LZ Sunday Paper Newsletter: The "Dress: Coded" Edition
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Dear Readers,
I don't know what to think about the "dress like a…" dust-up this week. I am trying to figure out exactly why the world, aka the internet, as well as many actual friends and peers, went nuts.
This is actually a tricky one. There are lots of rules about what you are supposed to wear, where. Even though there are so many rules, I think that never in sartorial history have there been so many options to wear to so many occasions.
There are super-fancy pant-suits that are lauded on the red carpet or at a presidential debate. There are pants options for girls' school uniforms. There are generally accepted standards that involve the notion of respect, such as not exposing bare shoulders or wearing super-short shorts in houses of worship (or to your grandma's house, in many cases).
There are debates that have come more into the public discourse such as girls' having the right to wear things like tank tops or skirts, calling into question old school dress codes that seem to be based on boys and male teachers "getting distracted."
When new fashion ideas are introduced on the runway and our greatest pop stars and celebrities embrace them, there's usually a to-do around whether or not the item is "wearable," or "ridiculous" or even high fashion at all, not really around whether the female work force is going to show up in a Gaultier cone bra.
There are explicit, formal rules in restaurants, tennis courts, social clubs, and many other places. In lots of work places there are actual uniforms. If you're a UPS delivery person or a flight attendant, you are wearing a uniform. And I would argue that at every other office there are completely tacit, though no less formal rules. A power suit in a banker's boardroom or a cashmere hoodie in The Valley, every thing is a coded message about conformity and its relation to success. First you try to decipher the code and then you try it on for size and see if it fits. Some try to break the code; others strictly adhere. Whichever path you choose doesn't really matter-- your look becomes part of your persona and you are rewarded or punished for it, along with your many other workplace duties.
So knowing that most everyone knows these sort of basic rules of the office (and life), why did the "dress like women" quote get everyone's goat to this degree? Well obviously because it came on the heels of countless other (arguably more important) spoken offenses against women coming out of the Trump White House. But also it's likely because it specifically erases the assumption that women actually know how to make lots and lots of decisions for themselves, only one of which is how to dress for work. With so many of those decisions being taken out of the hands of those who have earned the right to make them, the tinderbox is set to be lit. It likely will be rekindled over and over again. I think that's a good thing.
The LZ Sunday Paper really thought about what it was going to wear today, Super Bowl Sunday and the first Sunday of Black History Month. We elected to go classic: well- and appropriately coifed with its original masthead. It's a weekly, must-read digest of news hand-picked by me, for you, about and by women in business, politics, media, the arts and pop culture. There's usually something to laugh about, even to make you uncomfortable, but mostly it is in existence to inform and entertain.
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When things are looking down, you can get a shared perspective @LZFloors.
Have a Super Super Bowl, if you like that sort of thing…
See you next week!
LZ
THE PIC(K) OF THE WEEK:
Dress Like A Woman? What Does That Mean? via The New York Times
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POLITICS:
What Neil Gorsuch, Trump's SCOTUS Pick, Means For American Women via Slate
Totalitarianism In The Age Of Trump: Lessons From Hannah Arendt via The Guardian
Sheryl Sandberg Explains Why Silicon Valley Won't Confront Trump via BuzzFeed News
How Trump Has Taken Away Our Homes via Martina Navratilova via The New York Times
Nordstrom Is No Longer Selling The Ivanka Trump Brand via Racked
Meet The Rookie Federal Judge Who Halted Trump's Refugee Deportations--To Save A Syrian via The Washington Post
He Said, She Said: Gender Bending The Presidential Debates via The New York Times
BUSINESS, TECH, MEDIA:
Women Slowly Gaining Seats In The Boardroom via The San Francisco Chronicle
Women Hold Just 1/10th Of Biotech Board Seats via Med City News
Women In Real Estate Tech: The Top CRE Tech Founders and CEOs via Real Estate News
See How Audi Plugs Gender Equality In Super Bowl Spot via Ad Age
ARTS, FASHION, SPORTS, LIT & POP CULTURE:
Dear Designers, Please Stop Putting Boobs In Cages via Fashionista
We Need To Talk About This Bodysuit Peekaboo Thing via Slate
Decoding Beyonce's Pregnancy Pic via The Guardian
Ivanka Trump "Feels Terrible" About That Insensitive Instagram Photo via Harper's Bazaar
12 Romantic Books That Won't Make You Gag via The Strategist
This Artist Sent Her Painting To The New Yorker On A Whim. Now It's The Cover via The Huffington Post
AND WHAT'S NOT TO LOVE ABOUT:
The Illustrated Interview: Marge Simpson via T Magazine
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The LZ Sunday Paperâ„¢ launched at the dawn of 2014. We expose and recirculate interesting content that is about, and frequently by, women in business, with a dose of ultra-relevant culture. We think that culture comes high and low, not much in between. Our audience is vast and not gender-driven. Every week we expect to deliver at least one good laugh. Send suggestions, clips, or names of people you think might enjoy this to LZSundayPaper@gmail.com.
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