Personally, I’d think that it would be too difficult to wear those dresses and suits in modern times. Crinoline and taffeta do not breathe well. Most cities are heat geysers. It gets hot early and stays hot till midnight. It’s not unusual to still be 110° at 10pm during the summer here in Phoenix.

Ever notice how places that require that kind of dress code crank the air conditioning down to 60° to make it tolerable? I can’t reconcile that against the need to draw down energy use just for some (mostly) imagined idea of politeness. People still had melt downs back then. They just did so at home against their other family members. There were a lot fewer people then too. It’s likely that we just don’t know about a lot of the fights.

I’ll say no to all that fucking ironing too.

I think the thing about the more casual style of clothes now is that we have too many and they’re too cheap. Perhaps the impetus to invest in them and care for them has just evaporated for many people. That takes time and money, things we don’t have an excess of any more. Especially the time.