Baffling holiday hotel dress code

[Charlie]

I've just returned from a holiday in Cyprus, staying in a hotel.

The so-called dress code in the restaurant was - well - interesting. As usual it was aimed at men only and only applied for the evening meal which was a self-service buffet. A board outside the restaurant carried a series of pictures showing correct and incorrect dress. Incorrect was sleeveless tops and above the knee shorts. Correct was short-sleeve shirt and long trousers. Many men wore shorts for the evening meal and got away with it (inconsistency no. 1).

We spoke to the holiday rep above the dress code. He said it was to do with hygene, and implied that it was because (most!) men do not shave their underarms and legs, while women do. Apparently a hairy person can shed hair while leaning over a buffet and the hotel wanted to avoid a law suite from anyone who found a 'short and curly' in their food. I could see the logic of this when applied to sleeveless garments, but not for shorts which would be below table height.

The rep's explanation lost credibility at breakfast, another self-service buffet. The dress code didn't apply so there were several men wearing short shorts and sleeveless tops - hair everywhere (inconsistency no. 2).

The women of course wore what they liked at all meals, including sleeveless mini-dresses.

I wore sarongs at all times except for the evening meal when I changed into long trousers - then back to a sarong after the meal. The reasons for this are:

o To demonstrate to the other guests that I had the choice.
o The maitre'd was a big guy called Boris who had a thick Greek accent which I couldn't understand and I couldn't be bothered to argue about pants/sarongs with him.
o 300 miles to the east is Syria, Palestine and Israel. What is going on there makes my desire to not wear pants for 45 minutes per day look somewhat trivial.

My original thinking about the dress code was that the hotel wanted to get the men to at least look presentable, given that your average Joe will turn up in whatever he finds in his wardrobe, whereas the women will make a bit of an effort to look good. Perhaps the hotel should have a second picture alongside the 'correctly' dressed male, showing a guy in a long skirt who would still be complying with the dress code but in an unconventional manner. Or more likely the hotel is still stuck in the past and thinks man = pants.

Charlie

[Sinned]

Chrl, having stayed in several of these hotels and resorts over the years I've concluded that the dress code is only nominally there. Most have some documentation explaining the dress code which is then duly ignored by pretty much all. I have even worn short skirts to evening meals and nothing has been said ( aside from my family who duly sat well away from me and ignored me for the evening - that hurt ). And this was in either Egypt ( two centres, Sharm and Hurghada ) or Tunisia who are a lot closer to the conflict than we are. I have worn a Sarong to meals ( the sarong folded in half so that the "hem" is at about knee length ) as well without incident.

And as you say, the women wore basically what they liked. Usually a thin top over their bikinis for daytime meals and only "dressed up" for the evening one. I doubt that you would have met any comment had you worn a skirt to the evening meal.

[Couya]

My kilts never posed a problem in hotels such as this, in spite of similar notice boards outside the restaurant.
Martin

[STEVIE]

I doubt that I'd actually pay someone to tell me what I could or couldn't wear at any time.
Have a look at some of the dress "guidelines" for some cruise holidays.
Steve.

[JohnH]

In those circumstances I would simply wear a short-sleeve maxidress.

The hotel is apparently not concerned about head and facial hair. Is it forcing guests to wear hair nets and beard nets?

John

[Grok]

The dress code is probably as suggested; an attempt to make men presentable. But given the sheer dullness of clothes we are supposed to wear, there is little incentive for men to do more than throw on what's handy.

[JohnH]

Good point. I go to a county tax office in Grand Prarie, Texas, to deliver title applications and to pick up license plates and stickers for an auto dealer several times a week. You're right - men's clothing is incredibly dull. Even a coat and tie with pants and low heel shoes look really dull from the back. But I see so much variety that the ladies get to wear.

[Sinned]

It really depresses me to go into ANY of the mainstream clothing retailers and look down the gent's aisle and see the sea of shades of boring, boring black, blue and brown. Yawn. { Moves hand to mouth. } Then look at the women's aisle and see the rainbow of colours. Ouch, almost hurts the eyes! Needless to say, virtually anything colourful that I buy comes from the female side of the store. Not ashamed of that and I have told others that the jeans I have on or the T-shirt cam from the female section. I work on the four characteristics of colour, comfort, cut and cwality in my clothes irrespective of who they are marketed at.

