Do you dress up to go out to restaurants? Gordon Ramsay is...

[KateDelRick]

.. bemoaning the standards of dress at his restaurants. He's complaining that people wear casual clothing, joggers, hoodies etc. I like to dress up to go out to dine, but what do others think?.

Well clearly they do because you see it quite often.

Not high calibre?! Restaurant Gordon Ramsay has 3 Michelin stars. Petrus has 1. They are two of the best fine dining restaurants in the world.
GR is the third most awarded Michelin starred chef in the world.
I wonder what is 'high calibre' in your world.

I like to dress up for a special meal. It does feel odd if the person at the next table is wearing jeans and a hoodie. I once experienced this at a Michelin star restaurant in a hotel. I assumed those in hoodies and jeans at the table beside me were wealthy hotel guests where the restaurant was more ‘normal’ for them, while for me it was a special event.

I do. They can look really good and they can look smart too.

You are totally kidding yourself, joggers NEVER look smart enough for a restaurant, stick whatever tacky designer label you want on it, it's athleisure wear and has no place in a restaurant, I'm not even going to say upmarket restaurant, any restaurant outside of fast food isn't a place for joggers.

Oh this sort of thing has been discussed on Mn alot. And usually people pile on and say how dare people judge for wearing PJs on the school run. It's apparently despicable. But I will stick my neck out and say that an adult wearing pyjamas on a school run is revolting. We have a parent who wears his boxers and a really filthy grey (it might not have been grey originally) mid-thigh dressing gown on the school run and has bare feet. Sorry, it's disgusting. And the poor DD is always embarrassed and now she is slightly older she rushes ahead of him.

As for the OP's question- I do 'dress up for going out, I usually will not wear jeans unless they are navy blue and more like trousers. At the pub I might wear jeans though. I think there should be a 'public face' where you are clean, don't smell and don't wear sloppy clothes.

For me it's respect, ok so you're so flushed with cash Gordon Ramsey is small change, but it's a business he's invested time and money in, it's clearly a more upmarket place even if it's lesser than other places you go to, show respect to the owners, the staff, and the other customers.

Imagine you had always dreamed of going to a certain restaurant, it was out of your budget, you saved for it, you spend hours getting ready, then you sit next to a table of people wearing joggers and hoodies.... dress code is all part of the atmosphere for restaurants like that.

He sounds disgusting. His poor child.
The obvious thing with people 'dressing' like this is it screams unwashed! He clearly hasn't jumped in the shower and redressed himself like that....I wouldn't stand within 10 feet of the man.
Edited as posted too soon!

I always dress for dinner. Full black tie. The servants expect nothing less.

Not.

I do tend to dress up a bit for a nice dinner, especially in a nice place or for an occasion - date, birthday celebration, something like that. But I have also been out to restaurants at the end of a day out, unplanned, and then it might be jeans or walking trousers or shorts. If I were muddy or really sweaty, I probably wouldn't feel comfortable going into a place with white linen napery, whereas I might consider going into McDonald's in my gardening stuff (though I probably wouldn't actually leave the house in my gardening stuff.) I don't get many occasions to dress up for these days.

I don't usually have any idea what other people in a restaurant are eating though. In any case, as long as they can afford to eat there and are dressed enough that chest and groin are covered, does it matter? Are my legs more respectable in a skirt than in shorts?

It wouldn't bother me in the slightest TBH. Atmosphere is more about behaviour than dress.

Depends on the occasion and type of restaurant. I wouldn’t dress up to eat at a pub restaurant or somewhere like Pizza Express, Nando’s, Wagamama’s etc. I sometimes go out to eat straight from work if, for example, we’re going for a team meal - my work attire is casual so leggings/ jeans and a hoody and I wouldn’t always get changed. That said, if going for an evening meal to a slightly upmarket restaurant I would probably try and dress up a bit, but to be honest my ‘dressed up’ would probably still be quite casual to a lot of people as I don’t tend to ever wear make-up or anything like that.

I think if we were spending ££££ to eat at a well-known fancy restaurant with a celebrity chef, then I would take rather more effort than I would if we were going to the local Nando's.

It wouldn't bother me in the slightest TBH. Atmosphere is more about behaviour than dress.

And it's well documented how dress can impact behaviour.

I really enjoy eating out and I also enjoy dressing for the occasion, but my level of "dressing up" is very, very short of glam. I don't own leggings or hoodies because they aren't my style, but my" "dressing up" clothes are maybe just a notch above the best of these in wonderful cotton day dresses and flat shoes.

Putting on a dress or suit doesn’t make you more entitled to eat in an expensive restaurant - your money is as good as anyone’s regardless of what you wear.

I think he was referring to Restaurant Gordon ramsay in Royal Hospital Road, so three Michelin starred rather than Bread Street Kitchen for example. I've been there and it is not a place for hoodies.

Have you been to Petrus or Restaurant Gordon Ramsay? RGR is 3 Michelin stars, Petrus is 1. If they aren’t ‘high calibre’ I’d be interested to know what you think is.

I was once at a dinner dance type thing. It wasn't a ball but it was a men wear jackets, women mostly in nice dresses. Think what you would wear for a wedding except without the hats.

One small group turned up in pastel coloured jogging suits and trainers. The stood out quite a bit.

As a child of the 70s going out to eat involved having my hair put up and wearing a long dress. I don't miss it.

Generalisations. Just because someone next to me is dressed more casually than me I don't judge about their behaviour until I see it in action. If someone's going to behave badly they'll do it regardless of how they are dressed.

GR has made the comment for clickbait.

I would like to see basic good manners of people not making phone conversations or having videos or music playing on their phone/device in restaurants or considering everywhere their office, as well as removing headphones/earbuds and putting down phone/device when speaking to servers or other restaurant staff, making eye contact with them (of course not including people with ND who may not be comfortable doing so.)

By the same token I'd like to see restaurant servers better trained i.e. to greet diners, not to chew gum.

Lastly, I would like to see parents and adults showing children and teenagers how to behave politely and considerately in restaurants.

I couldn't give a fig what people are wearing.

Can I add, men coming to get a takeaway coffee in their sweaty cycling/running etc. gear while exhaling as if they've just finished the Grand National in 50° degree heat, how about standing less close to other people, saying excuse me instead of reaching over, and thinking twice about whether you rezlly need to paw ALL of the sugar, spoons, napkins, etc. while standing too close to the person who got there before you and reaching over them instead of either waiting your turn or saying excuse me?

@KateDelRick Gordon Ramsey isn’t a particularly pleasant man, bordering on verbally abusive in my opinion. I’d prefer to dine with a kind person in sportswear than a twat in a suit.

And it's well documented how dress can impact behaviour.

What type of behaviour are we talking about here? Snaffling around like pigs at a trough? Throwing food? Getting drunk? Starting fights? What behaviour do these badly dressed people indulge in? If they are sitting nicely and eating their food, can they perhaps be considered troublemakers because your dining experience is ruined by their crap clothes?

GR has made the comment for clickbait

this is very true & we have fallen for it 😂

Being dressed u more formally makes people behave better? Someone's never heard of the Bullingdon club.

I wouldn't go to a restaurant in joggers/a hoodie. I don't tend to go to the supermarket in them though either.