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Original poster

The strangest reason you've been denied entry to a nightclub

119 replies

SerenityNowSerenityNow · 19/01/2025 10:43

What's the strangest reason you've been turned away from a pub or nightclub?

Last night I was turned away from a night club because I had a mini sombrero in my handbag. 😂😂
Apparently it indicated I was out as part of a group and they weren't letting groups in.

It was just me and my husband.

(I had the sombrero because we'd been to a Mexican themed birthday party and I took one of the decorations home for my little boy)

OP posts:

ERthree · 19/01/2025 17:39

I have never been in a nightclub in my life. Only ever been stopped from going into a pub once and that was by Nephew who was the doorman. He said there was no way in hell he was letting me and his mother in. No amount of pleading or threats would make him change his mind.

Greyish2025 · 19/01/2025 17:42

SerenityNowSerenityNow · 19/01/2025 11:19

Shocking!
I once went to a fancy club in London. They let us in the club but we weren't considered attractive enough for the dance floor 😂

Show quote history

How did they keep ye from going on the dance floor?
Did they actually say this

Original poster

SerenityNowSerenityNow · 19/01/2025 17:50

How did they keep ye from going on the dance floor?
Did they actually say this

It had barriers around it and a bouncer!

OP posts:

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Greyish2025 · 19/01/2025 17:51

In Paris they thought we ( small group of Uni students) were English and didn’t want to let us in, we told them we were Irish and they immediately became more amicable and let us in.
This happened back in the 90s

Dontlletmedownbruce · 19/01/2025 18:00

I was with a group of 4 or 5, one girl was straight from work and had her work gear in her backpack. One of the lads had shoes that weren't allowed, ridiculous rule, so we were outside making an alternative plan. We discovered there was only half a size between the boy and my friend, so she suggested he wear her work shoes. They were a bit tight so they decided for a laugh to swap, so he put on the strappy high heels and she put on the work shoes and they both walked straight in. He realised he liked the feel of them and danced all night, complaining later of the burn on the balls of his feet. It still makes me laugh to think of it.

DuesToTheDirt · 19/01/2025 18:17

Back in the 80s...

One of our party was wearing trainers and they wouldn't let him in.
Another time, one guy had a shirt with too-short sleeves Must have been an excuse, guess they just didn't like the look of him.
Another time, my friends and I put lots of hair gel on and they said we looked like troublemakers or drug-takers. They let us in on our previous and subsequent visits, with normal boring hair.

I think nightclubs were pretty fussy back then, but I've no idea what they're like now.

CluelessAsFuck · 19/01/2025 18:25

Going to a gay club in London - the majority of our group had to be gay. 3 girls were not, 2 boys were. Didn't get in. Found a better club in backwaters of Tottenham Ct Rd. This was late 1990's.

SabrinaThwaite · 19/01/2025 18:25

I was sat in a bar a few weeks ago and the bouncer wouldn’t let in some students dressed as the Pope and nuns. The people dressed in Lederhosen and dirndls didn’t seem to be a problem though (there was some kind of Oktoberfest thing going on).

MrsMoastyToasty · 19/01/2025 18:32

I got refused entry to a club in Edinburgh for the "wrong shoes".
I also, along with my friends, got refused entry to a pub (nothing fancy) in Portishead because we were "those biker types". When I said that "we would take our perfectly good money elsewhere " the landlady changed her tune. (Us biker types were all in full time employment and apart from the passengers were on soft drinks). We said no, we we're definitely going somewhere else.

NormasArse · 19/01/2025 18:34

In the early 90s I was turned away for wearing jeans (white/designer). I had silk cami/boxer type knickers on underneath.

I stood on the pavement in front of the bouncers, took my jeans off and rolled them up, tied my blouse in a knot at the front, put my shoes back on, and rejoined the queue.

They saw it all.

They let me in.

I put my jeans back on in the loo.

SinnerBoy · 19/01/2025 19:06

There used to be a small club above the Post Office and a couple of shops in Whitley Bay, with a huge, violent bouncer called Nasty Nick. Sometimes, he'd stand at the main entrance, rather than at the top of the stairs.

I was walking past and went round to avoid him and he stuck his arm out to stop me and snarled, "You're not getting in!"

I said I wasn't trying getting to and didn't even want to! He had me up against the wall for a couple of minutes, explaining that he was in charge and was telling me what was what!

I was 19 or 20 and fucking terrified!

SabrinaThwaite · 19/01/2025 20:42

The Klute bouncers in Durham in the late 80s had quite a rep too.

(I think Klute managed the accolade of being the second worst night club in Europe).

Happy days.

ARichtGoodDram · 19/01/2025 20:50

One bouncer in a local club refused me entry when I was 20 because I looked like my Dad and he didn't like him.

I replied that I'd been removed from my parents care at 7 because they were abusive so I wasn't his biggest fan either. He banned me for life for being cheeky.

CorvusPurpureus · 19/01/2025 21:04

My mate & I once got thrown in to a club in the late 80s because they were having a Rocky Horror night & we were in RH fancy dress.

We'd actually been on our way to another club down the road, but hey, they were desperate to let us in for free, whatever...

We were not, or at least not intentionally, wearing Rocky Horror fancy dress.

Ohwhatfuckeryitistoride · 19/01/2025 21:09

The Limit in Sheffield in the 80s. Lots of dressing up. I’d carefully assembled a military style get up, but got refused entry because of my (bf’s) army jacket. Another club kicked us out because we were (ab)using the 2 for one offer on cocktails at happy hour and the evil manager’s wife refused to serve the girls drinks. So we threatened to go to the papers to report them for discrimination. Insta ban.

FoxtonFoxton · 19/01/2025 21:10

I love this thread. Has given me such a nostalgic feeling!

LaPalmaLlama · 19/01/2025 21:18

For wearing Halloween fancy dress- I wasn’t - I was just going through a goth phase

Because “you don’t look gay”. To be fair, I’m not but how does one “look gay”?

FluDog · 19/01/2025 22:03

We used to go to the same clubs at the same time on the same nights back when there was a student night scene round here. The same bouncer that would come up with random reasons to not let people in each week decided one week it was my turn because my shirt was too shiny. It wasn't even that shiny, it wasn't reflective or leather or PVC or anything that might look shiny. It was just a silver/grey shirt.

Mind that bouncer could go from one extreme to another. Years later he worked at another bar a friend of mine ran. He was there every weekend for years, we usually exchanged pleasantries as we passed and he'd be happy to give us a few minutes at closing time.

Until one night he was pushing one of our group around saying he was too drunk and pushed him out the door, while the fella who was too drunk was pushing him back. I put my hand on his shoulder and said something along the lines of "It's OK pal we're leaving." Just like a pat on the shoulder as I passed kind of thing. The next week he corners me as we leave, all aggressive asking "Did you put your hands on me last week!?" Freaked me out to be honest so I just walked off 😂

CluelessAsFuck · 20/01/2025 10:04

Orangebadger · 19/01/2025 11:34

Because we did not look gay... it was a GAY in London and an abba tribute band were playing so me and my very straight male friend queued to get in and they just said no. Can only assume it was because we clearly were not gay, but they did not explicitly say this. It was a long time ago, maybe 15 years back.

Same happened to me! Party of 5, 2 gays, 3 straight. Didn't get in!

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