We get invited to quite a few media things… Normally I don’t need to worry about what I wear. I have some smart stuff and some casual stuff. My “Beware of Squirrels, They’ll Steal Your Nuts” shirt was stolen, and that was the most “out there” thing I owned.
But now we’re invited to some or other launch and they’ve stipulated their dress code as “Elegant Casual, Jackets for Gents“.
This sort of thing makes me so angry I can not tell you…. and I know it’s really dumb that it irks me, but it does. I don’t wear jackets…. It’s just not me… but yet they want *me* to go… so I have to dress up like someone else in order to fit into their stupid fancy dress party.
The world is a fascinatingly diverse place; Why on gods green earth would you want people to hide that diversity by all dressing the same? Hell, I only ever go to these things because of the interesting people, now I’ll have to actually *talk* to them in order to find out whether or not they’re boring-jacket-wearers.
over and out.
ps. You just know that some stinking-rich couldn’t-give-a-fuck-billionaire is going to rock up in shorts and a t-shirt.
arbitraryuser 
Why not go for the (fashionable) jeans, a plain t-shirt and “sports jacket” vibe? You don’t have to dress up in a penguin suit. It does say Elegant CASUAL, not “Black Tie”.
Dressing up is not such a weird concept. I always thought school kids wearing uniforms was stupid, until someone explained to me that it is to remove financial standing of the family from the equation. Poor kids would come to school in crappy clothes and feel bad about themselves because the rich kids have new Nikes. That makes sense to me.
I had to go to a Burns Evening at Oxford, which obviously required that I don a tux. It seemed like a mission at the time, but that effort somehow translated into giving the occasion a greater sense of meaning/importance. Sometimes putting in the effort actually raises the occasion above where it would have been if you didn’t have to try at all.
Oh, and usually “casual elegant” or “elegant casual” is the same as “smart casual” or “golf club wear”. Long pants, collared shirt, decent shoes, and usually no tie or jacket is required.
Shorts, T-shirt and dinner jacket? Nothing like sticking to the letter of a dress code while subverting it…
“now I’ll have to actually *talk* to them in order to find out whether or not they’re boring-jacket-wearers”..
seems you think everybody that wears a jacket is boring?
are you not kinda doing the same thing you are protesting about by judging people by their clothing? 😛
I completely agree with Jono, dressing up just hides the real person.
I’m completely happy in my shorts and golf shirts. If someone wants me to dress up to conform with a group of people’s dress code I’d rather just not go.
I cannot see how a tux can be comfortable…
So I had a long think about this while watching Freshly Ground play that evening.
Firstly the venue was swanky and but trying oh so desperately to be original that the jacket requirement became rather ironic.
Secondly, we sat watching Freshly Ground while all the rich people (in jackets) hobnobbed on the other side of the venue, eating food and watching the band on plasma screens… I am not exaggerating when I say that the only three of us in the room with the band were myself and Lynnae and Kyla Rose’s boyfriend. I felt overdressed in my long sleeve black shirt and green cords.
Thirdly, I didn’t meet anyone interesting besides people I knew already, crew members and the band. We had a good ‘ol chat and passed the time. The food was good.
Oh, the other interesting people were all the trainee chefs preparing the food, we chatted about chef schools and weber gas braais being incredibly shite… So basically, besides the “help”, everyone else was boring, or appeared to be because I didn’t feel comfortable talking to them.
Perhaps I overreacted slightly when I called suit people boring… but my core statement that making people all dress the same decreases the opportunity for others to interact with them because nobody knows whether they’re the CEO of some large company or a funky photographer dude… they’re all dressed like CEOs. And, if they were funky, why didn’t they come watch the band?