Dress Code?

[Zeb_Carter]

Tell us the story, from a woman's point of view, how this happened. And how they went from adoring the guy 1947 to even liking the guy in 2021?

 

[Bramblethorn]

I wouldn't normally use boomer memes from Facebook for inspiration, but on consideration, I think this one could make for a really great story. Here's how I'd write it:

Janie is a millennial baby. Whenever her parents are away they leave her with her beloved Gramps. They love to watch old Cary Grant movies together. (Cary's the guy on the left.)

When she grows up, she brings her new boyfriend Zach to meet Gramps. Zach looks like the guy on the right.

Gramps is really bothered by this. He's too well-mannered to say anything to Zach's face, but after Zach's gone Gramps asks Janie "What went wrong? How do you find a guy like that attractive?"

She smiles at him and says "Let's not talk about that right now. Why don't we watch a couple of the old Cary movies? The ones you used to show me?"

She starts with Grant's 1938 movie, "Bringing Up Baby", where Cary wears a fluffy robe:

https://forum.literotica.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=2126435&stc=1&d=1635973116

Then she selects his 1950 movie "I Was A Male War Bride", where he ends up in drag:

https://forum.literotica.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=2126434&stc=1&d=1635972959

"You know what I always loved about Cary?" she says to Gramps. "He always looked so comfortable, no matter what he was wearing. Some guys would have refused to wear a fluffy robe on screen, let alone a skirt and handbag, in case people thought they weren't manly enough. Cary didn't give a shit."

"Language!" says Gramps.

"Sorry!" She gives the old dude a kiss on the cheek. "But you know it's true. So much of his charm was that he wasn't looking for anybody else's approval. Even in his later films... you remember the pink submarine in 'Operation Petticoat'? No offense, Gramps, but a lot of guys from your generation are macho snowflakes. They'd pitch a fit at the idea of captaining a pink submarine. Not Cary.

"Anyway, Gramps... I don't know if it was the same for Gramma, but growing up female, it's just this constant barrage of old farts with opinions on what I should wear. Don't look too slutty, don't look too dull, don't look cheap, don't wear the same dress you wore last year. You remember Tony?"

"Yeah," mutters Gramps. "I liked Tony."

"Yeah, well, Tony was a macho asshole. I ditched him because he got scary jealous when I went to a Halloween party showing too much cleavage. He told me I couldn't dress like that and I told him to go f—... well, I told him he wasn't the boss of me. He was always more interested in hanging out with his football mates than spending time on me anyway.

"And then I met Zach, and I thought, thank God for a guy who wears what he wants to wear. A guy who isn't so fragile he's afraid wearing pastels is going to make his dick fall off and who isn't going to be insecure about what I wear."

She kissed Gramps on the cheek. "I owe it to you. You're the one who showed me what to look for in a guy. A guy like Cary."

Could do with a bit of fleshing out, but I reckon it has potential.

 

[sirhugs]

I wouldn't normally use boomer memes from Facebook for inspiration, but on consideration, I think this one could make for a really great story. Here's how I'd write it:

Janie is a millennial baby. Whenever her parents are away they leave her with her beloved Gramps. They love to watch old Cary Grant movies together. (Cary's the guy on the left.)

When she grows up, she brings her new boyfriend Zach to meet Gramps. Zach looks like the guy on the right.

Gramps is really bothered by this. He's too well-mannered to say anything to Zach's face, but after Zach's gone Gramps asks Janie "What went wrong? How do you find a guy like that attractive?"

She smiles at him and says "Let's not talk about that right now. Why don't we watch a couple of the old Cary movies? The ones you used to show me?"

She starts with Grant's 1938 movie, "Bringing Up Baby", where Cary wears a fluffy robe:



Then she selects his 1950 movie "I Was A Male War Bride", where he ends up in drag:



"You know what I always loved about Cary?" she says to Gramps. "He always looked so comfortable, no matter what he was wearing. Some guys would have refused to wear a fluffy robe on screen, let alone a skirt and handbag, in case people thought they weren't manly enough. Cary didn't give a shit."

