I had two interesting discussions with others in the past week about dress codes at work. The first comment was from a friend who asked what I wore in my first job out of college. My answer was, “A suit and tie. Every day. Without exception.” That was 1990, and I remember asking my boss at the time what I should wear. He gave me great advice: “Look around here at the people who are successful and dress like them.”
I was at an economic development meeting recently, and a similar conversation came about when those in attendance were asked to offer career advice for high school students. “Don’t wear pajama pants to work,” one person offered, with lots of heads nodding in agreement.
Clearly, somewhere along the line, dress codes loosened up… a bunch. But why? As I recall, it started happening in the 1990s with “Casual Fridays.” In reality, those relaxed dress codes started much sooner.
According to “Bill & Dave: How Hewlett and Packard Built the World's Greatest Company,” Casual Fridays began in the United States in the 1950s and 1960s, when Hewlett-Packard allowed its employees to dress in business casual wear on Fridays as part of a laidback effort to work on new ideas.
That trend apparently originated from Hawaii’s midcentury custom of “Aloha Friday,” which spread to California and around the globe. By 1994, nearly 500 of the most influential companies in America — including General Motors, IBM and Ford — were offering Casual Fridays.
Valerie Steele, fashion historian, curator and director of the Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City, said the introduction of Casual Fridays was the most radical change in work fashion since the 1970s when women asked for the right to wear trousers in the office.
Maybe. But pajama pants? Why? How?
One person at the meeting I attended pointed her finger at the public schools that allow this type of dress to happen. A school administrator in attendance explained how dress codes in schools have become tricky, as the right for students to where what they want to wear — as long as it is not a distraction from the ability to educate — is a freedom of expression. He said if a parent allows a child to dress like that as part of this freedom, then what right does a public school district have to take it away?
Point taken. But if young people (or any people) want meaningful careers, they should think twice about what they choose to wear — and leave the pajama pants at home.
Have a thoughtful Thursday, and thanks for reading.
Shane Goodman
President and Publisher
Big Green Umbrella Media
shane@dmcityview.com
515-953-4822, ext. 305
www.thedailyumbrella.com
See Shane Goodman's previous columns here. |
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Clear Mortgage meteorology
Shower chances are ahead today. Cooler weather follows into the weekend.
For help with pre-approvals or refinancing, get in touch with Originating Branch Manager Carrie Hansen at carrie.mortgage. |
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| The SEPTEMBER issue of CITYVIEW on newsstands now! | | | Pick up the latest issue of CITYVIEW now or view online!
Featuring
• Arts & Entertainment
• Civic Skinny
• Ask CITYVIEW
• Food Dude
• Iowa Artists
• Business Journal Feature
• Cars in the City
• Belly Up
• and more! |
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| CITYVIEW's 2024 Best Of Des Moines® | | | 2024 results
Best Local Place to Take Visitors
1. Pappajohn Sculpture Park
2. Valley Junction
3. Greater Des Moines Botanical Garden
Read all the 2024 results.
Cast your votes in the 2025 Best Of Des Moines Poll now! Open until Nov. 22. Results to be published in the February 2025 issue of CITYVIEW.
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Easy is getting harder all the time
Wall Street Journal reported the great irony that this year’s corn and soy bean crops will be superb, the Midwest drought is gone for now, and yet there is no joy in Mudville. The problem is that corn and bean prices are way down from the boom years that followed Russia’s invasion of “breadbasket” Ukraine. Now a great harvest means more supply and likely even lower prices. WSJ predicts that farmers will be cutting back on fertilizer, pesticides and seeds while putting off capital investments in things like new tractors and combines. That will suck for Iowa’s economy. John Deere recently announced a second round of layoffs after the 600 Midwest jobs it eliminated earlier this year. And yes, they are moving the jobs out of the country... By the way, the big green Deere also announced more than $10 billion in 2023 generated profits according to Hoosier Ag Today.
A Kardashian drinks other celebs under the table, again
818 Tequila Reposada ($39/bottle), a brand founded and owned by (not just endorsed by) super model Kendall Jenner, posted the fastest sales growth of all boozes in the last year. Only three years after launching, it has expanded to Dubai, India and China while outperforming tequilas endorsed, and/or owned by George Clooney, The Rock, Eva Longoria, Sammy Hagar, Michael Jordan, LeBron James and Mark Wahlberg. (Fox Business)
Deals today
• Irina’s Steak and Seafood (650 South Prairie View Drive, West Des Moines) now offers a USDA prime version of steak night. Choose a filet, New York strip or sirloin with a side for $25.
• Ribeye sandwiches are tonight's feature at The Station on Ingersoll (3124 Ingersoll Ave., Des Moines), and chicken fried steak or liver and onions dinners are at Mickey's in Yale (217 Main St., Yale).
• Firecracker shrimp are $6 on Thursdays, and five pasta dinners are just $12.99, including fettuccine chicken Alfredo, at Bianca’s Grill & Vineyard (410 S. Ankeny Blvd., Ankeny).
• Red Lobster (3838 Westown Parkway, West Des Moines) offers a Thursday special of Maine lobster tail with shrimp scampi and a side for $20.
• Price Chopper delis offer eight pieces of bone-in fried chicken for $9.99 through Monday.
• Chicago Speakeasy (1520 Euclid Ave., Des Moines) has fried chicken on special every Thursday with the ice-cooled salad bar.
• Whatcha Smokin (Luther, Iowa) offers its decadent pork belly burnt ends today.
• Fresh Thyme (2900 University Ave., West Des Moines) has $7.99/pound Coho salmon plus Gala, McIntosh, Fuji and Paula Red apples for 99 centers/pound through Tuesday.
