Hello Bermuda! Cup Match is done. I'm really sorry about the weather messing it all up. It seems that all persons involved in the event enjoyed it but I fear that Somerset may have gone into the red. It appears that they spent a lot on the event but the weather may have prevented them from making it all back. Oh well, better luck to them and St. George's next year.

This week DJLT is delving into a different subject. Fashion and what is appropriate business attire. Good journalists will from time to time challenge themselves by taking on difficult, controversial and unfamiliar issues, so here goes!

I've noticed a concerning trend in the dress of persons for work these days and will make some observations, suggestions and comments on this after the top 20.

Up to #1 is Nothing On You BoB featuring Bruno Mars. This hit has been inching its way to the top for several weeks now and finally gets the top spot. Tumbling to #2 is L'il Freak by Usher featuring Nicki Manj, a former essential new jam and a banger. Down to #3 is Unthinkable by Alicia Keys.

Picking up the pace with some dance music, up to #4 is I'm Not A Superstar by Remady. I heard this one a lot in Europe earlier this summer; it makes you want to just get up and dance, no matter where you are or what else you might be doing. Jumping to #5 it's Break Your Heart by Taio Cruz featuring Ludacris. Over, by Drake, falls to number 6.

Up to #7 is OMG by Usher featuring Will.i.am. Climbing to #8 is California Girls by Katy Perry, featuring Snoop Dogg, one of DJLT's faves.

Making huge gains to #9 is the soca track Palance by JW and Blaze, which is loaded with energy. The track is up tempo and it kicks worldwide. Slipping to #10 is My Chick Bad by Ludacris featuring Nicki Manj. Down to #10 is There Goes My Baby by Usher.

Tumbling to #12 is Neighbors Know My Name by Trey Songz. Down to #13 is a former essential new hit: Commander, by Kelly Rowland featuring David Guetta. Rude Boy by Rihanna falls to #14.

Up to #15 is Find Your Love by Drake last week's essential new tune. Improving to #16 it's I Love The Way You Lie by Eminem featuring Rihanna, last week's essential new tune. On the way up at #17 is Rockstar 10, also by Rihanna.

Slipping to #18 is Hard by Rihanna. Sliding to #19 is Hey Daddy, (Daddy's Home) by Usher featuring Plies. This week's essential new track, which enters at #20 is a soca/dance hit entitled Party Hard by Donee'o, which has a sweet beat.

Now back to this week's word – dress code. I've noticed a disturbing trend – a lowering of the standard of dress among many persons, young and those more advanced in years. It's really all over. It started with people no longer feeling the need to wear their Sunday best to church. Well, even before that, so many people stopped going to Church, but that's a whole other article!

So for those who actually continued to attend church, sometime during the early 1990s it became fashionable to not wear suits and ties to church any more. So people started coming to church in golf shirts, khakis, shorts, etc. Years ago you could wear Bermuda Shorts but you had a tie and blazer on with it, so you were still in your Sunday Best.

Ladies similarly stopped wearing those elegant hats, dresses, etc. and went for cocktail dresses, sun dresses, shorter dresses, more revealing dresses, tank dresses, tank tops, low cut blouses, more revealing attire. You see where I'm going with this right?

So over time men and women, boys and girls, had less 'Church Appropriate Attire' in their wardrobes. Years ago a boy had to have at least one blazer. He could wear it to church and even to school! But we reached a point where boys no longer wore blazers to church, so boys did not need to have a blazer any more. Girls similarly no longer had the need to have dressy, professional attire.

But guess what? Boys and girls used to also use their church attire for important occasions that may not have been religious! Like job interviews, jobs, etc. Now you see where this is going, for those who didn't. So since kids no longer had Church Clothes, they didn't have anything to wear to important meetings, etc. that required such attire.

But let's go back to the changing of the dress code. Some time during the 1990s, dress down Fridays, Denim Fridays or Casual Fridays became fashionable and acceptable. In some industries, and I think the technology sector led this charge, Business Casual became the dress for the entire work week. So instead of seeing people in businesses wearing as a minimum shirts and ties, you had professionals dressed in golf shirts and dockers, which whilst very cool, is not as professional looking as a shirt and tie.

Then there's school. We stopped kids from wearing blazers to school, as part of the school uniform, and put students also in golf shirts. Then they have gym clothes which they wear to school. Back in the day (you know when you say or write that expression you must be a geriatric, which at 46, I most certainly am), you wore your school uniform to school, with tie and blazer, and at gym class you changed into your gym clothes. After gym class you changed back to your school uniform.

I say all of this to show how our standards have dropped across the board; in church, home, school, in public, etc. So we now have people going to work in flip flops! Yes, flip flops, and thinking it's cool. Why? Because adults tolerate it and can't be bothered to correct people.

For all our criticisms, at least in Government we have a dress code. Some managers enforce it to the letter and others perhaps not so much, but at least there is a code. Most large organisations like the banks also have a dress code which is generally enforced. Good for them.

The moral of this story is that the end result of the lowering of our standards is that we don't look as professional, we don't act as professional, we don't have the same respect for the House of God, people take less pride in their appearance, men wear their pants down past their butts, women wear revealing and sleazy nightclub attire to work, and all, as we say in the army, "gone horribly wrong". I will go out on a limb and say to females that if you dress slutty, don't be surprised if men treat you like one. I'm not saying that this is right; but it is what it is.

The only way to fix this is to reverse the entire trend, by encouraging people to dress properly for church, school, and work and to dress in a manner in which they wish to be perceived. And take the time to actually iron your clothes.

If you wish to be perceived as a potential CEO or Leader, then dress like one. Someone once told me that you dress for the job you want, not the job you have! Here's to better, more appropriate, respectful and dignified dress codes being practised by all … DJLT.