"I've got all the money I'll ever need, if I die by four o'clock." - Henny Youngman

Congress has a Black Congressional Caucus, a Hispanic Caucus, and a Women's Caucus. Why doesn't it have a White Male Caucus? Better yet, why doesn't some brave White male try to join one of those others? Fair's fair.
It is, in my opinion, time to stop the silliness and boldly declare that the king is naked.

The ladies in our church small group have decided we need a group picture. I don't know why, but they're convinced we need one despite the near unanimous disagreement of their husbands. One of the gals in the group has a small photography business and she's going to set up her tripod and camera this Tuesday night with the timer feature so we can get that shot for the ages.

This led to a discussion of how we should dress for this photo-op, with one of the gals suggesting it would be funny if we all wore blue jeans and white T-shirts. The humor was lost on me, but I've got about 40 years on all of them except Pam, which probably explains that.

Last Sunday as we sat in our chairs waiting for the service to start Pam asked me if I'd seen those ads on TV for the shirts designed specifically to be worn untucked. I have. They guy who started the company says he was frustrated by the poor fit and look of dress shirts when he wore them untucked so he spent a great deal of time and energy (his words!) remedying that.

Pam then pointed out a guy standing a few rows up who, she said, had not seen those ads, or at least not taken heed. Yes (horror of horrors), his untucked shirt had tails, and they were long enough to hang WAY too low.

These two conversations - at our small group and last Sunday - illustrate that I am somehow not attune to the fashion world. And you know what? I do not care one tiny bit. 

I view clothing as the best way to accomplish two important tasks: keep me warm and prevent you from having to look at my aged body. Both are essential. Beyond that clothing is functional.

When we lived in AZ I added two more purposes to my wardrobe. I didn't want to embarrass the church, which meant a certain level of stylishness, and I didn't want to embarrass my kids or grandkids, which meant the same. I'm pretty sure I missed the mark more than once, but the good people at Pathway and my family were both too gracious to point that out.

Side note: one Sunday I wore a tie to church just because I felt like it and Todd, one of the elders, sarcastically asked me if I had a job interview after the service. 

I wear blue jeans seven out of seven days a week. On Sunday I wear a fairly new pair reserved for "dress up" occasions, but the rest of the week I wear older jeans that are worn and likely have mud or goat poop on them. I wear long or short sleeve shirts depending on the season and most of them go on over my head with three buttons at most. For church this morning I wore a very soft plaid button-down shirt Pam got me on sale a few weeks ago that I really like. She commented my mother would not approve, but both my mother and I are old enough to let that one go.
It was tucked in. No particular reason except that I prefer it that way, and my gut still fits nicely under my belt without the need for cover.

Which brings me back to the dilemma posed by Tuesday night's picture. What should I wear? It will be blue jeans, but I typically wear my Sunday pair to small group 'cause goat poop doesn't really fit with Kristen's decor. Under normal circumstances I'd wear whatever long sleeve shirt I put on that morning since we're still only in the low 50's for the day's high temp. But this group of 30-somethings seems to be fairly fashion conscious and I don't want to be "that guy" in the pic, wherever it ends up getting posted.

Button down? Tucked or untucked? And if untucked am I going to look like the poor guy at church who is clueless about how an untucked shirt should look? None of my button down shirts said they could or should be worn untucked.

I decided this morning as I saw a FB posts reminding us of Tuesday night's photo-op that one advantage to old age and retirement, never mind living out in the woods, is that fashion does not matter. Function over form. Toss in a hefty dose of budget consciousness and we're right where I want to be, Nordstrom and Ivanka be damned.