With so many meetings on Zoom I’m beginning to worry about my shaggy appearance. One morning after a Zoom meeting I was red-faced when I realised I hadn’t shaved and was still in my running T-shirt and short pants. Luckily my hair didn’t need combing mainly because I have hardly any of it left.
Such was my consternation that I took up the subject with my loving half who always guides me with her feminine and feline (a Leo of course) intuition.
“Well, what’s the problem?” she asked.
I told her my story. “I forgot to switch the camera off and probably 200 attendees saw me in my disheveled state,” I confided.
“Don’t be silly,” she said. “What are you so worried about? The real you is coming out.”
“Maybe I should have a dresser stand next to my desk, hidden from the camera, of course, where I can keep a fresh shirt, jacket and tie,” I offered desperate for her advice.
“All you need is a cutout of a man in a jacket and tie that you can slide your head into.” She laughed and I wasn’t sure if she was being serious or trying to pull the Mickey out of me.
“I’ll try dress more sensibly next time,” I said. Trying to turn the subject away from me, I said, “It’s fascinating how relaxed people are in their homes and with their appearance on these virtual meetings. One famous woman on a webinar, with studio shots of her younger self on her website, appeared on Zoom revealing her years dressed in something that she must have worn a hundred times around the house.”
“Don’t be so hard on her,” my dearly beloved chided me. “She’s just trying to be herself. You know how hard this lock-down has been for everyone.”
“I agree with you,” I said not wishing to be disagreeable.
“But you’ve got me thinking,” she said. “You’re worried about being under-dressed but I can see a whole Zoom fashion happening. Imagine the Zoom catwalk fashion shows in Milan. Men in shirts and ties and short pants. Makes me think of the time when my dad wore short safari suits. With a cravat, I might add. Think of the fashion mags with features on how to dress for Zoom. It will be a Zoom boom in fashion.”
“Call it what you want,” I said, “I’d glad I don’t have to dress up every morning for the office. I must be more careful in future to wear something decent.”
“Just make sure you’re wearing deodorant,” she said making sure that she had the last word on the subject.”
Zoom has changed the way we meet with each other whether for business, learning or catching up with friends. It has catapulted us all into the digital world making us smarter with the use of Internet technology (and I’m not only referring to how to mute and unmute Zoom). My loving partner could be right and Zoom may have started a new fashion trend the likes of what we could have only dreamed about six or seven months ago.
