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Dress codes

Discussion in 'Restaurants & Buffets' started by ken2v, Jun 4, 2012.

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  1. ken2v

    ken2v This Space For Rent

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    It's too bad another dress code question went off the rails. Since stated codes, opinions and I'm-gonna-do-what-I'm-gonna-do attitudes aren't exactly on the same wavelength, perhaps it would be better going forward for folks to simply call the place and find out exactly what is meant by "business attire," "business casual," "resort casual" and the like.
     
  2. shifter

    shifter Degenerate Gambler

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    these days places care more about your business than your dress. you will be hardpressed to find places in Vegas turning away customers because of what they are wearing unless it's something like swim attire to a 5 star restaurant. even then they'll have a loaner pair of pants that you can throw on. that's just the way it is.

    i talked to one of the guys at Le Cirque about the dress code a while back and he flat out said they have almost done away with it because just getting people in the door is the #1 priority. they used to require jackets and whatnot, but they just can't afford to do it anymore. i don't blame the restaurants for that, they had to adapt to stay alive.

    i think it's a shame, though, that the majority of society has lost the pride in their appearance. how many people do you see asking questions like "would i feel overdressed if i wear a suit and tie to XYZ restaurant?". it never happens. it's always "can i get away with jeans and a polo?" or "is shorts OK here?".

    i wasn't around to experience the day when people were proud to get dressed up in their finest attire to go out for dinner, but i wish i were.
     
  3. Jerseyguy

    Jerseyguy MIA

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    We go any place decent at all

    My wife gives me the full inspection including color co-ordination. I remember years ago going to Phillips Steak House in July She made me wear a sport coat,it was well over 100, people looked at me like I was from Pluto.
     
  4. LushLife

    LushLife Tourist

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    I agree shifter. I'm 25, so I wasn't able to live in that day unfortunately. I have always enjoyed dressing up and going out, which I do almost every night in Vegas. I watch the old Vegas documentaries of people dressed up for dinner and gambling, it was quite an affair back then. It sure would be nice to experience it!
     
  5. ken2v

    ken2v This Space For Rent

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    Guys, I'm not trying to turn this political. We just had one of those, which is probably the 125th snobs/slobs-a-thon. That wasn't my point.

    Answers to gray-area questions are not value-neutral. That's why I suggested calling. I mean, sure, anything pretty much does go in Vegas, and for every time we have a 99 percent experience rate, someone is gonna chime in that his was the 1-in-100 exception.

    There were a lot of things about "Old" Vegas that many think is cool. That wonderful Old Vegas also had blacks staying on the other side of town.
     
  6. ajraustex

    ajraustex Tourist

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    Agreement all around, but it does say something when someone has to ask what is "proper or standard" attire. Short of the extremes mentioned, using good judgement should always be one's guide. I can already "hear" the moans of "But you would not believe what people think is good judgement!" LOL

    I live in Austin, known for it's casual, kickback lifestyle and self proclaimed motto of keeping Austin Weird. But for the most part (ah, the exceptions!) the public understands what is a t-shirt and shorts vs. a sport jacket vs. a tux venue. Then again, you need the exceptions to give you conversation opportunities! LOL

    When in Vegas, feel it's my chance to dress the character I am in the mood to be but at least keep it venue appropriate. Sometimes that means a leather sports coat and a 'cocktail', other times it's shorts, a t-shirt and a beer! LOL That's what is so much fun about Vegas.
     
  7. CruzingQuinn

    CruzingQuinn Low-Roller

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    I just turned 25 last month and I can honestly say I do wish more people my age would actually dress up. I love to dress up normally as my job does require me to dress up at times, but I also enjoy doing it in Vegas as well.

    That's why my suitcase will always be overpacked I have my day wear (tanks, tees, shorts and flip flops) but also take my night wear too (suits, dress shirts, ties, and nice shoes) when I know at the night time it's nice to dress up, at least to me. Note that it also doesn't hurt when people take a notice of you walking in the casino at night, it makes you feel quite nice to know that people can make that double-take and say wow! look at that guy! :wave:
     
  8. JillyFromPhilly

    JillyFromPhilly Tourist

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    I often wear a sports coat & my wife a dress to dinner at some restaurants [last trip: Sage, Andre's] even though we know we don't have to anymore and have come to expect that "anything goes" will be the reality of the situation - but I still lament that most places have that attitude & don't enforce a minimum dress code anymore, even if we don't really allow ourselves to be bothered by it anymore. I mean, my wife & I aren't usually very social to begin with when in Vegas - we're in our little bubble & our eyes our on each other & not the rest of the room anyway for the most part [though sometimes people-watching can be fun too - in which case, the more "inappropriately" they're dressed, the better!].

    Rude, loud and immature behavior in a nice restaurant are far worse to me than casual or "inappropriate" dress.
     
  9. carlyzmom

    carlyzmom Tourist

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    It only went off the rails because some people were so rude! :rolleyes2: This is a forum where you ask questions and gather information. How else can you learn if you don't ask?
     
  10. chef

    chef Resident Buffetologist

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    Perhaps the earlier "rude" thread was life imitating art or vice versa, though, I never quite understood what that phrases completely means.
    Maybe if the topic would have been discussed in the era of old Vegas, where people did get dressed up, there wouldn't be the rudeness. Perhaps, there's a correlation between the rudeness factor of today's society and how poorly we dress relative to the Frank and Dino era.
     
  11. queuetee

    queuetee VIP Whale

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    Would there be a correlation between the racist factor of Frank and Dino's era ( was Sammy still having to stay downtown?) and how well they dressed?
     
