People Are Dressing Like Slobs: Elizabeth Vincentelli

[Patti LuPone FANatic]

Posted: 8/1/16 at 7:02am

https://nypost.com/2015/07/28/people-are-dressing-like-slobs-so-its-time-to-bring-back-dress-codes/?utm_campaign=SocialFlow&utm_source=NYPFacebook&utm_medium=SocialFlow&sr_share=facebook

I agree with her, up to a certain point.  I personally wouldn't go to the theatre in shorts or flip-flops. I simply couldn't do that.  It's not me. I usually wear denim jeans (normally blue) or khaki pants.  For shoes, I sometimes wear brand new white tennis shoes (for comfort).  There's usually a lot of walking involved, so wearing tennis shoes is often a sensible choice.  For special shows (for me, "Chicago", I color coordinate and wear: the show's t shirt, along with black jeans and black shoes.  I guess I try to use common sense.  Also, I'm thinking that theatre owners don't usually care about what an audience member wears.  A particular show cares about whether people show up at all.  

[Plannietink08]

Posted: 8/1/16 at 7:27am

I always dress up for the theatre. My avatar is of me and my fiancé before going to see, an awful production of, Pirates of Penzance. I'm a performer so going to the theatre isn't the big event that it used to be. However my fiancé rarely went before we got together so it's still exciting for him to get dressed up in classy attire and have a few pre-show drinks. Bless him. 

I lived in Australia for a year and when I first arrived I got last minute tickets for Wicked in Sydney and thought I'd have time to change. I didn't so I had to go in wearing flip-flops, shorts and a t-shirt. I sat as far back in my seat as possible so no one could see me. However, my Scottish skin was still burning inside the theatre! 

[mar6411]

Posted: 8/1/16 at 7:28am

If you look further down the page, PThespian linked the same article two days ago to start a thread.  And later in the thread, Mister Matt linked the thread from last year linking the same article when the article was actually published.  Just giving you a head's up.

[CarlosAlberto]

Posted: 8/1/16 at 7:37am

I don't concern myself with what other people choose to wear and I expect, or hope that people would not concern themselves with my choices either. 

Live and let live is my motto. 

[mailhandler777]

Posted: 8/1/16 at 7:40am

Like I said on the other thread. I don't give a crap what people wear as long as they are well behaved, bathed and not drenched in perfume or cologne.  

[AC126748]

Posted: 8/1/16 at 8:24am

I tend to dress nicely, but I really don't care what the person sitting next to me is wearing. I care more about how one behaves while at the theater than what one wears. (Although I do agree with mailhandler about cologne/perfume, and you can add jangly jewelry to that list). 

Also considering how unbearably hot it has been this summer, I can't fault anyone who feels the need to wear shorts or sandals in an attempt not to overheat.

[After Eight]

Posted: 8/1/16 at 8:38am

Well, since people dress like slobs everywhere, why should we expect the theatre to be exempted? This is what happens in a world where all concepts of propriety, decency and social norms have been trashed. Congratulations to the counter culture for its success in that regard.

The truth is, though, I think we should be more worried --- and horrified --- by what we see on stage than by the audience's raiment.

Updated On: 8/1/16 at 08:38 AM

[ColorTheHours048]

Posted: 8/1/16 at 8:44am

After Eight: relevant and in-touch with reality, as always.

[pupscotch]

Posted: 8/1/16 at 8:47am

I'd rather people dress like slobs and turn off their phones, rather than have everyone dress to the nines with their phones off. The theater dress is not what the main issue is, it's the behavior inside the theater, specifically the phone use.

[wonderfulwizard11]

Posted: 8/1/16 at 8:51am

I don't understand why anyone would spend their money to go to the theatre and care about what someone next to them is wearing in the dark. 

[Petralicious]

Posted: 8/1/16 at 8:57am

It is lack of respect to the performers and fellow auidence to dress like you are in living room to theater and on airplanes, restaurant etc. You really do not see this at all in Europe, if you do, it is usually tourist. The last thing I want or need to see is a mans gross toes or hairy armpits. Yuck

[After Eight]

Posted: 8/1/16 at 9:01am

"It is lack of respect to the performers and fellow audience"

 

The concept of respect for others is as dead as a doornail.

[neonlightsxo]

Posted: 8/1/16 at 9:02am

This article is from last year, look at the date stamp.