"Language!" says Gramps.

"Sorry!" She gives the old dude a kiss on the cheek. "But you know it's true. So much of his charm was that he wasn't looking for anybody else's approval. Even in his later films... you remember the pink submarine in 'Operation Petticoat'? No offense, Gramps, but a lot of guys from your generation are macho snowflakes. They'd pitch a fit at the idea of captaining a pink submarine. Not Cary.

"Anyway, Gramps... I don't know if it was the same for Gramma, but growing up female, it's just this constant barrage of old farts with opinions on what I should wear. Don't look too slutty, don't look too dull, don't look cheap, don't wear the same dress you wore last year. You remember Tony?"

"Yeah," mutters Gramps. "I liked Tony."

"Yeah, well, Tony was a macho asshole. I ditched him because he got scary jealous when I went to a Halloween party showing too much cleavage. He told me I couldn't dress like that and I told him to go f—... well, I told him he wasn't the boss of me. He was always more interested in hanging out with his football mates than spending time on me anyway.

"And then I met Zach, and I thought, thank God for a guy who wears what he wants to wear. A guy who isn't so fragile he's afraid wearing pastels is going to make his dick fall off and who isn't going to be insecure about what I wear."

She kissed Gramps on the cheek. "I owe it to you. You're the one who showed me what to look for in a guy. A guy like Cary."

Could do with a bit of fleshing out, but I reckon it has potential.

just a friendly reminder that more than 3 paragraphs is more of an outline than an idea. Now you better write the rest.

 

[Zeb_Carter]

I wouldn't normally use boomer memes from Facebook for inspiration, but on consideration, I think this one could make for a really great story. Here's how I'd write it:

Janie is a millennial baby. Whenever her parents are away they leave her with her beloved Gramps. They love to watch old Cary Grant movies together. (Cary's the guy on the left.)

When she grows up, she brings her new boyfriend Zach to meet Gramps. Zach looks like the guy on the right.

Gramps is really bothered by this. He's too well-mannered to say anything to Zach's face, but after Zach's gone Gramps asks Janie "What went wrong? How do you find a guy like that attractive?"

She smiles at him and says "Let's not talk about that right now. Why don't we watch a couple of the old Cary movies? The ones you used to show me?"

She starts with Grant's 1938 movie, "Bringing Up Baby", where Cary wears a fluffy robe:



Then she selects his 1950 movie "I Was A Male War Bride", where he ends up in drag:



"You know what I always loved about Cary?" she says to Gramps. "He always looked so comfortable, no matter what he was wearing. Some guys would have refused to wear a fluffy robe on screen, let alone a skirt and handbag, in case people thought they weren't manly enough. Cary didn't give a shit."

"Language!" says Gramps.

"Sorry!" She gives the old dude a kiss on the cheek. "But you know it's true. So much of his charm was that he wasn't looking for anybody else's approval. Even in his later films... you remember the pink submarine in 'Operation Petticoat'? No offense, Gramps, but a lot of guys from your generation are macho snowflakes. They'd pitch a fit at the idea of captaining a pink submarine. Not Cary.

"Anyway, Gramps... I don't know if it was the same for Gramma, but growing up female, it's just this constant barrage of old farts with opinions on what I should wear. Don't look too slutty, don't look too dull, don't look cheap, don't wear the same dress you wore last year. You remember Tony?"

"Yeah," mutters Gramps. "I liked Tony."

"Yeah, well, Tony was a macho asshole. I ditched him because he got scary jealous when I went to a Halloween party showing too much cleavage. He told me I couldn't dress like that and I told him to go f—... well, I told him he wasn't the boss of me. He was always more interested in hanging out with his football mates than spending time on me anyway.

"And then I met Zach, and I thought, thank God for a guy who wears what he wants to wear. A guy who isn't so fragile he's afraid wearing pastels is going to make his dick fall off and who isn't going to be insecure about what I wear."

