do you bother??

[patricks148]

Went out for dinner last night with the wife to a nice restaurant, not a cheap place quite smart and expensive.

maybe 20 other couples there, only one other apart from us who looked smart TBH and made any effort. i only had a shirt and jacket and the wife a dress, so not suit and tie, but there were guys with tee shirts and scruffy jeans and trainers wives not much better. even a few older couples who had made no effort either.

so if you go out with your Wife/Partner/ other half do you make an effort or would you just turn up like you were just nipping to the pub ?

 

[Maninblack4612]

Yes, I make an effort. My wife & I sometimes treat ourselves to lunch at a posh restaurant. I'd feel conspicuous & out of place if I didn't wear some smart trousers & a jacket. No tie though, only weat that at funerals since I retired.

 

[Bunkermagnet]

If I'm going out to a meal thats prebooked, then yes always smart casual.

 

[Imurg]

It absolutely depends on where it is.
When we're up at the in-laws we go to a restaurant/pub close by.
Sometimes I go smart/casual, sometimes in jeans.
There are many parallels with this subject and Golf dress codes...

 

[Lord Tyrion]

Definitions of what is smart may differ here. Jackets and ties are for funerals only for me so I never go out in either. It wouldn't matter what the restaurant was and if it was the type that insisted then I would not go there. Plenty of restaurants to choose from.

I'd wear casual trousers, most of mine are from Fat Face, and a casual shirt although one of my favourites, not a day to dayer. In effect, nothing formal. I would not do t-shirt and trainers though.

 

[Blue in Munich]

Depends. If I'm going direct to the meal I'll bother. However last weekend for our anniversary we spent the day wandering round London; the Aquarium, St. James's Park & the Cabinet War Rooms before going on for a nice steak. Not scruffy, but dressed with an eye on what we were doing over the day rather than just the meal.

 

[Dellboy]

Casual trousers and and a polo shirt, never have or never will dress up to have a meal.

 

[Jacko_G]

I'm a scruff period.

 

[Robster59]

I tend to dress smart casual if I'm going for a meal in the evening. I do it as much out of respect for my other half so it doesn't like she's dining with a scruff.

 

[Deleted member 18121]

I'm a scruff period.

You and me both....I don't do smart, I have very few clothes and they make do for all situations.

 

[ColchesterFC]

If it's a wedding or a funeral then I'll put on a shirt and tie. If it's not and I can't attend wearing jeans and a polo shirt then I'm not going.

 

[williamalex1]

We do lunch at least twice a week , always smart casual , never a tie but sometimes a dress jacket.

 

[Tashyboy]

Always try to dress smart. Gotta say that I am amazed by what others think is smart when they go out.
Went to a wedding / night time disco the other week. I wore shorts and a t shirt and was smart. Some of the grooms etc were bladdered beyond recognition. They had given up on looking smart about two minutes after they got to the bar for the first beers.

 

[Hobbit]

Smart trousers and a shirt is about as smart as I want to go. If it’s a formal event, e.g. a wedding, I’ll be suited and booted. But if it’s just the boss and I we won’t go to a restaurant that requires the same.

 

[huds1475]

Always try and present myself as best as possible, relative to the situation.

Most of the time this essentially equates to turd-polishing

 

[Crazyface]

I'm quite shocked at the response to this from some on here. You put on smart trousers and a clean (and expensive, lets not deny it) polo to play a sport and yet insist on jeans and a scuffy polo to go out for a meal? Really? We always dress up smart to go for a meal, it's part of it. You look good, you feel good and you have a good night out looking at your partner who is looking and smelling great. And this is what you should be doing.

 

[jim8flog]

Depends on where I am going

Restaurant - smart casual, trousers and a dress shirt but no tie or jacket

Pub or eatery style venue depends on when I am going and what I am wearing already maybe ditto above if I am going to change anyway.

Postmatch meal at the club if nothing specified I will normally at lest change to a dress shirt

 

[Slab]

Normally dress for the occasion first and foremost, location is secondary along with time of day

 

[IanM]

I dont care what other folk wear, but it's suprising how often the issue is an absence of personal hygene, rather than wardrobe choice!


I tend to follow Slab's rule above.... good manners costs nowt! (my Dad always said that "over dressing" is just as bad as "under dressing too!" )

 

[Jasonr]

Here you go: https://www.debretts.com/expertise/etiquette/dress-codes/

Please don't shoot the messenger.

I do honestly think that we are becoming increasingly sloppy in the way that we dress and are making less effort to look nice but all this is totally subjective and what I consider to be smart may not be what someone else considers smart so all this is just my humble opinion. I am also not the person to huff and tut if someone turns up in jeans rather than trousers. I also hail from a time when I turned 18 getting into a nightclub required smart trousers a formal collared Shirt and proper Shoes so I suppose I have been conditioned to think the way that I do or maybe I was just born a generation late and would have preferred my 20s in the 50's or 60's.

I go to a lot of black tie dos and I do quite like them as you have to make an effort and it makes all feel a bit more special. If you are going somewhere special and/or it has a dress code then I think it is respectful to dress accordingly, if it just to the local Harvester again dress accordingly.

Having said all this I am also happy slopping around at home in a scruffy t shirts, shorts and flip flops but I would only wear them at home / on the beach.