I wore the same black pants every Thursday for a couple of years in the early 90s. They were my Thursday Pants. I did it to see if anyone would notice (nobody ever did) and, also, cuz I can be a leeetle OCD. (I shudder to think of the pants now. They were super 90s--high waisted, pleated. But I loved them at the time.)

my problem is that my blacks don't match.

This is when the awesomeness of my drycleaner/seamstress comes in, 'cause she'll do the lot for me at a very reasonable rate. I love her.

I think it was a combination of the industry, and also the region. A woman in Dallas not put effort into looking just so?

SCANDAL!

I definitely think my coworkers would've noticed and been disapproving (among themselves, not to my face probably) if I'd gotten a bunch of black and grey pants and worn them exclusively.

The expectations of women are different, and the styles more short-lived. I guess it's possible that men have "Oh, man, today's a grey suit sort of a day" but it's not that expected.

I could not tell you what colour shirt any of my male coworkers were wearing yesterday if they didn't stand out (one guy was wearing a deep red, another one's in ochre today). The blues and whites just disappear. I can tell you the colour of most of the clothes either of my female coworkers wore, as well as the styles of shoes. Some days even jewelry, and how much makeup they normally wear.

Dallas is very ....shiny. I think of it as the plastic of Texas.

The same way I think of El Paso as the concrete armpit of Texas.

I'm very lucky I've never worked anywhere that I had to take style points into consideration. It's always been "She shows up to work every day, she's got a brain, God bless her."

Also, "She hasn't tried to shiv any of her co-workers — well, no one important — so we'll keep her around."

I guess it's possible that men have "Oh, man, today's a grey suit sort of a day" but it's not that expected.

When I wore a suit, I had that feeling about a tie occasionally. That's about it.

Dallas is very ....shiny. I think of it as the plastic of Texas.

You are so very right. In more ways than one.

Aww, Breyer is going to make a Teddy O'Connor model.