And who better than Congress to change it?
Posted on 03/28/2026 6:42:05 AM PDT by DoodleBob
Several years ago, I joined some friends on a trip to Mackinac Island, a place famous for its Victorian culture and ban on automobiles.
After bicycling around the island, we decided to splurge and have tea at The Grand Hotel, which is as polished as its name sounds. Before trooping in for tea, however, we stopped in a nearby restroom to exchange our sports clothes for something a little classier, for the hotel requires its patrons to dress up before entering its domain. Such a change was a bit of a bother, but in the long run, it made me value my experience far more. Because my outward appearance was more polished, my inward self could relax and savor both the food and my surroundings.
The good ol’ Grand Hotel isn’t alone in its dress standards anymore. Ruth’s Chris Steak House recently announced a new dress code for its patrons, posting the following on its website:
BUSINESS CASUAL – PROPER ATTIRE REQUIRED PLEASE.
Kindly remove all hats when entering the restaurant. Guests wearing ball caps are asked to dine in the bar/lounge.
The following attire is not permitted in our dining rooms:
Gym wear, pool attire, tank tops, clothing with offensive graphics or language, revealing clothing or exposed undergarments.
The famous steakhouse was mocked for these (rather minimal) standards by fellow restaurant chain Chili’s, which claimed that you only have to be dressed in order to enter their restaurant.
It’s an admittedly touché response … but does it really win Chili’s any points in the long run? Put differently, if money were no object, would we rather go to the trouble of dressing up to sit and enjoy the upscale Ruth’s Chris than go to Chili’s just so we can bum around in our shorts and t-shirts? Most would choose the former without question.
Some might consider this snobbery. The dress controversy between Chili’s and Ruth’s Chris, however, is really a microcosm of the larger culture war which has raged over of how we present ourselves to the world for years.
The viewpoint of Chili’s is the one toward which our society has been slouching for many years. “Come as you are,” they say, “we won’t judge!” Thus, what once was considered acceptable dinner attire – a nice dress for women and a sport coat for men – gradually morphed into jeans and a blouse, then booty shorts, crop tops, or sweatshirts and pajama pants.
Americans cling to such clothes, loving the comfort that they bring above all else. Yet at the same time, we also complain about how difficult it is to get ahead in the world and how hard it is to get others to respect us. What if the two are related? Might we see more success in our relationships, jobs, and other aspects of life if we didn’t cling so obstinately to the Chili’s dress code of “anything goes”?
Famed Hollywood costumer Edith Head would have said yes. In her book, “How to Dress for Success,” Head wrote, “No matter in which direction your strivings for success are pointed, what you wear and how you look can make the difference between moving steadily toward your goal or just rocking back and forth in the same spot.” In other words, if you want monotony and stagnation, keep choosing those casual, comfortable clothes when you go shopping, dine at restaurants, attend church, or even go to the office.
But those who want to move forward in life should consider a different tactic. Although it sounds a bit crass, Head encourages us to think of ourselves “as a product” that needs selling. And in order to sell that product, one must seriously consider how to improve it.
“The difference between ‘packaging’ you and a static product like a can of beans is considerable,” Head goes on to explain. “The beans are going only one place. You are going many places, and the way you look in each special situation, at different times of the day and on varied locations calls for a variety of looks, a number of moods and a diversified wardrobe.”
If we can control nothing else, we can always decide how we dress, Head says. “When you know what you want out of life—the areas of success you desire—then it is easy to dress ‘in character’ to create the most exciting, pleasing, attractive appearance for your audience.”
Yet so many of us do the exact opposite. What, after all, do our sweats, ripped jeans, and skimpy shorts and shirts say about us? Do they signal that we are a “product” that is clean, neat, alert, responsible, and quality material worthy of advancement … or do they signal that we are dumpy slobs, more interested in lazing through life and getting by with minimal effort?
It’s completely our own choice as to which of these options we’ll follow … but just remember, that choice may be the difference between a Ruth’s Chris or a Chili’s life.
The Boston Blackie kind.
You and I view this kind of thing differently, and that is fine.
I view people who dress slovenly as slobs, and if I am hiring, I surely will not hire them.
Appearances count. If someone dresses like a slob, they are likely to be deficient in other areas of their life, most notably organization and work ethic.
You don’t think it matters. I do. We can disagree on that.
Wow, I don't know how that sentence can make sense to even you. That's as nonsensical as saying that since Stalin nourished himself by eating potatoes, no one should eat potatoes.
Once you deal with people who wear suits all the time, you learn the first warning sign of distrust is the suit.
It sounds like someone in a suit hurt you. Could you point to the place on the doll where the bad man in the suit hurt you?
How someone dresses, someone you can't even see, and why it would annoy you points to something - and it's about clothing.
