I was once stopped on the street by a stranger who admonished me for being unshaven. He did it in a friendly way but he was still operating from a mostly out of date guidebook. Before Miami Vice, stubble in popular culture was mostly limited to prisoners, hobos and eccentrics. Men would wear hats in public until the early 60's, then, even when they took them off, were expected to wear suits and ties and proper footwear. Casual shoes were for weekends, the beach, or children. Things slipped further and further down the slippery slope then the pandemic seemed to knock almost all the rules right off their pedestals.  I still feel a bit undressed if I'm not wearing proper footwear in an office setting or if I bump into a senior colleague in the elevator. But when I go out to lunch and walk past all the trainer-wearing 20 and 30-somethings I feel kind of square. I haven't had my shoes shined in ages but since I'm attending a gala tonight I thought it was time. Shoe-shiners in old movies and TV shows are always portrayed as chatty wise guys but in real life you're hard pressed to get two words out of them. Which is I guess how people (especially New Yorkers) want it. You should use the time to look at your phone I guess. I did, a bit but mostly I appreciated being unable to move my feet and watched the parade of lunchtime cops and tourists and couples and marginals and sun-dress wearing girls and chino-clad young strivers cross my field of vision. Occasionally one would look down and notice my smart-looking boots.