Bring back dressing like detectives

Recently, I was flipping through some old photo books at my grandparents' house. There’s something about those early digital cameras that handled color so well (or badly?) that coats every image in a nostalgic sheen.

It made me really think about the lives my grandparents, aunts, uncles and parents all had before me when they first moved here to the U.S.

But the one thing that really caught my attention was how great their outfits were! Like, are you kidding me?! A nice stroll in the park with one uncle in a red, white and blue bomber, another in a crisp suit, while one is draped in an olive green raincoat. 

And then there’s my grandpa in an oversized — maybe even slightly too big — trench coat looking like a 1930s detective. They were all fitted up like this, working minimum-paid jobs at the airport, sharing one car and living in one home — you don’t need money to have style. 

While probably overdone for a park day, I feel like, as a society, we just dressed better and put more thought into the clothes we wore back then. We’ve given it all up for comfort, all lounging around in our grey sweats and Patagonia tech-bro zip-ups. 

Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for comfortable clothing, but maybe it’s time to sprinkle some “drip” back into our everyday clothing.