The New York Post, the paper of little to no record, just posted what could only be considered an open lament on the state of the way Americans are dressing. The author is super bummed that people wear cargo shorts and leggings and Crocs to things like Broadway shows and tennis clubs and argues that our country's slacking dress codes have resulted in the general slacking of behavioral mores. Yeah, sure, no one acts civilized anymore because they wear fucking Crocs. Because all those dudes in fedoras and suits that supported segregation were just so goddamn classy about it.
Here's the thing, I went to Pitti Uomo back when everyone was wearing suits and ties and pocket squares and really expensive leather dress shoes and they were all just as poorly behaved as that monster at The Phantom of the Opera that brought his own bag of Funyuns to eat during the first act. The notion that a dress code will somehow elevate everyone's behavior is fucking laughable. The only time I've been at a club that got shot up, it had a strict "no hats, no jerseys, no sneakers" policy. In my experience, the more conservatively people are dressed, THE WORSE they behave. I mean, have you been to a fucking wedding reception recently? Shit, Lawrence and I have worn jackets and wool trousers while simultaneously drunkenly stealing from Sbarro on multiple occasions
Look, dress codes are a bad idea. Not because it isn't fun to catch a musical or enjoy an expensive meal while everyone around you is dressed to the nines, but because dress codes have historically been a not so subtle bastion of classism, elitism and racism. The author of this piece actually sums up her argument by supporting the ALL WHITE dress codes enforced by certain tennis clubs. She makes the argument that she felt better dressed in the prescribed uniform, insinuating that the better you dress, the better you feel. I'm gonna have to disagree. I dress fucking incredibly all the time and am troublingly despondent for most of my days. I just hate snobbery. I hate the notion that you have to be dressed a certain way to properly enjoy a musical or make reservations at a particular restaurant. There's a reason dress codes have slowly disappeared—people just aren't interested in some asshole dictating the terms on which they can spend their own hard-earned money.
