The Dry Cleaners
I hadn’t been to the dry cleaners for three, maybe four years. But after serving messy desserts to my guests on the buffet, the silk table runner came away badly stained. So, the other day I took it to the dry cleaners.
While Mr. Kim was writing up my order, I commented on all the white shirts hanging on the garment conveyor. “It looks like lots of men bring you their dress shirts for cleaning,” I said.
“Oh, no,” he sighed. “Not so many anymore. Not since COVID.”
“Oh!” It looked like lots of shirts to me, but I knew what he was getting at. “Work from home,” I said.
“Yes. Many cleaners are going out of business.”
I was his only customer, so we talked for awhile about his father, who started the business, and his teenage kids and the cost of college. As I left, no one entered to take my place.
Work from Home
My daughters are part of the work-from-home phenomenon. Daughter #1 and her husband moved halfway across the country to be near their grown children. Before moving she got permission to work from home exclusively. Daughter #2 works from home except when she comes into the office for a mock trial or into the court for an argument. Daughter # 3, an engineer, works from home two days a week unless she’s visiting a job site. My two older grandchildren work remotely.
And you can bet they all dress casually when they’re at home.
Me? My regular attire for much of the year is sweatpants, a turtleneck and a hoody.
A Longtime Trend
We can’t blame it all on COVID, though. Our clothing choices have been heading in this direction for a long time.
In 1971, this is how we dressed for a trans-Pacific flight. At the time, I wouldn’t have thought of wearing exercise pants or jeans. My sister remembers her 1968 flight from Seattle to Madrid and how uncomfortable it was. She was wearing a dress and pantie hose.
We can admire how well-dressed we used to be, but, I have to admit, there’s something to be said for comfort. (My apologies to dry cleaners.)
Great topic. Once covid hit, my husband stopped wearing Oxford cloth shirts so we stopped the home pick-up/delivery service. I miss the delivery man who came to the front door twice a week. He was jovial and a nice little break in my day. I wonder what has become of him now that no one on this street sends their business shirts/suits out anymore.
I understand your pleasure in seeing the pickup-delivery man as a little reliable break in your day, especially if he’s jovial. Amazon, on the other hand, just leaves the delivery at your doorstep. They don’t even ring the bell. They do send you an email, though.
Thanks Nicki – this is an interesting topic and I never thought about how it would impact the dry-cleaning business. It seems like other factors such as the use of harsh chemicals in the environment would have impacted that business and rising costs for the service. I’ve read that it can be a long time to clear the land of toxicity in a location where a dry cleaning business has operated for years. As a retiree, I rarely dress up anymore. My kids and their partners work from home all or part of the time too! We have Covid to thank for that or blame however you look at it!!!
The dry cleaner I went to said he had switched some time ago to eco-friendly methods. I’m not sure what that means, but it sounds like an improvement. When we lived in the Philippines, we never went to a dry cleaner. I had some silk dresses, and they came out okay. When you think of it, the Chinese had silk clothes long before they had dry cleaners. Also, a Pakistani friend said the way they clean their oriental carpets is spread them out on the driveway and wash them with a hose. There may be more to it than that, but, again, they had those carpets before they had dry cleaners.
Even though I have a closet full of nicer things (many left over from when I worked and attended fancy events), I now reach for whatever is comfortable (if I’m staying around home) or comfortable and relatively presentable (if doing errands or meeting a friend for lunch). I don’t miss the days of dresses and heels at all. I guess it is a bad time to be in the dry cleaning business. Note to self: get rid of those nicer clothes… if you haven’t worn them in a few years, chances or pretty good you never will.
I do the same thing: comfortable around home, comfortable and relatively presentable when I go out. I enjoyed the dresses and heels at the time. The seasons of our lives make change a necessity.
I go through my closet every so often and get rid of the nice clothes I no longer wear. It’s hard to get rid of some of them.
We got dressed up for church, holiday meals, Sunday dinners, parties, concerts, plays, etc.
Casual is my preference . . . but not sloppy casual. 😀
By today’s standards, we even dressed up for school. We used the money we earned picking strawberries in the summer to buy pleated plaid skirts by Pendleton and matching wool sweaters. I enjoyed dressing up when I was younger. Now my main concern is comfort and at least looking presentable.
Most of my working career was business dress. In the 90s it moved slowly to business casual. Now it’s mostly sloppy. I enjoyed dressing up (this was after gloves and girdles) but maybe it’s because I enjoyed fashion. I remember hiring a young woman for an office job. On her first day she had pants and an oversized man’s undershirt on. I just rolled my eyes. She didn’t interact with clients so it didn’t matter. I don’t wear that at home although there may be a hole in my favorite tee shirt. Maybe.
I also used to enjoy fashion. My mom was an excellent seamstress, so it was fun helping her design my dresses. I remember wearing elbow length white gloves to a formal dance or two. Girdles and pantyhose were never fun. And before I finally got my ears pierced, earrings gave me a headache.
Even in these casual times, my youngest daughter (the engineer) looks somewhat formal when she heads to the office, and she has some beautiful dresses for parties and shows.
When I worked in an expensive women’d clothing store, I had to wear a dress and heels. When I worked in the entertainment industry, it varied, but it’s definitely more casual now. Andy can’t work from home–all his work is top secret–but unless there is an important meeting, it’s jeans and polo shirt for the office. And dry cleaning can be really expensive and when you have pets, too. Like you, I’m mostly going for household items that seldom get used. Or fact dresses for weddings!
I used to do okay in heels, but I can’t imagine wearing them now. My feet aren’t what they used to be. Having household pets would be an excellent reason not to wear clothes that need to be dry cleaned.
I recently took my suede skirt to the dry cleaner and was shocked it would be 70.00 to have cleaned! I left with the dirty skirt and googled how to clean it myself😁I ordered the 6$ eraser brush for suede and it worked beautifully! I am in the beauty business and how I dress still matters 😊 I believe I have more credibility when I portray myself as a beauty consultant by dressing purposefully and with thoughtful preparation.
Thank you, Pat, for a great story. Perhaps the whole idea of dry cleaning is going out of style faster than formal dress. There’s a lot we can do by simpler less polluting means. I’m glad you continue to dress well.
I also work from home. I remember back in the day having to dress up and wear white gloves and hats when we went out. I was soooo thankful never to have to wear white gloves again!
Hats though? It might be fun if more people wore them. They’re always fun to try on.
Nicki,
Thanks for this. I remember when I was young (before the age of 7) and we went from Brooklyn to Manhattan, I had to dress with gloves etc. (this was in the early 50s!). Even when we flew to Okinawa in 1954 we were dressed to the hilt.
Now I have even seen zories and shorts at a performance at the Kennedy Center. Comfort is one thing, decorum is another!
I grew up in a small town, and I remember dressing up for shopping trips to Seattle.
I agree. Shorts and flip flops have no place at a Kennedy Center performance. It’s a question of respect and a sign that the event is something special. Do you remember the mantillas we used to wear to church?