She kissed Gramps on the cheek. "I owe it to you. You're the one who showed me what to look for in a guy. A guy like Cary."

Could do with a bit of fleshing out, but I reckon it has potential.

Grant was an actor. He got paid to dress that way. He read the script before he accepted the job, so yeah he was okay with dressing like that for the movie. But I would bet a dollar that he would never dress that way to or from work.

And he would never dress the way the 'guy' on the right is dressed out in public. How and what a person wears in public is what they are deep down inside.

I don't know about anywhere else in the world, well I kinda do, but I'm now speaking for the parts of America I have seen over the past few decades, we are turning out a bunch of pussies. My opinion. Not a political rant. More a what people watch on the boob tube.

 

[Bramblethorn]

Grant was an actor. He got paid to dress that way. He read the script before he accepted the job, so yeah he was okay with dressing like that for the movie. But I would bet a dollar that he would never dress that way to or from work.

And he would never dress the way the 'guy' on the right is dressed out in public. How and what a person wears in public is what they are deep down inside.

Not hardly.

People dress according to the circumstances. I don't wear the same clothes to work that I wear clubbing, or when I'm working from home, or going to a funeral or a job interview. Doesn't mean I've suddenly become a different person.

That photo of Grant was taken in London in the winter of 1946 (not 1947 like that meme claims, and not 1917 like some other versions doing the rounds!) He was in the UK to visit his mother, who'd been institutionalised with mental illness for many years. Stands to reason he'd be dressed warmly and formally.

Guy on the right... well, neither of us knows who he is or what he was dressed for. Just some random guy minding his own business. But it doesn't look like suit-and-jacket weather where he is, and he's probably not headed off to visit his mum in a mental institution. And he's living in an era where people have different expectations about clothes.

I don't know about anywhere else in the world, well I kinda do, but I'm now speaking for the parts of America I have seen over the past few decades, we are turning out a bunch of pussies. My opinion. Not a political rant. More a what people watch on the boob tube.

The real "pussy" here is the dude who felt so threatened and upset by how some other guy dresses that he had to turn it into a meme about What's Wrong With Dudes Today.

It's just clothes. If you want to get upset about The State Of The World Today there's plenty of stuff that actually matters. This ain't it.

 

[Carnevil9]

Because I just went *GAY* all of a sudden!

Even as dated as it is, Bringing Up Baby is still one of the funniest movies I've ever seen.

And "Baby" isn't really a baby, by the way. It's a pet leopard.

 

[sirhugs]

and Cary Grant was a closeted homosexual.

 

[Zeb_Carter]

and Cary Grant was a closeted homosexual.

Yes, I know. Any speculation on the guy with manbun?

 

[Bramblethorn]

and Cary Grant was a closeted homosexual.

Was he though?

Grant had five marriages and many affairs with women - David Niven's memoir mentioned that women were one of the three most important things in Grant's life, and Grant's daughter said he enjoyed being called gay because "it made women want to prove the assertion wrong". Seems more likely for him to have been bi than gay, but the evidence for even bisexuality seems shaky.

AFAICT the speculation about Grant's sexuality is based on the fact that he lived with Randolph Scott for twelve years, and photos of the two of them doing Shirtless Guy Things together.

But commentary like this piece points out that those photos were commissioned and published by the studio, as part of a campaign to promote them as eligible bachelors. If they actually were sleeping together, you'd think the studio would've preferred to bury that rather than paying to draw attention to it; it wasn't an era where that kind of thing was good for an actor's career.

The Vulture piece also mentions that the photographer who took those photos was gay, which may have influenced how he chose his shots.

There certainly were closeted actors in that era, but it's dangerous to lean too heavily on photos without the context.

 

[ElectricBlue]

Tell us the story, from a woman's point of view, how this happened. And how they went from adoring the guy 1947 to even liking the guy in 2021?

What's depressing, seventy years on, is that folk are still quite happy to judge a book by its cover. Society progressed much? Not so much.