Don’t you think most people dress so casual these days when out in restaurants

[LisaVanderpumpy]

looking around me everyone’s wearing jumpers on a Sat night

when I was young on Sat nights most women would be in dresses
in restaurants

perhos it’s because restaurants are colder these days
perhaps people dress more casual just generally now

I’m not one to talk really as I’m also in jeans n jumper as I don’t like being cold plus I’m only with husband and kids

Yes, I never bother to get dressed up for a meal anymore, prefer it to be honest. Plenty of restaurants you do need to get dressed up for if you like that vibe.

But dresses are comfy! I always choose a dress to eat out in- no waistbands!

I agree. Both men and women just don't make as much effort as yrs gone by it seems. I was in a restaurant last night and only me and DH were "dressed up". Also a lot of folk just sitting on phones, no conversation. Sad.

99% of my wardrobes dresses. I don’t own jeans, trousers or skirts.

And there’s a real mix of casual and dressy. But not in a LBD fancy sort of way more that there’s work dresses, day time dresses, night out dresses and holiday dresses.

Yep. It’s like being in Florida a couple of decades ago where I went to stay with relatives for 3 months, wherever we went to eat, all the locals were all really casual and relatives said ‘oh, nobody dresses up to go out to eat’ which I thought was really odd back then.

I recently went out to dinner with friends, I dressed up, the three of them had jeans and jumpers on. I felt like a right lemon!

There was a birthday celebration on the next table, all but one of that table were really casual, so me and the one woman at that party of 12 stuck out like sore thumbs. Everyone else in the whole restaurant wore jeans/leggings/joggers and sweatshirts/jumpers.

I'm a huge over-dresser and love it. Yesterday I wore wide leg, deep turn-up, grey Stella McCartney wool trousers with high heels and a black cashmere roll neck and a black and grey Valentino silk scarf tied in my hair. That's my idea of smart casual.

I went to Tesco and the Post Office. Like a previous PP, I get constantly asked where I'm off to or why I'm all dressed up. Doesn't make me self conscious though. I adore clothes and rarely go anywhere very exciting but life's too bloody short not to wear all of my fabulous wardrobe.

I was in Liverpool a couple of weekends ago and there were many properly dressed up women and men, done up to the nines, women wearing heels and make up and hair that must have taken hours. It was a change from where I live which is grey tracksuit central.

I love looking nice. I love wearing nice clothes. Not for anyone else, just for myself. I enjoy the process. Yesterday I went for brunch wearing jeans, nice blazer, small heels and a nice top. A standard outfit I'd have worn pre 2020 to do the same type of activity. Except now I appear to be the only one dressed like this within a sea of spandex and tracksuits.
It's thoroughly depressing. I don't know what happened to self respect and standards. The sights thesedays! The world has gone nuts.

Sure, and what’s the problem with that?
I used to dress up once upon a time, but no longer. Thinking about it, probably post kids, so that’s a few decades for me now. I go to some really exxy restaurants, and couldn’t really give a crap. If I’m spending a fortune there, I can wear what I want, which is one step up from pj’s most of the time as these days my comfort is everything to me.

Seriously who cares? Clean, comfortable and covered when eating out or at the theatre or in church - unless it’s a wedding, christening or funeral.

I was out in Manchester yesterday and we dressed up although dressing up for us was smart wide trousers, nice jackets and trainers. We were bottomless brunching so it was a mixture of people like us and groups dressed up for hen parties, etc. We wouldn't have looked out of place if we'd have worn dresses as I think anything goes on a Saturday as people are out drinking/eating from midday these days.

Said this to DH the other night. I think it’s a shame. I also no longer dress up because I don’t want to look out of place - Friday night I wore a denim dress over a long sleeved roll neck top.

I do miss when people made the effort to look nice - especially for special occasions.

DH has it easy. He wears a shirt no tie and chinos wherever we go and a jumper if it’s chilly.

I like to dress smart and often feel ‘overdressed’ as a result. I don’t own many out and out casual clothes, smarter clothes make me feel more confident. I’ve noticed the Gen Z’s I teach (including PhD supervisees to be frank who are teaching their own seminar groups) don’t dress particularly smartly. Usually baggy jeans and jumpers with what I can only describe as Dad trainers.

One Gen Z who has recently started working with us dresses exactly like the students and I don’t find it very professional personally. Big oversized cardigans, sometimes hoodies (including a Taylor Swift one some days!)… I’ll be honest, I feel really snobby about it but I think there should be a distinct separation between lecturer and student. Not saying we need three piece suits on or heels but we shouldn’t be wearing baggy hoodies to work. Obviously wouldn’t say anything to her but I think it plays into the narrative of universities being filled with lazy scruffy people.

Agree with this - BILs gf is Gen Z and she seems to perpetually wear pyjamas. I own clothes like it but I would never go round to someone’s for dinner in an oversized hoodie, tracksuit bottoms, no makeup and hair scraped back in the sort of bun I go to sleep in. It’s what you wear to clean the bathroom imo not to socialise with people and again, I know it sounds snobby, but it lowers the tone of the social occasion I think - dressing up for an occasion or at least semi smartly makes it look like you give a shit about the people and the event rather than just rolled out of bed to be there.

I used to overdress now I don’t. It’s made no difference to my life whatsoever. I don’t see your point, who cares. People are out enjoying themselves a dress isn’t going to change that.

We do dress very casually in this country and I'm not entirely sure why.
Last year a friend and I went to Poland for a few days. I was dressed in wool jumpers, smartish jeans, and clean, neutral trainers. They were dressed head to toe in athleisure wear. They were continually spoken to in English and I was mistaken for Polish on a regular basis. I observed other English tourists and we really did stick out like sore thumbs.
Since then I've made a real effort to look smart and put together when out in public.
I've found people treat me very differently based on how I present.

Who wears formal clothes to work now, other than lawyers going into court? Everyone just looks so bland and scruffy now. I look back with affection to the days when we all dressed up to go out, men as well as women. If I do go into town in the evening, the girls still look smart, but most of the blokes look ready to do a day's gardening!

Getting dressed up to the 9s is quite working class though isn’t it? The whole concept of Sunday best is about being poor.

maybe that’s key, we’re more accustomed to being wealthier and don’t need to show it off

I don’t even want people to dress up to the nines though! I just think it would be nice if people went back to smart casual for social
events rather than the pyjamas and activewear you see these days. A little bit of structure or thought into your appearance.

I don't think women dressed for the male gaze on the whole, I said clothes were designed for that. When I was young in the 00s and 10s fashion was all tight fitting, low cut, short skirts. It was hard to find nice clothing that wasn't revealing.

The idea now is for clothing to be as revealing by as possible it seems.

I do think pubs/cafes/restaurants are often so cold that I practically need a coat nevermind a jumper. So I do think that's likely to have had an impact. But people do just generally dress more casually nowadays as well.

Well, it’s not about semantics is it? The concept is working class.

I don’t think that’s true at all unless you’re into love island. Right now wide leg trousers, fitted tops, round necks, midi dresses and skirts are current, anything body con or revealing is not remotely in fashion. That stopped well before Covid.

Who decides what is slovenly?

How about people can wear whatever the hell they want and the rest of us just go about our days and let them get on with it.