>>I do find I automatically put on a dark suit for funerals or any appearance in a church or synagogue. Just seems appropriate. I'm not a regular church goer so when I do go - baptisms or whatever - I really am pretty surprised at how the dress code seems to have changed from my Sunday school days in the 50s and 60s. I'm also surprised at how much it bothers me.
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>I still pretty much always wear a skirt or a dress for synagogue, or for a funeral or wedding. I do remember once wearing nice slacks to a graveside funeral when the temp was below freezing. But in general, though I wear pants for virtually everything else, it just doesn't feel right to me to synagogue in pants. (I probably should qualify that I mean the weekly Sabbath service. Since my parents died, I've been to a fair number of weekday, evening services, and those are definitely "come as you are.")
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>>But them I'm still surprised to be in a white tablecloth restaurant with a good wine list with people in Browns jackets and Levis.
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>Yep. I find that annoys me. When I've bothered to get dressed up to go to a nice restaurant, I want the people around me to have done the same. Casual attire is great for casual restaurants, but for nice ones, people should dress up. (Of course, for some of those folks, maybe Browns jackets and Levis _are_ dressed up. <bg>)
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>Tamar

I believe the dressing the part helps one act the part, which is why I dress "business casual" - slacks (not jeans) and button down shirt (not T-shirt) - for all work days including "Friday Casual."

It took me a while to get used to "Friday Casual" at synagogue but I've come around on that. Oddly enough, most people (including me) wear suits to Saturday services.

As far as restaurants go........ dressing way down doesn't bother me much but, all too frequently, people who dress as if they are going to McDonalds wind up acting as if they are at McDonalds.