I am managing. I had a darn good routine going but my neighborhood closed all of their facilities so my gym routine went to hell. Its back open but only with appointments and my schedule doesnt work well with that. I have a membership at a local gym and Im doing OK with that but not great. I got some resistance bands but Im not a huge fan. Im at the point of just buying weights again but you cant find them anywhere. It doesnt help that my job shifted to a more strict daily schedule. Im just glad to have a job, a healthy family, and a roof over my head these days.

[mark4]

I actually lost about 10 lbs due to stress at the outset of the pandemic. I wasn't sleeping well and my appetite kind of fell off. Plus I started drinking a little less because we weren't hitting the pub on Friday or Saturday nights, and that meant I wasn't scarfing down pub fare (burger and fried, wings and rings, etc.) as often either. Basically I started eating less calorie dense food and burning extra nervous energy in the middle of the night.

I have since gained 3 of those pounds back but have been holding steady for a few months now so hopefully the lbs. stay off. I use my former commuting time to get exercise, then usually take the dog for a walk around lunch break time, and then in the afternoon I again get exercise when I would have been commuting. Often it's just a walk but walking burns calories and counts. One other thing I do is I downloaded a free Pomodoro timer app on my phone. It's basically a timer that reminds you to take a break from your desk. It's based on a technique developed by some productivity guru who believes (presumably with some evidence) that people reach peak productivity when they concentrate for 20-25 minutes at a time and then take a short mental break. So I set the timer for 22 minutes of work and 8 of a break and in those 8 minutes I'll get up and maybe bang out some push ups, do some planks or bridge poses, range of motion stretches, grab a set of dumbells or resistance bands and do some reps, etc. If nothing else just getting out of your chair for 16 minutes of every hour to walk around the house burns more calories than keeping your ass planted in a chair.

[blan2819]

It's gotten to the point for me where I legit forgot that I owned certain articles of clothing. Halloween could be a redeeming time, as I can dress up as "someone who works in an office" and just wear a normal outfit that I'd wear to work, ha.

I'm also kind of using this down time wardrobe-wise to not only fill the holes in my formal/professional wear which I didn't have the time too. Nothing crazy, but one day we will return to the world gradually and I want to be ready.

[hockeysc23]

I don't know if I've forgotten how but the desire to pull an outfit together is very far down. We haven't gone out to a restaurant since March. I haven't set foot in an office. Outside 2 virtual interviews and 1 in-person but distant, there's been little to no reason. I don't see that changing until a vaccine. I used to wear a suit and tie everyday.

My days consist of getting work done at home (more hours since I'm saving commuting time) and then working out, to include walking to my son's daycare to get him. The last couple of weeks I've switched to a collared shirt for a few of the zoom calls but I think COVID has had a drastic impact on the types of clothes I wear. The dappered ethos of fit though still reigns supreme. But I don't have the need to break out nice jackets, or for most of the day even wear shoes let alone dress shoes.

[Spex]

Luckily I’ve had both a “work” and “casual” set of clothes, so now my jeans, chinos, army fatigues, t-shirts, flannel shirts and sweaters have seen more wear. I managed to buy a few nice Eton shirts on sale this summer, but have had zero occasion to wear them.

I’m in an opposite boat to most in that I think I’ve lost weight. Probably a combination of stress and having not much extra activities to focus on other than cycling..

[DocDave]

Well today I went in to the office for the first time in I don't know how long. Rather than put on a full suit and tie (which would be the norm) I opted for a more casual look. And I am happy to say that I managed to put an outfit together without much thought/stress, Yes, it's a standard office casual look of pants, OCBD and sweater. I won't be setting the style journals on fire, that's for sure. But hey, small steps right?

Mind you tomorrow I will be WFH again, which means shorts and a T or maybe a collared short if I have a fancy-pants meeting.

BTW, regarding weight. I have actually dropped 20lbs since all this started. My weight is sticking around 170 ~ 173lbs which is exactly where I want it to be. Now I just need to keep that weight off during the winter months.

[Deke]

Yeah, dressing for anything nicer than running to the grocery/hardware store has become a challenge. I've also pretty much forgotten what pants I own. I've been wearing shorts almost exclusively for the last 6 months, and now that it's starting to get chilly enough for pants, I'm struggling a bit. The other night I had a reason to dress a little nicer, and I was thinking that a navy pair of chinos would be perfect. After a little digging I came to realize I don't own a navy pair of chinos (or if I do, I couldn't find them).

[Geo]

I haven't had a difficulty putting together outfits. A few years ago I pared back my wardrobe to mostly solid, neutral colors. The goal was that I could pick almost any top/bottom combo and could be reasonably assured that they'd match. It makes getting dressed and packing for trips a lot easier but will admit it can be boring at times. My problem is also pants. I realized I only have four pairs of pants that aren't wool slacks, sweatpants/workout pants or pants designated for yard work.

[armedferret]

"I put my pants on like anyone else.....one sleeve at a time."