Ok here’s the thing. I’m a little confused while I continue to embrace this post-lockdown-style-Renaissance. We’ve retrained ourselves to iron, and once again practiced wearing high heels before emerging from our Covid caves (don’t forget the band-aids). The online wish lists have swerved from sweats to slacks, and we’re scrambling when an invitation to a themed soiree lands in our inbox. There’s been a notable spike in bold colours and sequins littered across the night scene, presenting a reincarnation of style across the streets and social feeds. But understandably for others, there’s been a dramatic wave of simplicity and even our beloved wardrobe is not safe from facing a heavy axe. We’re exhausted asking our counterparts “what are you wearing tonight!” as we become increasingly confused and tired as to what our dress code is these days.

Over in the office, dress codes of course drift and transform over time where we’ve sailed towards greater functionality. Enter “Casual Friday” across some workplaces, and evidently we’ve become less formal over the past few months. The pandemic has accelerated the longterm debate around the relevance of business attire where Zoom meetings across the world consisted of business up top, pyjama pants at the bottom. But then we have the re-emergence of the female power suit, which is further fuelling the confusion. The question also asks whether professional attire assists in productivity and bolsters our sense of purpose (in a work uniform sense), which I can attest to. Let’s be honest we do love pounding the pavement in our immaculate work costume, but can someone tell me what the dress code is in 2022 please?

Raissa Bretaña, fashion historian and adjunct professor of art history at the Fashion Institute of Technology in NYC notes that post-war, tailor-made suits became the normality for working men and men of leisure. The idea of the ‘business suit’ emerged later in the 20th Century, where it closely associated itself with white collar workwear. Then emerged the ‘power suit’ in the 1980’s during an era of greed (think Wolf of Wall Street) and power across the pop culture sector. Conforming was once part of the corporate structure, with the Conformist now listed as an endangered species and over in the creative corner, anything goes.

Now, we turn our attention to wining and dining. We’ve seen recent outrage following an up-market Sydney restaurant’s decision to enforce a strict dress code that bans visible tattoos, “designer labelled apparel” and an overdose on jewellery with the intention of keeping people out with “intimidating appearances”. This may be an extreme case, so perhaps we divert our attention to the thong bearers while we tuck into a spanner crab spaghetti.

Ita Buttrose, author of A Guide To Australian Etiquette, believes that "it's about respect for yourself, respect for the person you're going out with and respect for your fellow diners,” she says. Acknowledging that women were once not allowed to wear pants to a club, dressing appropriately is part of a fine dining experience however "it is up to the restaurant to maintain the standards”. Buttrose attributes the drop in standards to the confusion surrounding dress codes, leaving these open to a wide interpretation.

So while there’s no definitive answer as to what the dress code is these days, but I’ll continue to enjoy the liberation from the sweatsuit.

What's The Dress Code?