For Better or For Worse by Lynn Johnston for October 03, 2020

Says the man with NO fashion sense whatsoever!

says the man who’s wearing a polka-dot necktie on a plaid shirt

Elly must be John’s real friend because she is not trying to force John into the antiquated “no dots with plaid” that was the way of fashion before the 1960s.

But it seems to me the only way she’s going to learn that lesson is if she doesn’t wear the BO shirt.

But John…she could have learned that lesson a lot better without wearing the shirt.

Truth there, John. My son used to make a huge deal about wearing Abercrombie and Fitch brand clothes which I couldn’t afford but picked up at great discounts to fit my budget. He rubbed shoulders with the AF crowd during high school years, got invited to mansion parties, pool parties. Then graduation came and went. Those kids ghosted my son. Understandably, my son became bitter. He realized they invited him simply because he looked the part. They knew he was from the wrong of the tracks and wanted nothing to do with him beyond high school. He said if he ever were to have kids, He’d do what El do – not buy them brand name clothes. Teach them to be who they are – that their parents are not rich and those name brands are what rich kids wear. His kids will wear Target clothes which are perfectly fashionable. I asked him what if they begged like HE did when he was in high school…he said he will know to ignore that. He said I shoudl have. I got lucky with my older son – he never cared about what he wore and still does today – as long as clothes are clean and in good shape, he’s good. Younger son learned the clearance bin shopping from me from his high school days and he now does that to wear quality clothes. Well, his money this time, not mine.

Herringbone, plaid and polka-dot. I think he just “bent” the laws of physics. Well, as least the laws of fashion.

I’m sure he’s perfectly aware of what he’s wearing. He only dresses like that to distract his patients during potentially painful procedures.

Why should he need to be fashion conscious? Isn’t a dentist always wearing a white dentist coat of some sort? Who would see what is under it.

My husband shares John’s dress sense. :P

But if you’re going out wearing a plaid shirt and a polka dot tie, all bets are off!

My father-in-law, bless his heart, loved plaids. As he got up into his late 70’s and early 80’s he would wear plaid shirts and plaid slacks because he liked them and gave not a moments thought on how the combo didn’t go together. I miss him.

No one needs to be belittled by people who live to humiliate others. I’ve been there. Your self esteem is destroyed in from of others. You feel like no one cares about you. You get depressed, and your whole life means nothing to you anymore. The only way back up is to prove you ARE a “somebody”. You have to totally rebuild your life. My older brother helped me there. He said to either wallow in self pity or stand up and face the bullies one on one. I did. Bullies are always 3 or 4 together. They are rarely alone. I took on the bullies one at a time while my friends kept the other ones back. I lost one fight out of three but proved I would never quit. I did not back down and earned respect.Liz could be in the same position. She has to fit in, or be ostracized.

BTW, John’s tie has to go. Even I would never wear that, but Elle forgets that he is the boss. He wears what he wants even if the tie sucks.

It’s not about the friends who love you as you are. It’s about not giving your tormentors something to rub your nose it. The whole Neener Neener thing.

Herringbone pants, plaid shirt and a polka dot tie. Must be going golfing.

because that tie sure doesn’t go with that shirt

Now her friends will have to buy a shirt to be like her.

I was trying to get the punchline and then I decided it must be John’s clothes. I’m not sure why, though; that’s a perfectly respectable outfit.

The shirt and tie work together!

Just hold the comments on the tie, Ellie.

One of the things I liked about being an engineer was that (except for reasonable safety requirements) there was no expectation on what to wear. All of us dressed pretty informally.

Say Elly you want to.

I think after he follows through the shirt will find a place in the closet. Often true.

The reason men get married is that without women, we wouldn’t have any fashion sense, like John.

I never could understand the idea of wearing the same clothes as the group just to fit in. Because my mother used to make all of our clothes, and because I learned to sew later on, and made my kids’ clothes, we only looked at patterns and chose a bit from one and a bit from another one because we liked it. My kids learned what looked good on them along the way, and, honestly, never looked for “brands” when we went shopping for clothes that we didn’t sew, like large coats, or jeans. I recall the one big shopping excursion was for our son’s first suit. The sales person was surprised at how the son was paying more attention to fit, than to the brand…

Later on in life, after my mother closed her shop and decided to only sew custom drapes for a furniture store, she had thousands of samples big and small pieces. She made a lot of play clothes and costumes for my kids in her spare time.

But yet, El, it’s OK if it’s Mike doing it?

It really doesn’t hurt to occasionally buy your child something that the other kids have. I also remember the story line when Liz was quite a bit younger and wanted to get her ears pierced because all of her friends did. Elly thought Liz was too young but let her get her ears pierced any way. Elly has no room to complain.

When next we see Liz at school, all the cool kids will now be wearing a ‘new name’ shirt. Que sera sera…

So speakith the paternal voice of fashion. Heh heh heh. Yep…but John maybe your blue and yellow polka dot bow-tie would go better with your ensemble?

Oh, let me guess. Elizabeth gets to school and gets mocked. “B. O. is so LAST WEEK!”

Polkadots with window pane check. Oh, well it could be worse. He could wear a tartan plaid tie with a contrasting paisley shirt. Hey, he might tomorrow…

Lizzy needs to learn the difference between fashion and style. She has time, though. She doesn’t even want it for the look.

That’s ok, when she gets to school ,she will learn that the BO clothes are out.

In my day (1962-65) it was Madras shirts, wheat jeans (light tan Levis), and waxed shoes, either penny loafers or high tops. I can’t remember the brand. I was a follower, not a trend setter. Also a variety of V-neck sweaters over light blue Oxford cloth shirts with button down collars.

Did she bite her tongue?

Just wait until she shows up at school & the brand has changed to a different one that the “in” crowd is now wearing.

Fitting in with the crowd is so important whne youare a teenager.

Other kids are gonna notice she only has one that she’s going to wear out in no time and that’s gonna be more embarrassing! That’s happened to a few lower income kids in my days in middle school.

I guess no one really loves Liz that much.