[Departed Member]

They have similar "dress codes" on cruise ships as well, albeit not everyone abides by them, and you won't be kicked out of your dining location on the ship just because you don't adhere to the "dress code." They want your business, as any smart businessman would do. As French Economist Frederic Bastiat said: "If you wish to prosper, let your customer prosper. This is a lesson which we have been very long in learning. When it is thoroughly learnt, each man will seek his own
interest in the general good; and then jealousies between man and man, town and town, province and province, nation and nation, will no longer trouble the world."

Similarly, I had an experience in a courtroom in UT where each courtroom had an alleged dress code as well, where males were forbidden from wearing shorts, although no one except for one bailiff seemed to enforce this. And when I had to attend court in that courtroom for a class at school, that particular tyrant of a bailiff kicked me out because I was wearing shorts, even though the girl behind me had a khaki knee-length skirt on that was no different from my shorts except bifurcation. I was incensed, obviously, and it was a major catalyst for my social rebellion in giving into my life long desire to wear skirts in public.

[Davy]

Yep, the common thread throughout is inconsistency. I have been to several Caribbean resorts that say "no shorts" at dinner. They all have applied it equally to men and women, so I had no complaint. Obviously the answer is to wear a short dress or skirt, as the places are usually no air conditioned and its always hot. Haven't tried this on a cruise ship yet. As many have observed, women (especially on cruise ships) almost always look very nice, whereas men, well, some do but many don't.

[Kirbstone]

My only Caribbean cruise was aboard the Royal Clipper, the five-masted sailing ship, whose guest list is max. just 220, so no hoardes. Crew numbered about 100, of whom 20 sailed the ship, the remaining 80-0dd being 'hotel staff'.

The dinner dress code was just long trousers, not shorts for men, which everyone observed.

Tom

[Grok]

I recall a study mentioned in a book...somebody watched as men came into a store to buy clothes, and noticed a pattern. Men try to spend a minimal time shopping for clothes, and seem to be into uniforms. Basically, go into the store and go directly to the spot where you expect to find a specific garment, pick it up and immediately pay for it, and promptly leave a store.

I used to save tags from clothes, because these particular garments fit okay and were adequate. I would take these tags to a store, immediately pick out garments based on those tags, and promptly pay and leave.

If the garment serves little more purpose than to cover your nakedness.... why bother to do more?

[crfriend]

If the garment serves little more purpose than to cover your nakedness.... why bother to do more?

Indeed that was quite a bit of my "problem" up until I discovered skirts. I was "just covering my natural nakedness", frequently with less than virtuosity (shall we say). Sapphire has commented on this a number of times.

I admit to the common "guy mode" to shopping which amounts to a "surgical strike" (to use the military term) which means "get in, achieve the objective, and get out". I still do that in brick-and-mortar stores. Interestingly, I spend more time "browsing" in on-line places. I'm not sure what the ultimate driver is, but there's something there. Part of me suspects that it's down to the positively tiny men's section and the equally forbidden, but vastly larger, women's section. I need to spend some time on analysis of this phenomenon. Because there are possibilities "on the other side of the aisle".

[dillon]

Unless there's a good sale going on, I spend almost no time shopping brick and mortar stores. I went today to a sporting goods chain to look for a few specific items for an upcoming backpacking trip, and happened upon a sale rack where I found a short skirt by Koppen which I could not resist, for less than half of retail. Mostly these days I shop online, usually from 6PM.com, and occasionally from Sierra Trading Post, REI, Amazon, Woolrich, and Eddie Bauer. And I still demand a sale price before I will purchase.

[Sinned]

I notice that my shopping habits have changed since my skirting. For most of my life I was quite happy not to do any clothes shopping at all - my needs being satisfied by MOH''s purchases for me and clothes supplied by my mother-in-law who was Manager of a charity shop and could source good quality second hand clothes at minimal cost. Then I just wore what I was expected to wear and didn't take much care over my appearance. Yes I was always smart but, to me, what I wore always looked the same apart from my liking of bright colours. Now I am much more aware of what I wear and more aware of the clothes on the rack although very few are on the male side of the aisle. MOH often prompts, "Anything in the men's section?" and a quick glance proves negative. To be honest, I have sufficient conventional male clothes to last me the rest of my life ( I have no interest in maintaining the latest fashion ) so now I only buy to replace. I am a sucker for skirt sales or charity shops and apart from the kilt that MOH bought me I have never paid more than £5 for any skirt. I have got to the stage where I am consciously weeding out my skirts and if I buy one then I have to send one to the charity shop. Hard to do I know but I can't keep them all and some of my earlier purchases were done in my naivety and, looking back, were not the best choices.