You have spammed over 30 posts on this thread attempting to make the irrational case that dressing up and wearing a suit is bad. That's quite a time commitment to attack something, and especially to waste that time doing it so illogically. It's clear that you have some psychological trauma associated with people in suits, so go ahead and be a slob. Just don't use a fallacious argument like guilt by association on a public forum to say that suits or the people who wear them are bad because some bad people wore suits, and expect not to be criticized for it. Your logic is likely even worse that your slovenly wardrobe.
It’s not a suit without a tie. And I don’t want a sport jacket either. Or a button. Sheesh yourself.
Oh look name calling. Exactly my point. Anybody that cares how other people dress is somebody the world would be better off without.
I don’t mind opposing opinions. But if you need to throw insults into your opposing opinion you’re really just telling us you know your opinion sucks.
Even to me? As if I'm at some lesser capacity of thinking? Ha ha. What does that say about you if you're getting tripped up by someone like me?
That's as nonsensical as saying that since Stalin nourished himself by eating potatoes, no one should eat potatoes.
No, it's like saying Americans used to salute the flag with a stiff arm gesture but we don't anymore because the Nazis coopted the salute. It's like saying we don't celebrate rainbows anymore because LGBTQWERTY Communists coopted the rainbow. It's like saying we don't print the swastika anymore despite it being from ancient cultures and religions, including native Americans because the Nazis adopted it.
When bad people wear a costume in order to add legitimacy to their actions, maybe it's time to stop wearing the same costume.
It sounds like someone in a suit hurt you. Could you point to the place on the doll where the bad man in the suit hurt you?
It's very funny that you post that because you're the one all butt-hurt. Show us on the doll where the on-line poster hurt you.
And who better than Congress to change it?
Nope. Almost 57. Just don’t feel the need to dress uncomfortably. Anybody that needs me to be uncomfortable so they’re impressed isn’t somebody I want to impress. Any place I have to dress up isn’t nice. A “nice” place to go has to be comfortable. If ain’t comfortable I don’t want to be there.
Oh look, and then an insult. Funny how all you guys have to throw insults. Notice the t-shirt crowd feels no need to insult the suit crowd. More proof that suits suck, it clearly makes people shallow and insulting.
The whole concept of suit is uncomfortable. I don’t want layers at my waste. That’s just too much. I don’t want a jacket in 85 degree weather. I don’t want hard soled shoes. I don’t want a tie. None of that can EVER be comfortable. Not for me at least. YMMV. If you dig it, good for you.
Still do. It’s now like a tourist thing to deliberately wear an ugly tie so they’ll cut it off. One must be careful though, don’t bring the person who gave you that ugly tie, they might not know.
And my point is that falling for that deception has led us down a path where it's used to manipulate others, instead of teaching our sons and daughters to respect people for who they are instead of by the costumes they wear, especially when you know they're only wearing the costume to help deceive others.
I had been going to a church with casual dress attire for about a year. The pastor wore jeans and polo shirts.
When I started looking for a new church, one of the requirements was that the pastor should dress appropriately. It’s a sign of respect.
I found a new church. The pastor wears a suit and tie every Sunday. I do too. About half of the congregation dresses casually and the other half more formally.
It's a fallacy of the Either/Or Reasoning that either one "dresses up" or one is dressed "slovenly". There's a whole spectrum in between.
I think what people in suits/professional clothing convey is a sense of trust, whether justified or not. So dressing as if you are trustable can be valuable...even in a restaurant.
We are on an expensive cruise,and most of the people look like pigs, even on the dressy nights...Slobs.
All that printed stuff does not compute for me. I am very close to a million miles on Delta. I do like to have my sport coat with me on the plane, so I have been known to wear a sport coat over my Tshirt on flights. My preferred clothing on flights is a simple Tshirt and jeans. I always fly the day before my meetings, so I can be very casual. I abhor a full suit while flying.
I’ve also pulled into hotel restrooms on the way to the airport after meetings to get out of my suit and put on shorts and Tshirt in the summer.
That’s good proper formal rules. My kinda culture. I miss smoking sections. The people there were more relaxed.
I wholly disagree. Everyone likes to cite the case of a genius like LCDR Joseph Rochefort who was an abject slob but a brilliant mind in cryptanalysis as being the rule and not the exception.
He was the exception.
And while there is an entire spectrum as you assert, it is not a linear one, and it is not populated in a linear fashion. There is no either/or fallacy there.
They sell suit SEPARATES now. 46 tall jacket...32 pants.
Yes, and since we're conditioned to trust someone wearing a suit, deeming them to be more worthy, the likes of Dr. Walensky, Anthony Fauxi, Merrick Garland, Eric Holder, Alejandro Mayorkas, Rachel Levine, Albert Bourla, Susan Wojcicki, Andrew Cuomo, Hillary Clinton, Kamala Harris, Klaus Schwab, Zohran Mamdani, Adam Schiff, Joe Scarborough, Jimmy Kimmel, and Rachel Maddow among others all make sure to put one one in order to add a cover of legitimacy to their actions.
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