That’s one reason I was happy to move. People tend to dress more casually than in Texas. I’m the type who would wear gym shorts every day if I could get away with it. A lot of the time I can, since we work from home.
And it all depends where you are talking about. In Boston…many of the patrons are college students, and at most Thai restaurants, very casual clothes would be fine.
My kid played all kind of ice breaker games and other activities at his orientation. He took two pairs of pants but I bet he lived in his khaki shorts (not short, though). I agree that you said very casual when asked. It sounds like your idea of very casual is just different than a teenager’s idea.
my kids live in the midwest and they wear button down shirts, shorts and boat shoes simultaneously…but in general running shorts or guys gym shorts aren’t appropriate for anyone of any age except in the most casual environment and dorms and college campuses would apply. I don’t think I even know what my kids packed for orientation as it’s been over a decade since i had to dress them. Certainly people dress this way, in running shorts, in public, in restaurants, etc., but there are plenty of people who can step it up when it’s called for (NoCook wonders how everyone knew how to interpret the clothing suggestion similarly) and know what degree of stepping it up is called for given the situation. It’s akin to knowing which fork or which spoon to use for what…just one of those things you either know or you don’t know and certainly there are people that take a certain pride (snicker) in flaunting convention or just simply don’t have a clue.
I have not read this entire thread, but in general, I see no problem with casual, and clothes were NOT where I was going to try to control my kids in HS. My son got a pair of dress shoes for his 8th grade graduation, and he wore those same shoes to his senior graduation, and to the handful of other times he needed them while in HS. He was simply not into fashion. He will be a senior in college soon, and I guess we may need to get him a suit this year. He wore shorts and T’s, or jeans and hoodies, most of the time. My other son probably had 6-10 pairs of shoes in HS, and was always dressed nicer than most people his age. He still dresses nicely, and is quite the clothes horse. I like to think the restaurant would have let you in, even if the younger guest was wearing shorts and a tshirt.
Who wears shorts on a plane? People who don’t travel much and aren’t aware that planes can be air-conditioned to death even if it’s hot outside.
Wearing jeans at least seems like a smarter / safer choice, because there are few places you can’t go these days in jeans. Jeans and a t-shirt would at least have been a cut above gym shorts and a t-shirt.
“Well sure there is a difference and it’s called fashion. It’s for the most part regional. " dressy linen Bermuda shorts paired with a silk tank, wedges and nice accessories " Here in the possibly hipper parts of town, that look would come across as ridiculous. But where you live, not so much.”
Oh puh-lease. In what part of this country would it be inappropriate to wear nice Bermuda shorts, a tank and wedges out to dinner? For a girl or woman, that is.
This is like a stupid debate I was once involved where I was supposed to be convinced that in California, if you threw on a polo shirt and a pair of shorts, that would be “too dressy” to go to Disneyland. As if wearing a polo shirt was like wearing a button-down shirt and tie or something.
Around here we tend to define appropriate dress as “jeans or not”. Doesn’t mean you HAVE to wear jeans, but if jeans would be OK, it gives good guidance on what else would be appropriate. (middle Tennessee)
I’ve lived in southern California, near the beach most of my life and I don’t remember seeing people in running/sport shorts out to dinner at restaurants. A lunch cafe maybe, but not a dinner house. Nice shirts and jeans or skirts and nice t-shirts are typical for causal restaurants at dinner. In the more expensive places people will put in more effort; sundresses or nicer pants and blouses. Even my California boy who lived in shorts and flip flops in college will put on a nicer shirt (sometimes even with a collar!) good jeans and casual shoes(not flip flops) to go to dinner out. It’s an “evening thing,” at least in our L.A. area, to dress up just a bit after 6pm.
Dd was a runner (still, to some degree) and has a large variety of running shorts , but she wouldn’t wear them anywhere except home or running. I can’t imagine her wearing them to a restaurant. When her team used to go to breakfast together, they would change from their running gear into street-wear, even just to eat at a pancake house. In California.
I find myself in very few situations (other than meeting with clients) where jeans are inappropriate. They’re very appropriate pretty much everywhere, including the majority of restaurants. And where jeans are appropriate, longer Bermuda style shorts are usually appropriate. When I think gym shorts, though, I think - short shorts that are worn, well, for exercising / the gym, not to dinner.
The only time I dress up in nice clothes is for commencements like hs graduation and church.
I lived in Michigan a year ago and would always wear jeans. Now that I moved to Arizona, I rarely ever wear jeans or pants and am usually in shorts.
I really have no word for this. Just, really?! Gym shorts?
I like to dress up and it’s important to me to look appropriate for the occasion. However, I have an H and two sons who like to put comfort ahead of fashion - it seems like they were born that way. I’ve made it part of my life’s work to make sure they understand when and where to take it up a notch. Out to a casual dinner - nice shorts or pants and a button down, or maybe a polo for H (younger guys are not big polo fans). A nicer dinner means a jacket and button down and an even nicer occasion may mean a tie. Now that the boys are older, it’s automatic - I don’t have to tell them unless it’s super dress up (very rare). We just got home from a vacation and when we met in the hotel lobby for dinner, both boys were in button down shirts, loafers, and pants - with teenager in seersucker or red shorts - he likes the preppy vineyard vines stuff. Nice jeans with a button down and good quality shoes looks great, imo, and is still comfortable. My D, on the other hand, loves to dress up and always looks glamorous. The maitre d and other staff at a few of the restaurants commented on how nice my family looked. Makes a mom proud.
I just asked my DD. she said no way would she travel in gym shorts or wear them for anything other than running or working out. She is traveling this coming week to CA and will take some sundresses, and jeans. And an assortment of tops. She travels in yoga pants.
I agree with you, gourmetmom. My son is very casual and couldn’t care less about clothes but he’s proud that he knows enough to know when it’s important to turn it up a notch.
My 73 yo father recently had a knee replacement. He’s fine, but the scar on his knee is still sore enough that it is uncomfortable when clothing touches it. My father was in the fashion business and always - and I mean ALWAYS - looks great - appropriate for the venue, situation, very classy and understated look. For my kids’ recent graduations, he wanted to wear (nice) shorts because of his knee situation and was worried that it would be inappropriate. We of course told him - of course, your physical comfort comes first, wear shorts if you need to. But it was rather gentlemanly of him to be concerned that it was inappropriate.
My H, on the other hand, was running around like a chicken with his head cut off the day of my S’s graduation because his father was having open-heart surgery that same morning – so he arrived at S’s graduation wearing jeans and a polo shirt. Argh! I would have normally read him the riot act on that but I cut him slack because of the situation! But he agreed - he does know better, it was just a crazy day for him running between a hospital and a graduation. Never a dull moment …
Here is a very complete explanation and in some places it hasn’t gone away (like where I live). This is from SMU which I thought was considered a bit “stuffier” campus than some.
It is fascinating to see the fashion choices people make - esp if you can observe a large group. D goes to school in NYC- and there is always amazing people watching. Her style has also gone through an enormous transformation this year. This week we are at Disney world- a place where athletic shorts would seem “appropriate” and there is still a huge variety. (Often regional and cultural). Fwiw- D and I both brought a dress to Disney- b/c you never know…
This girl is 18 and presumably was not in NYC. She was at a summer orientation that likely was in large part activities and running around. She was told that the dress code was “really casual”. Maybe she was underdressed, but it wasn’t a federal crime and she isn’t out on the fringes of taste for her age. Were her parents “appropriately” dressed? Re-reading your post it sounds as if the friends-of-friends parents were also along.