[wonderfulwizard11]

Posted: 8/1/16 at 9:03am

Unless you are in the first few rows, performers can't see you. And if, as an audience member, you feel disrespected by someone wearing shorts next to you in a dark theatre, then I think the problem is with you, not that person. 

[smidge]

Posted: 8/1/16 at 9:03am

mar6411 said: "If you look further down the page, PThespian linked the same article two days ago to start a thread.  And later in the thread, Mister Matt linked the thread from last year linking the same article when the article was actually published.  Just giving you a head's up.

Yes, why are we discussing a year old article?

"

 

[LuminousBeing]

Posted: 8/1/16 at 9:20am

I once wore a sequined shirt to the theater (to dress up) and wound up with a front-row seat. Throughout the play's first somber scene, I kept wondering why the director would want tiny sparkles of light to flit erratically over the rear wall of the stage and characters' faces. Luckily, I realized my faux pas fairly quickly and donned&zipped up my jacket at the first applause break.

So aside from jangly jewelry, perfume, and overly revealing clothes, we can add sparkly garments to the list of what not to wear to the theater. Other than that, keep your phone off and refrain from speaking, singing along, leaving and returning multiple times, starting fistfights, eating, rustling chip or candy bags, and shaking ice in those godforsaken cheap souvenir cups, and you may wear whatever you please.

That said, when I saw the "Mary Poppins" tour in Boston, I got lost on the way from the T to the theater, and as I looked around for someone to ask directions, I spotted a gentleman (late 30sish) and two little girls: the girls were in party dresses and the gentleman was in a suit. I instinctively knew this little family was going to the theater. Turns out, we had both gotten out at a premature stop and were about 1.5 miles away. The family let me walk with them all the way there (I'm a female and at the time was in my 20s. I'm also tiny and unthreatening-looking, so that likely helped). I was wearing a simple but elegant black dress and gold chain. When we arrived at theater, having chatted about all the shows the family had seen and the girls' opinions on them, I asked the father how he knew I was safe to walk with for such a distance with his daughters. The gentleman said, "Anyone in this day and age who dresses up for the theater like you did has to be all right in my book." So there is that, as well.

[Petralicious]

Posted: 8/1/16 at 9:21am

After Eight said: ""It is lack of respect to the performers and fellow audience"

 

The concept of respect for others is as dead as a doornail.

 

"Seems that way, not only with this but how people treat each other and talk to each other on daily basis.  I see it everyday on subway, at McDonalds, Theater, At least in New York City. Such a lack of grace and common courtesy.

 

[After Eight]

Posted: 8/1/16 at 10:21am

"Such a lack of grace and common courtesy."

Grace?

Courtesy?

Obsolete notions.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 8/1/16 at 10:23am

Careful you don't choke yourself from gripping those pearls so tightly, dear.

[artscallion]

Posted: 8/1/16 at 10:32am

I respect the performers immensely. At the same time, I wear what I wear. What I wear has nothing to do with the way I feel about anyone, in the same way that wearing a suit doesn't make you a better worker than wearing jeans and a mohawk. These things are all relics of the past. People are slowly beginning to understand that these superficial things don't amount to a hill of beans.

When I travel to NYC to see a show, I'm taking a 4 hour train ride, walking around in the heat to lunch and then dinner after, then back on the train for 4 hours. If it's hot out, I'm wearing shorts and sneakers. It has nothing to do with how I feel about the performers or the people around me.

[smidge]

Posted: 8/1/16 at 10:54am

https://forum.broadwayworld.com/readmessage.php?thread=1085523#4701000

[Patti LuPone FANatic]

Posted: 8/1/16 at 10:56am

I thought that article seemed familiar.  Oh well.  I only looked at the month and day, but not the year. 

Updated On: 8/1/16 at 10:56 AM

[CarlosAlberto]

Posted: 8/1/16 at 10:57am

I've worn  shorts and comfortable sandals to the theater on matinee performances in the summer time. I have pretty feet and killer legs. I can carry it off. 

[Kad]

Posted: 8/1/16 at 11:11am

For all the insistence that this is disrespectful to the performers, it's amazing that the only people complaining are exclusively other audience members.

[broadwayguy91]

Posted: 8/1/16 at 11:12am

CarlosAlberto said: "I've worn  shorts and comfortable sandals to the theater on matinee performances in the summer time. I have pretty feet and killer legs. I can carry it off. 

 

"

I'd like to see receipts of those killer legs...