this post was submitted on 12 Feb 2024
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Unpopular Opinion

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I was in the Army and I hated most aspects of it. But one thing I really liked was the uniform. Just waking up and putting on the BDUs and not having to think about what to wear was great. Also, it eliminates comparison between others. You don't have to worry if you're under-dressed or over-dressed cause you are wearing the same thing as everyone else.

It worked in Star Trek, right? Well, unless you were a redshirt.

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[–] chillhelm@lemmy.world 37 points 7 months ago (3 children)

Luckily, you can just pick your uniform and wear it daily. It's pretty much what I did. For everyday wear I have like 3 different pants, 3 different sweaters and a bunch of T-Shirts that go with them. So while I personally am basically in uniform daily (and many people wear identical or near identical clothes every day) I'm strictly against society encouraging uniforms in any way shape or form.

For many people wearing a uniform is obligatory at their work (retail and gastronomy workers, construction and maintenance workers, facility staff at larger buildings or events, Any kind of service person that will be seen by the public (e.g bus drivers, cleaners,...). And that is even without counting people who have to follow a strict dress code at work to the point where it might as well be a uniform (white collar office work, e.g).
So overall I dare say a majority of people actually wear uniforms in their professional lives. And even if you aren't as liberal with your interpretation of "uniform" as I was in the paragraph above (where I considered a hard hat and a high vis vest as a uniform), it is still a significant portion of the population wearing uniforms regardless.

And in a professional context I can see a point to uniforms: They remove individuality and emphasize the belonging to a larger group/organization. This can be helpful in situations where cohesion (e.g construction work, policing, school uniforms etc...) or uniformity of standards (gastronomy, public services) are more important than individual competence/style.

However, in a private context, I object to any kind of uniforms being worn or even worse, any kind of societal encouragement (which always turns into pressure) to wear uniforms. Uniforms are by their nature a limitation on your most basic form of freedom of expression. History has shown that any society that encourages uniformity over individuality in a private context will sooner or later enforce not just clothing standards but other behavioral standards too, usually to the detriment of marginalized groups. (What I'm saying is, it is a short step from "You should wear this." to "You shouldn't wear this." and from there to "You should(n't) do this" and "You can't do this.")

There is rather to many societal norms around what is "correct" or "appropriate" clothing already and I think your phantasy about uniforms comes partially from that pressure. I'd rather a society where no one gives a fuck what you wear, than one that "encourages" dress codes. And uniforms are IMHO a step in the wrong direction.

[–] Th4tGuyII@kbin.social 11 points 7 months ago

Exactly. There are times uniforms and dress codes are necessary, but they ansolutely shouldn't be universal.

There's nothing stopping OP from just picking a style and going with it - I do. The majority of my outfits follow the simple formula of cardigan/jacket and complimentary t-shirt, Jeans, trainers, and whatever underwear is in the top of the drawer. It works for the majority of contexts, and I can always tweak it to be smarter or more casual.

[–] SinningStromgald@lemmy.world 10 points 7 months ago

When I had to go into an office for work I had three pairs of pants, exactly the same, and five collared shirts of different colors, a pair of shoes and a belt all dedicated to only being worn for work. Even kept then in a specific place in my closet segregated from non-work clothes. Getting dressed was fast and easy

[–] deelayman@lemmy.ca 7 points 7 months ago

Beware of all enterprises that require new clothes, and not rather a new wearer of clothes. -Henry David Thoreau