Dress codes

evemccc

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I once told ex footballer Alan Brazil that his knee length red socks were not appropriate attire for the clubhouse. I maintained a straight face long enough for him to think I was serious.

I remember at Royal St. Georges the steward overseeing our post round dinner, politely asking one of our number to put his jacket on to eat dinner. When our Millwall supporting (and if you conjure up a preconceived idea of what your typical Millwall fan might look like then you will be pretty much spot on) member (who had hung his jacket on the back of his chair) turned round to him and said something like "leave it aaht mate, its bleedin' bolin' in 'ere" the steward smiled politely, looked him square in the eyes and said "gentlemen wear their jackets at the dinner table sir" and helped him into his jacket.

Good old RSG, at least there’s somewhere that still keeps up standards
 

nickjdavis

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But of course you don't have to even change your clothes, if you eat on the patio or in the Snack Bar.

But that doesn't fit the narrative. 😉
I have no narrative to push re RSG or dress standards....was just recounting a tale....I quite like such standards if the environment they are applied within is appropriate.

I watched a friend of mine suffer the same "fate" at the Savoy Hotel one evening, whilst having a post theatre meal.
 

Orikoru

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I do find it funny how many clubs seem to have the same dress code still in place that was written 50 years ago or more, but don't really enforce it on a day to day basis. I find that to be the most common scenario. The code still says white socks, tuck shirts in etc but nobody working there will call you up on it because, quite rightly, they would feel like an utter knob in doing so I should think. But clubs are so loathe to change and breaking traditions that they won't update the dress code. It is written therefore it might as well be carved in stone.
 

Orikoru

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This is something I struggle to grasp. A visiting golfer obviously has no locker at the place. Are you supposed to walk from your car to the locker room carrying your golf shoes, change, then walk back to your car carrying your normal shoes so you can put them in the boot?
Then do it in reverse after the round?
Last time I visited this kind of club I sat inside my car changing my shoes.
I've always thought exactly the same thing. Who does it benefit for me to make an extra trip to the changing room and then all the way back out to my car to put my trainers back in the boot?? Utterly senseless rule and I'm baffled why it exists.
 

Captainron

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Jacket and Tie before and/or after a round is perfectly acceptable if required. Dressing appropriately on the course should be simple enough.

The onus is always on you to check what the requirements of playing and dining at any course are. If you don’t and get caught out then you are stupid.

I absolutely love a proper old school dress code though. A lot of these come at the better courses I have played.
 

Neilds

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Is The Ritz a sports club?
My (obviously too) subtle point was that different places offer the same service but are well within their rights to enforce a dress code - just as customers are within their rights not to go because of the dress code. However, if they choose to go they should abide by the dress code.

On this similar thread, I think that most people moaning about dress codes actually respect them - after all who wants golfers on their home course in Bermuda shorts, vests and flip flops treating the course like a Benidorm crazy golf? The main problem , I suspect, is how the code is ‘enforced’ by entitled jobsworths. At the Ritz, I bet the maitre’d has a selection of ties available for those who forget and will be very polite in declining entry to those in jeans. It is how you do things that count
 

KenL

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I was more than happy to wear jacket, shirt & tie when I had lunch at the R&A clubhouse (what a fab experience), but couldn't be bothered anywhere else.
 

Backsticks

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My (obviously too) subtle point was that different places offer the same service but are well within their rights to enforce a dress code - just as customers are within their rights not to go because of the dress code. However, if they choose to go they should abide by the dress code.

On this similar thread, I think that most people moaning about dress codes actually respect them - after all who wants golfers on their home course in Bermuda shorts, vests and flip flops treating the course like a Benidorm crazy golf? The main problem , I suspect, is how the code is ‘enforced’ by entitled jobsworths. At the Ritz, I bet the maitre’d has a selection of ties available for those who forget and will be very polite in declining entry to those in jeans. It is how you do things that count
There are two different element here.

If there is a dress code, I certainly think it should be observed. Agree that if there is a dress code, and you dont want to abide by it, then you shouldnt be there.

But the substantive issue is whether there should be dress codes. Certainly, clubs are free to make their rules as they wish. But the motivation - snobbery, keeping out the riff raff, disguising lower orders in a conforming dress so that their presence doesnt offend - does offend me. It is old world classist elitism and segregation. Packaged in chestnuts like 'we must have some standards', 'well, we have our traditions here', etc. And the 'if they dont wish to comply with our code they are free to play elsewhere' line is its ultimate triumph - we have kept out people who arent like us. That is the real goal of dress standards.

If someone wants to wear the vest and Bermudas, I would prefer a world where they do, rather than one that tells them what to wear. They dress themselves, I or my committee, does not.
 

RichA

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My (obviously too) subtle point was that different places offer the same service but are well within their rights to enforce a dress code - just as customers are within their rights not to go because of the dress code. However, if they choose to go they should abide by the dress code.

On this similar thread, I think that most people moaning about dress codes actually respect them - after all who wants golfers on their home course in Bermuda shorts, vests and flip flops treating the course like a Benidorm crazy golf? The main problem , I suspect, is how the code is ‘enforced’ by entitled jobsworths. At the Ritz, I bet the maitre’d has a selection of ties available for those who forget and will be very polite in declining entry to those in jeans. It is how you do things that count
It wasn't too subtle. Even a scruffy pleb like me understood it.
My own point was that I did not consider yours relevant when The Ritz is a high end hotel and restaurant that is in the businesses of being a high end hotel and restaurant. It is not a sports club.
I could make a similarly irrelevant point that my local carpet shop has no dress code so why should the golf club have one.
 
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