Dinner attire - what does the future hold?

[Rogillio]

In my mom's old photo albums everyone is always wearinng a suit and tie or a dress. But society has been changing. When I hired on at Boeing in 1987 the standard dress for engineers was a white dress shirt, tie, slacks and dress shoes. I never once went to work without a tie untill about the 1995 or so. That was when the company started 'casual Fridays' and people could wear jeans or kakis and Polos! Whoohoo! One day a week I didn't have to wear a tie! But this was a slippery slope and gradually over the next 10 years casual became the norm every day. I noticed this same trend in our church too. Used to be, everyone dressed up to go to church. Now most people wear jeans and Polos....and ever a few in tee-shirts and occasionally shorts. Our pastor will wear jeans and sports coat. Not sure what you call that? Semi-casual?
I don't mind wearing nice clothes but I would prefer to not have to bring slacks, dress shoes and dress shirts on a cruise. Be much easier packing just shorts and tee shirts. Would not even need a suit case....just a gym bag with shorts, tee shirts and unders. I think Disney policy should be to let the people decide. If your party wants to dress up in top hat and tails go for it! If your family wants to wear shorts and flip flops, that's ok too. Seems like wedding and funerals are the now the only time people dress up anymore.....

So my question is, where will we be 10 years for now? We we continue to dress down all the way to grunge? Or will we circle back and start dressing up again?

 

[DCLDVC1]

I think Disney policy should be to let the people decide. If your party wants to dress up in top hat and tails go for it! If your family wants to wear shorts and flip flops, that's ok too.

I agree and am glad they have this policy.

 

[wcw57]

wellllll, THIS oughta be a looooooong and interesting thread!

I'll start it off:

most societal pendulums swing back and forth. It has been my observation that it never swings quite entirely back to more conservative/restrictive moors. That is, once you open dining, church, etc to shorts it it like pushing toothpaste back into the tube in order to get people back into suits.

more to the point, things will get worse before they get better (imnsho)

you noticed that it was MY OPINION. actual opinions may vary by user. please read and follow all directions and warnings on the label.

 

[tinkerone]

i was a little worried about where this thread was going. at first i thought it was going to be one of the 'people are to casual' threads in which people are berated for their clothes choices. very glad to see it wasn't and for that i thank you.

i think, myself, that it will depend on the ship. if its a disney ship we are talking about, i would never see bathing suits optional but i would see formal and semi formal gone with the wind. its already almost there (no flames please). i think they will possibly rename those nights and have other themes but who knows.
if its something like cunard then formal will stay and they will still be the cruise line they started out to be.

your right about dress codes changing over the years. was a time the bank i worked for tried to get staff to wear uniforms. they gave lots of choices but every piece was tray or red, same material and came from the same company. that worked for about a year. other side of the coin, jeans were a no no unless there was construction going on. no casual fridays for us. it was all in the presentation.

all just my opinion and not necessarily right.

 

[MUN]

In my mom's old photo albums everyone is always wearinng a suit and tie or a dress. But society has been changing. When I hired on at Boeing in 1987 the standard dress for engineers was a white dress shirt, tie, slacks and dress shoes. I never once went to work without a tie untill about the 1995 or so. That was when the company started 'casual Fridays' and people could wear jeans or kakis and Polos! Whoohoo! One day a week I didn't have to wear a tie! But this was a slippery slope and gradually over the next 10 years casual became the norm every day. I noticed this same trend in our church too. Used to be, everyone dressed up to go to church. Now most people wear jeans and Polos....and ever a few in tee-shirts and occasionally shorts. Our pastor will wear jeans and sports coat. Not sure what you call that? Semi-casual?
I don't mind wearing nice clothes but I would prefer to not have to bring slacks, dress shoes and dress shirts on a cruise. Be much easier packing just shorts and tee shirts. Would not even need a suit case....just a gym bag with shorts, tee shirts and unders. I think Disney policy should be to let the people decide. If your party wants to dress up in top hat and tails go for it! If your family wants to wear shorts and flip flops, that's ok too. Seems like wedding and funerals are the now the only time people dress up anymore.....

So my question is, where will we be 10 years for now? We we continue to dress down all the way to grunge? Or will we circle back and start dressing up again?

Is this a "Throwback Thursday" thread? You are aware that DCL changed their dress code for the MDR's, aren't you?

 

[Rogillio]

I agree and am glad they have this policy.

Really? I was not aware of this. You can wear shorts and flip flops to the MDRs every night? Even on longer cruises?

 

[Rogillio]

Is this a "Throwback Thursday" thread? You are aware that DCL changed their dress code for the MDR's, aren't you?

No I was not aware! When did this happen? How come no one told me?! LOL We just finished our 10th DCL and I haven't read any of their policies in years.....guess it would behoove me to do so!

 

[Rogillio]

wellllll, THIS oughta be a looooooong and interesting thread!

I'll start it off:

most societal pendulums swing back and forth. It has been my observation that it never swings quite entirely back to more conservative/restrictive moors. That is, once you open dining, church, etc to shorts it it like pushing toothpaste back into the tube in order to get people back into suits.

more to the point, things will get worse before they get better (imnsho)

you noticed that it was MY OPINION. actual opinions may vary by user. please read and follow all directions and warnings on the label.

I agree it will be hard to put the toothpaste back on the farm now that we've see ole Paree. (mixaphorically speaking)

 

[summerskye]

Really? I was not aware of this. You can wear shorts and flip flops to the MDRs every night? Even on longer cruises?

