We haven't done a true This Makes Me Crazy Monday for awhile, so here we go.

Back to one of our common themes: slovenly dress.

I was out yesterday (Easter Sunday) to brunch at the Four Seasons in Georgetown.   Big crowd, as always.  Lots of kids, looking adorable in their miniature blazers and springtime dresses - even saw a few little bonnets!

And the adults?  Looked good.  As usual, some were more dressy than others; but for the most part everyone looked very nice, very appropriate.

But then...  yes, you guessed it.  Why does there always have to be a few halfwits that look like refugees?  Now, refugees have good reason to look the way they do; Americans spending a hundred bucks a pop for brunch, don't.

And I always wonder about the reasoning behind it.  Are they thinking, "I'm just so cool and fabulously above the fray that I can dress anyway I please?"  Or, "So sorry that I look like a bum but the airlines lost my luggage and I have nothing else to wear."  Or, "I don't give a rip about convention, or standards, or anything else, so deal with my lousy appearance."

Hm, let's breakdown each of those thoughts:

• Cool and above the fray:  think back to Princess Diana.  I imagine most people would say she was pretty darn cool - and gorgeous - and above the fray.  But she was also a woman that completely understood the power of clothes.  If anyone could have shown up at a dinner (not talking about a state event, but private) and gotten away with looking like a ragamuffin, she could.  But did that ever happen?  No way.  Remember the fabulous, black F-U cocktail dress she was photographed in the day that all hell broke lose in the press regarding her, Charles and Camilla?  No red, weepy eyes, disheveled hair, and sweat pants for her!  Oh no - the look was all about power - all about I'm a woman to be reckoned with - so, watch out!

• Lost my luggage and nothing to wear:  so, you travel looking like something out of The Grapes of Wrath?  Pul-leeze!  Equating comfort with sloppy is just ignorant. 
  

• I don't give a rip:  with this, I always think of the expression, what goes around comes around.   And in regards to someone who looks inappropriate - all kinds of invitations never materialize and opportunities are lost.  
  

Some years ago I heard Maria Shriver talking about her first years in television, when she was behind the camera.  She wanted to be on camera, and went to an old friend about getting a job.  His response was something like,  "You're a mess.  I'm not going to put you on camera.  Lose weight, get some decent clothes, get your act together."  And he was talking to Maria Shriver!

What he said was pretty harsh, and her response to his criticism?  She said he was absolutely right; that she needed to do everything he told her, and she did.  And the rest, as they say, is history.

It's not about wearing extravagantly expensive clothing, or being dressed to the nines.  It's about maturity, good sense, savviness - all things that one needs to be successful in life.

(And the beautiful little girls in the photo - St. Xavier's Private School, Trinidad & Tobago.)