Actually, a "Blauman", loosely tranlatable as "blue man", is a blue overall[1] commonly worn with construction workers, mechanics and like in Germany; the term as grown somewhat in usage, applied also to other blue working clothes and even some working clothes in other colors.
http://de.wiktionary.org/wiki/Blaumann
On the sliding scale of "deindividualisation" vs. "proud display of group membership", which BTW are not exclusive of each other, well, there is no shortage of jokes about the demographic wearing those, but, first of, going with my prejudiced petite bourgeoisie gut feelings, orange warn wear usually employed with street cleaning and like would be considered worse, and, second of, it's mostly the more well-off skilled workers who wear those.
Of course, uniforms were often a staple for fashion trends, but Japan is not the only country with a fad for, err, sailor suits...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sailor_suit
[1] German wiki sends me to "catsuit" from "overall", which gets us to the interesting topic of working clothes sexual fetishism. Err, I digress...
]]>Charlie: Go into a fast food joint: all the staff are in company uniform. Get on a bus or train: the driver and other staff are in uniform. Go shopping: the floor staff are frequently in uniform -- it might be "business suit with ID badge", or a company shirt and trousers/skirt, but you can instantly tell the staff from the customers.
You know, it's never occurred to me to give that any thought. I can see where that might not be a bad thing. I can also see the possible harm.
My career as a business-technology journalist and marketer has required me to move through different business segments. I've become sensitive to how the people I work with dress. My goal is to dress just like everybody else.
In New York and at professional conferences, I wear a business suit, polished shoes, white or blue dress shirt, but no necktie. I recently visited our San Francisco office for the first time in about 10 months and figured I could get away with jeans, loafers, and an Oxford shirt. I undershot that one -- I wasn't conspicuously underdressed, but I should have gone with my New York uniform.
]]>Finally, my friend said, "Jeans, T-shirt with a funny slogan or picture on it, and sport jacket." And the neopro was satisfied.
]]>I'm only mentioning this because I have a bit of a compulsion to correct myself when I find I've passed on bad info.
]]>Funny thing is, it seems Bayreuth had a vibrant Jewish congregation in the 19th century, though nowadays it's mostly remembered as the later home of one Richard Wagner...
On another note, in my mental atlas Bayreuth was always in deepest Bavaria ("Bayern" in German), but actually it's in Franken.
Whatever, thanks for the info.
]]>I'm on a mailing list for working SF writers, and while male authors can get away with "tee shirt, jeans/trousers, sports jacket in bag in case you need to smarten it up" except for major awards ceremonies, the amount of angst the female authors have to deal with is, frankly, terrifying. (Women in anything remotely like a professional setting are always expected to turn it up a notch more than men, right from the start, and in an uncertain social milieu like an SF con they run the risk of getting into arms race territory out of sheer insecurity -- freelance author is a very insecure job.) The sole exceptions are those who started out as fans (and so already have a social identity in that context), and editors (who usually stick with office casual, which in publishing can be very office-casual).
]]>It's not just women, and it's not just pros-at-cons. The transition to business-casual for some industries in the US in the 90s has been angsty for everyone. It leaves a person uncertain how to dress in different business situations. Used to be if you were a man you just wore a suit and tie and that was that. I'm old enough to have started work in that environment.
Now, particularly in the technology industry, you might find yourself in situations where anything from a full suit-and-tie to jeans and T-shirts are expected of you. And you don't know which is appropriate until you get there.
"Casual Fridays" are the worst. It required people to buy a whole new wardrobe just for one day of the week.
]]>One of the reasons for writers to attend cons is promotional. I'm more likely to strike up a conversation with a woman wearing a "Halo Kitty" (NB, spelling is correct) tee-shirt and jeans than with one who's wearing office clothes. A similar argument usually applies to men (although the tee should be different).
]]>Midrange suit and tie.
Grow my hair long enough for a combover.
I'm Agent Coulson! Win!
]]>Even further off-topic. In the UK, "Champagne" would be a a colour best described as "metallic white wine".
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