some people will never get it

[rm]

Although, in this thread a lot do.

http://community.livejournal.com/newyorkers/2038821.html

Dressing up (and for that matter, just plain dressing civilly) is by default neither expensive nor uncomfortable. Grow up people!

ETA: You know how I sort of think I've lost my edge since becoming gluten-free and not being celiac cranky all the time? Hahahahaah. Clearly, the Snape-ish nastiness is still in full effect. This stuff makes me CRAZY.

Comments

[redstapler.livejournal.com]

I restrained myself from saying, "Look, I've shopped at Wal-Mart. They have nice stuff for just as cheap as the rest of it. Don't talk to me about making theatre more accessible."

I had a feeling a statement like that would go over like a lead balloon.

[fleur.livejournal.com]

The only comment I thought was odd was the person who got mad when us filthy tourists bring (omg) shopping bags into a show. I'd rather have someone do that than try to get in late because they were busting their ass to drop their stuff off at their hotel and still make it in time.

[marzipan-pig.livejournal.com]

I actually thought this response was funny in a toungue-in-cheek way:

"why should i pay for the incomplete issues you have with your parents?"

I live in an overall casual-dress city and I don't care personally, so for me it really is my (Euro) mom in my head flipping out. I understand that it's a much bigger deal for some people though, and as a (former) Protestant the thing about Catholics (in general) dressing more casually for church can push buttons I didn't know I still had.

[schpahky.livejournal.com]

I so rarely end up at the theater anymore I am shocked by the jeans and t shirts and stuff. It's as if I've wandered out of a cave. Amy and I went to tons of shows in high school on cheapie tickets and always dressed up - it was a big deal!

It makes me sad, I think because I wonder if people are taking the experience for granted.

I also own the Peggy Post etiquette book that's three inches thick, but I still want to believe I am speaking for the masses.

[schmidtybooger.livejournal.com]

Oh great, now I'm going on about grammar and how it's a show of respect to speak properly. This will not end well.

[ladyofthelog.livejournal.com]

Oh man. Bad manners = invocation of Erinly ire. That's all I have to say about THAT.

[redstapler.livejournal.com]

I think you'll especially enjoy this comment.

HAHAHAHA. No.

[telesilla.livejournal.com]

I don't know if it's my age, the fact that my parents both believed in dressing up for special occasions like dinner in a nice restaurant, the fact that I spent my teen aged years overseas, or a combo of all three, but living in California, I constantly feel overdressed whenever I go some place nice. And it's insane because dressing up for me usually means slightly gothy boho chic, but the very fact that I have a skirt on usually puts me way ahead of the rest of the people in a given restaurant.

For me putting on something nice is part of the whole experience. It's not always about the money spent on the meal or the tickets; I've put an effort into getting dressed to go to dinner at fairly inexpensive places because it was a birthday meal and if that was all we could afford that year, then damnit, at least I was going to look good. I think the reason I do it is the ritual aspect of it; setting aside my normal jeans and tee shirt existence gives an event a weight and a significance that it wouldn't otherwise have.

Also, do these people know what they're missing? It's fun to dress up!

[1lady-so-divine.livejournal.com]

I agree:p

[roadnotes.livejournal.com]

This is one of those things where Soren and I have slight disagreements: he's a "clean, neat, acceptable" sort, and I'm a "let's make it an Event" sort.

We were watching WattStax, a movie about the 1972 Watts Summer Festival at the Los Angeles Coliseum, and apart from all my other emotional responses (which I should write about, because they all have to do with race, class, wealth, and the interfaces), I was noticing how many people dressed up for the concert, some fancier than the people on stage -- because that's what you do to mark an event: you dress, you style.

[violetisblue.livejournal.com]

I see the same thing in court all the time--flip-flops, raggedy old shorts, baseball caps, scraggly unwashed uncombed hair, often distinct lack of underwear on the women. If you can't convince people to look halfway presentable when their property, money, right of residence or custody of their children may be at stake, there's no way they'll get the message in any other arena.

[sev1970.livejournal.com]

Before my trip to NYC and London in 2000, I would have agreed with you, but experience has changed my thouhts on this. When I go see a theatre production in Houston, I dress up, and I will always do so. It is fun, and it seems the appropriate thing to do. I don't think I've ever seen a person not dressed well at a Houston theatre production. Is this because people are more sophisticated in Houston? Not at all -- Houston is simply not a tourist destination, unlike NYC and London.

I was in NYC for four days in 2000, and while I dressed up, many others didn't. I remember looking at them distastefully, thinking they were being disrespectful. We had all dressed up, so why couldn't they? A month later I went to Europe for two weeks, and because I had limited space to pack, I didn't take any dresses; I decided to take slacks instead. I had talked to three of my friends from England who frequented the West End, one of whom had been in several shows there, and they assured me that people wore jeans as it was, so I should not worry about not wearing a dress.

Of course it still bothered me, but after touring all day, going to the theatre at night in my tourist clothes was my only option. I would have rather gone back to my hotel room and done the complete "getting all pretty" thing, but I had one week in London, and we chose to use every possible minute we had, to tour. I still felt uncomfortable at the theatre, especially when I did see people who were dressed so nicely, but it was what it was. Sometimes we must make difficult decisions, and this had been one.

I would rather see people dressed nicely, but now I am not so quick to judge. When there are so many tourists wearing jeans, it is understandable that the locals would, as well.

[00goddess.livejournal.com]

Actually, I was raised to dress up going to theatre, and I still do when I have the opportunity. (And I was a child actor, specifically in musical comedies until my teens, when I moved into experimental stuff.) But really, at this point, I am glad that people are just GOING. I don't care if they dress up. If they wear jeans and a clean, decent shirt, I'm cool with that.

Maybe living in NYC has isolated you from this, but in most places, theatre is an art form struggling to survive. I'm just glad people are going. And I don't think it's rude to NOT dress up. The world is more casual than it once was. If people go, enjoy the show, and are respectful, I am glad.