  12. sammasseur

    sammasseur VIP Whale

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    It's easy to call people rude when their opinions differ from yours, especially if you were looking for them to just agree with the decision you already made in advance. People tend to have strong thoughts on certain subjects, and if they share the how's and why's of feeling that way, that's their right.
     
  13. thecarve

    thecarve Misanthrope

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    This is just for discussion – I have no ulterior motives in asking:

    Why is it, do you think, that we blame the "underdressed" diner and not the restaurant? Certainly, we can agree that if a restaurant consistently lets in people wearing, say jeans and an un-tucked shirt, then that is the de facto dress code of the restaurant.

    Again, I’m not trying to argue one way or another. I’m just curious.
     
  14. sammasseur

    sammasseur VIP Whale

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    There appear to be two distinct elements within this subject - the enforcement of dress codes and the precipitous drop in society's standards of appearance.
     
  15. ken2v

    ken2v This Space For Rent

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    It went off the rails because it is, obviously, a volatile subject and it is the internet. The dress up crowd might weigh in with the sharpest tongues, but the jeans crowd isn't without fault of its own. Dress IS an important part of the go-out experience for many people, other patrons (and the establishment) included; Picasso looks like Picasso instead of Dick's Last Resort for a reason. It's not on the radar screen for others.

    That's why I started this thread. I mean, hey, I blather online a lot, often to head-scratching ends, but sometimes if one truly is trying to get at the answer, not the answer they want, it is best to go to the source. It is simply because "business casual" does not equal jeans and a tee. Except for my friends here who say that's just fine.
     
  16. HoyaHeel

    HoyaHeel Grammar Police & Admin

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    I have written on comment cards about dress codes - IF a restaurant is going to list a dress code, I do expect it to be upheld.

    This is a popular (and often locked) topic on the cruise message boards I frequent as well. And I always comment on my post- cruise surveys on this topic...(I cruise lines that do have formal nights and I expect to see people appropriately attired in main dining rooms....)

    And I agree there are distinctions:
    1) Business casual does not mean jeans
    2) In Vegas, you'll get into the restaurant anyway:rolleyes2:
     
  17. ken2v

    ken2v This Space For Rent

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    That is interesting. I guess we could expect a restaurant to police its own guidelines. Then again, service providers are in the business of providing service, and if a digression isn't totally over the top ... And then what happens when jeans/untucked becomes a de facto rule rather than an exception, do wife-beaters and Himalayan expedition-sized cargo shorts then become acceptable?

    Or maybe it is the responsibility of the adult partaking of the service. As I was intimating in an earlier post, there's a difference between a legitimate inquiry into what constitutes, say, business casual, and being willing to accept it, and someone hell-bent on wearing something that does not meet the definition of business casual, and only inquiring to get the answer he/she wants; an answer likely not from the one setting the rules. Rationalizations abound for this pattern in Vegas, Vegas being Vegas and all. But business casual as a concept, like black tie, pool attire, whatever, isn't exactly hard to figure out.

    Me? I like places that say: Denim/no denim, coat/no coat, etc. Actually, I'm about the most casually dressed person in existence (though I'm not a fan of denim), yet even I can figure stuff out.

    Where this whole thing explodes, as always, is when nasty value-laden phrases like "white trash" and "country-club elitist" start entering threads.
     
  18. djegators

    djegators Low-Roller

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    Its simple market forces. The demand moves the supply. In other words, the businesses need customers, and the overwhelming majority o customers do not want to be concerned with dress codes, and those who do care, still go to the restaurants anyways. If the restaurants thought it would enhance their guest counts and sales, they would enforce dress codes; or if they were so busy it didn't matter who you turned away, because three more were waiting to take their table, they would enforce it. But the reality is, it is very tough business, esp in this economy, and they need every customer.
     
  19. hammie

    hammie VIP Whale

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    I think growing up there was a certain standard of dress that was understood, we all knew what to wear weather it was attending church, going to a restaurant, going to a wedding or funeral, working in an office. Today, we don't like being told what to wear and instead of holding to some standard, too many folks look at others and sometimes sink to their level. Yet we seem to get these questions, what should we wear?

    My wife works in an office, takes her clothing to be dry cleaned, and irons her outfit each day. Many of her co workers, these are mature women who should know better, roll out of bed and are part of the knit and polyester crowd and don't give a tinkers damn about what they look like.

    I have been going to a restaurant "The Pub" in South Jersey since I was a kid, back in the 1970's, men were required to wear jackets in the dining room. This place has 8 charcoal hearths and an enormous copper hood against the wall and was one of those places that prominently advertised their drinks as being "1-1/2" as in a real jigger of booze.

    We went there on Mothers day weekend and it was a freak show with men in T Shirts, shorts, sweat pants, sneakers, team jerseys, women bursting out of their tops and stretch pants from Kmart. Going to this place used to be such an occasion, and the food has not really changed much in 40 years. But, now because of slobs who go there, my experience is lessened, yet I still have my memories.

    Oh, and by the way, sneakers are for basketball.
     
  20. ken2v

    ken2v This Space For Rent

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    Funeral mass on Sunday. The parish clearly posts expected attire. My guess is the big guy doesn't really care what someone wears, as long as he/she is suitably penitent. However, the parish felt it necessary to remind adults not to look like they just came in from hosing out the port-a-let. One guy rolls in with an ill-fitting tee and denim shorts, regardless the admonitions. The guy in the box didn't care. But is it so hard not to look like a pig when paying last respects, particularly since the guy in the box shaved and dressed daily, even to his end?

    If I, of all people, can riff through the closet and find suit, coat, tie, slack both wool and cotton, fitted shirt, footwear ... on down to Ashworth (no-pleat, not cargo, since I am zaftig) shorts and polo or aloha and through to tee and slippa, it really can't be THAT hard to dress to the circumstance.
     
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