Dressing Up is Good, Actually

By: ​Nick Adubato

I have two favorite bars in the world; one is a small, run-down, dive in my hometown where I’ve

never managed to spend more than twenty dollars in an evening, and the other is the rather

infamous Parker House in Sea Girt, New Jersey.

These two establishments could not be more diametrically opposed in their clientele, vibe, and

especially dress code. While Parker House, which, for the uninitiated, is situated in an old

Victorian-era mansion in the ritzy shore town of Sea Girt, doesn’t have an official dress code, it

is a well-understood, “unwritten” rule that you must dress “nice” at the Parker House.

Pastel shades of blue, linen shirts, sundresses, white pants, Sperry, etc., are the norm at Parker,

and someone outside this particular look will surely stand out. Despite protestations from those

who classify the “vibe” at Parker House as elitist and stuffy, and on some level, they’re not

wrong, there is something deeply significant about having a place like this exist in the modern

fashion landscape.

It’s not a secret that almost every corner of the popular fashion culture has moved towards the

more “comfortable” end of the spectrum. Athleisure and sneakers have become the everyday

uniform for most young people, and what we once knew as “business-casual” has come to mean

outfits better suited to a golf course or tennis court than a boardroom. I’m not saying this is

wrong in and of itself; there is a reason I love that hometown bar of mine. It’s nice to toss on

whatever was closest to me in my bedroom, walk down the street, and see people you know. Yet,

these things need to exist side by side.

Far too often are the opportunities for “dressing up” lost to the vestiges of time and ease. A place

like Parker House, which, yes, can be somewhat intimidating, deserves our respect for being able

to maintain, at least to some degree, a sense of place and purpose that people follow intrinsically.

All of this is to say, it is a shame that we’re losing many of these opportunities to get dressed up

and go out in our time because 1) it’s fun to dress up, but 2) it also allows for a broader and

heterogeneous fashion culture at a basic level. Having most things these days being reduced to

polyblends and stretch fabrics destroys any purpose our clothes are supposed to have by

themselves; the golf shirt becomes the work shirt, the leggings become jeans, the sweatshirt

becomes the sweater, etc. etc. Losing this removes any sense of what it means to “get dressed,”

and a personal sense of fashion becomes irrelevant, something reduced to another utility in our

contemporary lives.

A place like Parker House, while not explicitly doing so, rebels against this shift. Having spaces

where patrons are not only accepted, but encouraged and expected to “dress up” is deeply

important to maintaining what is currently being lost in the fashion landscape, and we need far

more of them.