Jim Hughes

The way this couple was dressed caught my attention right away. Both were wearing coats. He was wearing his hat. They were dressed up in an environment where people generally aren’t. I just had to capture it with a photo.

You see, dressing up has all but vanished from our culture. “Business Casual” has become the norm for most functions, including church and business appointments. “Casual Casual” is what’s worn everywhere else, including to hospitals.

But there’s a group of people who were raised to dress up when they are going out in public. For them, that includes airplane flights, going to the doctor, going to dinner, and going to church, weddings, and funerals. They don’t understand business casual. In fact, business casual is what they wear at home or when working in the yard. Casual casual doesn’t exist.

I’m not one of those people. Back in the day I wore suits at work, to church, and to lots of other places. But I love business casual, and have adopted it gladly.

I have a lot of respect for folks like those in the picture, though. For them, dressing up is a way of showing their respect for those they will encounter. It’s respect for a way of living, for a culture almost gone. Mostly, they’re part of the Greatest Generation. I love and honor these folks.

I need to take my suits to the cleaners so that sometimes I can show respect to them by how I dress too.