Per Disney, no swimwear or tank tops. Dress up is optional. Not sure about the flip flops. lol

 

[summerskye]

No I was not aware! When did this happen? How come no one told me?! LOL We just finished our 10th DCL and I haven't read any of their policies in years.....guess it would behoove me to do so!

I am not sure about a date but as of today this is what is on Disney's website.

Q:
What should I wear to dinner?

A:
Dining dress requirements vary by venue or theme night on your cruise. In general, most meals are "Cruise Casual"—no swimwear or tank tops. Most cruises also have special theme nights with optional opportunities to get dressed up for a special family photo. Here's a breakdown of these events by cruise itinerary.

On 3-night cruises:

• One cruise casual night—No swimwear or tank tops
• One pirate themed night (deck party)
• One "optional dress-up night"—jacket for men, dress or pantsuit for women

On 4-night cruises:

• First night is cruise casual—no swimwear or tank tops
• One pirate themed night (deck party)
• One optional dress-up night—jacket for men, and dress or pantsuit for women
• Final night is cruise casual—no swimwear or tank tops

On 7-night cruises:

• First night is cruise casual—no swimwear or tank tops
• One pirate or other themed night (deck party)
• 3 additional cruise casual nights—no swimwear or tank tops
• One formal and one semi-formal night—two great opportunities to dress-up and take advantage of the onboard photography services. Though optional, we recommend for men: dress pants with a jacket or a suit; for women: a dress or pantsuit.

Note the use of the word optional.

 

[Bree]

It must be that time of the month.....

 

[xlxo]

Some people say it's much more relaxed on the Alaskan cruises.

 

[steves100]

I'm not a big fan of the shorts an flip flops on the dress up night. Jeans are fine but flip flops nope

 

[pag23]

People like to be comfortable, its hard sucking down 3 apps two entrees and 3 deserts in dress clothes.

 

[wcw57]

i'm going out to look for a big stick so i can start beating this subject to death....

 

[MunFam]

I've noticed that society as a whole has been moving to a very entitled stance on everything. Why follow the guidelines when {its my vacation and I am a paying customer, when I am a taxpaying citizen like everyone else} blah, blah, blah. You see it in elementary schools where parents are furious that their child got a punishment for breaking the rules, because sweet booboo is perfect when reality is they are a complete terror or when their child did not get invited to another kid's birthday. Its called life, suck it up; but unfortunately people feel they deserve things simply for being human. There were no such thing as no-cut sports and participation trophies when I was a kid. But now, everyone is so focused on doing what makes them feel good and causing as little discomfort as possible because well, they are human and they DESERVE to be happy all the time.

How does this relate to the OPs question? I think that unless society's sense of entitlement swings the other way, it will be a downhill slope. People WILL continue to break the rules because they feel they deserve whatever they are breaking the rules for...sneaking alcohol on board, pushing the dress code limits, not following quiet hours...whatever the case may be, people do not want the rules to apply to them because they are SO special that if it causes any trouble or discomfort, they should not have to follow the rules, yet they feel they deserve to participate on their own terms. This causes people/businesses to loosen up over time because they feel they have lost the battle. I wish society would say fine, don't like my rules, don't be a part of my group, club, business etc. No one OWES you anything but that will never happen.

 

[Sir William]

Given the overall trend of a more casual attitude toward everything since the 50s and 60s, I figure in about 10 years we'll just see swimsuits in the MDR. It's the natural progression from shorts.

 

[Uncleromulus]

Well--there is a difference between casual and slovenly. Trouble is, many folks don't know that--

I went to a Jesuit college that required a coat and tie and then had a job for 30 years that required a coat and tie.

Nowadays--I rarely wear a coat and tie unless it is a requirement. A "guideline", "suggestion" or the word "optional" means it is NOT a requirement and therefore it is perfectly fine not to go along with those
"suggestions", etc.

Hard to imagine things getting any MORE casual then they are right now--will it go back to the long ago days? I kinda doubt it.

 

[cgolf]

While I can't say I ever broke the dress code rules, I will say I only wore a dress coat thingie once, which was taken off when I sat down to eat. After that I stopped packing it because I saw it as pointless to wear it from my room to the dining room only. Now my attire is khaki or black dress pants and mostly button down shirts maybe mixing in a polo shirt and sometimes throwing on a tie to mix it up. As for shoes I have a decent pair of the web like sandles that aren't slip on, but since I wear my pants longer they pretty much look like shoes. Regardless of the policy changes this will be what I am wearing. On the previous formal nights it was the black dress pants, button down shirt, and tie, now that the formal night is pretty much gone, that setup just gets worn on some random night.

 

[Bella29]

The future is now. On our Magic cruise in January of this year, I didn't really pay close attention to what anyone else was wearing but I did notice a guy in a white undershirt type t-shirt and shorts. He wore that every night. I didn't see his footwear. I noticed several folks where were quite dressed-down, but I noticed him nightly because he had a cute baby he was holding a lot (I am totally drawn to babies, especially now that my boys are teens. I try to be non-stalkerish about it though).

Does it ruin the ambiance for me when people are dressed slovenly? Yes a little, but it still doesn't ruin my dinner or my vacation, it's just not as fancy an atmosphere as I would like. If it were up to me, it would be a bit fancier than resort casual. Some folks might prefer blacktie, which I wouldn't like every night. However, it really doesn't matter what I or anyone else thinks, because people have a right to wear whatever they want as long as they are following Disney's rules. And Disney seems to feel undershirts are acceptable dinner attire.