— Jim Duncan, jd91446@aol.com |
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| Featured home for sale | | |
$305,000 703 W. Court Ave., Winterset, IA 50273
You will love this spacious 1.5 story home located on historic West Court Avenue. The home has 2,698 square feet, with 4 bedrooms, 2 baths sitting on a large corner lot. The home features an updated eat-in kitchen with butcher block countertops and a farmhouse sink, family room, dining room and space for a home office/home gym.
See the listing here.
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| SOLD: Featured commercial real estate transaction | | | 1155 S.W. PRAIRIE TRAIL PARKWAY, ANKENY
SALE DATE: 2024-06-04
SALE PRICE: $2,500,000
SELLER: DRA PROPERTIES LC
BUYER: JNM DEVELOPMENT HOLDINGS LLC
ACRES: 4,933
SQUARE FEET: 0 |
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| Featured in the current issue of Altoona Living magazine | | | WHAT'S THE BUZZ?
Residents share their experiences as beekeepers.
By Sean Dengler
Figuring out what it takes
Chris Gorman of Upstream Gardens became interested in beekeeping to help improve his gardens and orchard.
“We initially got interested in bees in order to better pollinate our gardens and orchard,” he says. “We had about 100 fruit trees and an acre of gardens and wanted the bees to help get better production from our plants. Originally, we didn’t have much interest in harvesting honey or wax, but that came later as my interest in bees escalated.”
Despite a long and winding road, it took finding the right mentor to help Gorman get successfully started in beekeeping.
[...] | | | READ MORE |
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FROM KCCI: Police investigating after dead ducks dumped at Southeast Polk High School. Pleasant Hill police Capt. Amy Kramer tells KCCI that police believe someone killed the ducks and then brought them onto high school property. ...READ MORE
FROM WHO-TV: Blank Park Zoo’s new member needs naming, they want your help. DES MOINES, Iowa — A Japanese macaque has been born at the Blank Park Zoo, and you could win the chance to name her. A Japanese macaque, also known as a snow monkey, was born at the Blank Park Zoo on August 31. The mother, Miya, shows good motherly behaviors and the baby is doing well. ... READ MORE
FROM WOI-DT Local 5: A former University of Iowa manager embezzled funds, an audit finds. The university placed Brian Busch on administrative leave in September 2021 and requested the state audit. ....READ MORE |
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ESPN: Commanders suspend VP for comments on players, Jones, Goodell. ...READ MORE
SPORTS ILLUSTRATED: Rory McIlroy Is Trying to Apply Pressure, but a Power Struggle Inside the PGA Tour Has Stalled Talks With LIV Golf ... READ MORE
CBS Sports: Yankees will get 'creative' with closer role after Clay Holmes' latest blown save, says manager Aaron Boone ...READ MORE |
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1975: Gerald Ford survives first assassination attempt. September 5, 1975, President Gerald R. Ford survives an attempt on his life in Sacramento, California. The assailant, a petite, red haired, freckle-faced young woman named Lynette Fromme , approached the president while he was walking near the California Capitol and raised a .45 caliber handgun toward him. Before she was able to fire off a shot, Secret Service agents tackled her and wrestled her to the ground. Seventeen days later, another woman, Sara Jane Moore, a mentally unstable accountant, tried to assassinate Ford while he was in San Francisco. ... READ MORE
1972: Massacre begins at Munich Olympics. During the 1972 Summer Olympics at Munich, in the early morning of September 5, a group of Palestinian terrorists storms the Olympic Village apartment of the Israeli athletes, killing two and taking nine others hostage. The terrorists were part of a group known as Black September, in return for the release of the hostages, they demanded that Israel release over 230 Arab prisoners being held in Israeli jails and two German terrorists. In an ensuing shootout at the Munich airport, the nine Israeli hostages were killed along with five terrorists and one West German policeman. ... READ MORE
1969: Lt. William Calley charged for My Lai massacre. Lt. William Calley is charged with six specifications of premeditated murder in the death of 109 Vietnamese civilians at My Lai in March 1968. Calley, a platoon leader in Charlie Company, 1st Battalion, 20th Infantry, 11th Infantry Brigade (Light) of the 23rd (Americal) Division had led his men in a massacre of Vietnamese civilians, including women and children, at My Lai 4, a cluster of hamlets that made up Son My village in Son Tinh District in Quang Ngai Province in the coastal lowlands of I Corps Tactical Zone on March 16, 1968. ... READ MORE
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| Birthdays and notables | | | These celebrities were born on this date: Kat Graham, Michael Keaton, Bukayo Saka, Jada Kingdom, Skandar Keynes, Giovanni Pernice, Alexandra Kay, Rose McGowan, Jarren Duran, Alessandra Mele, Hayley Raso, Caroline Sunshine, Annabelle Wallis
SUBMIT: Send your birthday greetings and congratulatory notes to: tammy@iowalivingmagazines.com |
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The answer to yesterday's riddle:
What do you call a bison that lifts weights? A BUFF FELLOW! - Judy Anderson, Carolyn Rogers, William Snyder, Gail Tomlinson, Rex Post.
Today's riddle:
Who administers care to you if you're laid up in a Scandinavian hospital?
Have a guess? Email tammy@iowalivingmagazines.com |
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To advertise in the Daily Umbrella or the Ankeny, Bondurant and Indianola Living magazines, contact:
Angela Ossian
Account Executive
Office: 515-953-4822 ext. 307
Mobile: 515-979-5585
angela@iowalivingmagazines.com
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