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In case you missed it, the New York Times on Friday announced the death of the dress. As I don't ordinarily wear dresses, I missed the story entirely. Julie Ponzi at No Left Turns has a few thoughts on the supposedly inevitable passing of a sartorial mainstay (not withstanding a comeback -- the story hedges a little). Although she rejects the Times story's conclusions, Ponzi offers a bit of anecdotal evidence that would seem to confirm the trend:

A few weeks ago, I was with some other mothers in the park. We were all, more or less, attired in the standard "Mommy" garb . . . which nowadays, unfortunately, means jeans or a sweat suit. These clothes have their uses and, perhaps, one of those uses (in addition to horseback riding or playing tennis) is the chasing around of wild children at a park. But as I looked around, I wondered whether function alone is overrated. And wouldn’t it be possible to design dresses that, in addition to being attractive, were also functional?

The short answer is no. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but it's really only a matter of time before we're all wearing silver polyester jumpsuits. Or, more likely, tracksuits.

Casual is winning. I should know. I've worn a tie maybe three times in the past 12 months and, I confess, I haven't lost a wink of sleep over it.

A few months ago, my friend Nicholas Antongiavanni wrote a lament for the slow passing of the necktie. Noting that Barack Obama and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad have both abandoned the tie (Obama seems to have veered back toward tradition lately), Antongiavanni wrote: "We should hope that the tie survives. It is too noble a garment to let go for light and transient, or dark and sinister, causes. The good news is that Mr. Obama's foray into tielessness does not stem from deeply held ideology. When it really counts, he does the right thing. No doubt, should he make it to the end, his neck will be covered on inauguration day..."

He's right. If the tie goes, that would be sad. But what about the dress? In the event, somebody had better collect Antongiavanni's custom shoelaces and excellent belts.