What You Don't Say, Your Outfit Does

This week's topic has to do with dressing appropriately.

It all started Friday night at Olive Garden. This weekend was the Regional Swimming and Diving competition, and I would assume that all of the swimmers wanted to get their carb-loading done on Friday night, because it was a packed house. Because of this the very small front lobby of Olive Garden was packed, and I was forced to sit on a table as soon as you walked through the door. Because of this I had the opportunity to see everyone as they walked through the door. After about ten minutes of waiting, in walked a group of girls who appeared as if they were also doing their carb-loading before they went out for a night on the town. The first through that walked in the door looked sensible, yet sexy. What they didn't say, their outfit said, "Hey, I like to have fun. Come talk to me." to any boy that might have been passing by. The next girl, sadly, was saying "HEY!!!! I love to have fun! And we don't even have to talk!" What was she wearing? A low cut black cotton above-the-knee dress, high heel black knee-high boots, and a YELLOW trench coat, unbuttoned. Now, what message did she think she was sending? If she can't respect herself by putting on something that is decent, yet still attractive to the opposite sex, then how does she expect for guys to respect her?

The worst part is probably that her friends let her walk out of the house like that! And it's not as if they didn't have a clue of the message her outfit was sending, because they were all dressed tastefully (one girl was wearing skinny jeans, high heels, a flowy top, and a clutch). I seriously contribute at least 18% of all faux pas in fashion to the girl who told her friend that she looked great, simply because she didn't want to hurt her feelings, when really she is causing the girl more heart ache by letting her go out on the town looking like she should have stayed on the street corner.


Of course, yellow-trench-coat-girl-syndrome could have been avoided if she had asked herself "What am I thinking? It's the middle of winter, it is snowing outside, I'm wearing a yellow trench coat, and I do not want to wake up next to a random someone tomorrow morning not remembering how I got there."