DEAR MISS MANNERS: If women are not supposed to wear watches after 5 p.m. at social occasions and they are not supposed to wear diamonds before 5 p.m., then why are there watches with diamonds in them?
I realize this sounds like a trick question, but I really am curious about the answer. I have always thought diamond watches were terribly tacky and serve no real place in a wardrobe. It seems that now people are dripping in diamonds at any time of day and I was wondering if there was a rule change some time ago, or if everyone is just ignoring etiquette.
GENTLE READER: Why is it, Miss Manners wonders, that when many people violate a rule, the assumption arises that the rule must have been revoked? If there is a crime wave, do they assume that the law has been changed?
However, she loves your implication that if something is in poor taste, it should not exist. Would that this were so. The rules are sill in effect, but there are people who care more about diamonds than about rules. Can you imagine such a thing?
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