My husband lost this bet. Would you?

[stanwyck]

Before we attended my daughter's college graduation today (at Berry College in Rome, GA...a small liberal arts college), I bet my husband that there would be parents attending wearing jeans. My husband, usually casual, wanted to wear a suit. (And did). He couldn't believe there would be adults attending their kid's graduation in jeans.
He was wrong. Very wrong.
I don't know where he thinks he lives. Or when. But in 2005, adults wear jeans to every formerly formal function. Even weddings.
I don't really have a problem with this. How do other DUers feel?

[Robeson]

1. I can't stand a suit and neck-tie. Will not wear one.....

[ScreamingMeemie]

2. I feel the need to dress up for these events. I also still dress up when

I travel...It's the way I was raised I guess. And I still like to see it in our society. Somethings were meant to be celebrated and observed in this mannner. But to each his own. I also don't get into someone's business if they opt to wear jeans. :hi:

[bigwillq]

5. Howdy Miz G!

You are a class act!

I don't like dressing up but my mom and sis get all decked out no matter where they go!:hi:

[ScreamingMeemie]

19. Hey there! And thanks!

Good to see you. I seem to miss you a lot these days! :hug:

[Spinzonner]

15. Don't dress up when you fly

or they'll think you're an Air Marshall and take you out first

[bigwillq]

3. Congrats to your daughter!

And your entire family. You should be proud!:hi:

[Roland99]

4. Minimal I'd be in business casual...if it was going to be hot.

Otherwise, a suit.

[flordehinojos]

6. wearing jeans to any formerly formal functions is, to me, a sign of a very

LIBERAL person and I LOVE IT. In fact, my son will be getting married in October and HE has attended several weddings wearing jeans and HAWAIIAN SHIRTS ... i now wonder how will the people who attend his wedding be dressed.

And do I dare attend his wedding wearing jeans, a t-shirt and Dr. Comfort Shoes? Probably not but the thought has crossed my mind.

[jrthin]

12. I'm very Liberal,

and would cetainly dress for the event. I would want to communicate that I think the event is special, as it is special to the graduate, the bride/groom, or whomever planned the event.

[jody]

7. You should be ashamed by taking money from an idiot. Berry is

one of the most outstanding colleges of its type and a testimony for those from humble beginnings who want to succeed.

Congratulations to your daughter. I know y'all are very proud of her and rightly so. :thumbsup:

[seemunkee]

8. Dress for the occasion

I'm a t-shirt and jeans person, but there are places where it is in appropriate. I would never wear them to a wedding, Bar/Bat Mitzvah,or the opera. I'm not surprised that there were parents wearing jeans. you husband must have felt that this was an important and (semi) formal occasion, rightly so. It showed respect for the accomplishment of your daughter.

[Rowdyboy]

9. Personally, if I had a kid, especially one graduating from college,

I'd wear a suit. Primarily, as a sign to my child of how much I respected his/her hard work and welcome them into the "working world".

Some occasions deserve a little more respect than jeans can offer. I would have voted (and dressed) like your husband.

[Trajan]

13. Same here ....

Its MY kid I care about, not the crowd or the school. Dressing UP for the occasion is an honest sign to your child that you stand with them, and are honored by their hard work and achievements ....

[DawgHouse]

10. I don't have a problem with others wearing jeans

but I would have worn something a little dressier.

[Left Is Write]

11. Congratulations to your daughter! I would not have lost the bet, but

I wouldn't have worn jeans either.

I love jeans. I wear them almost every day. Sometimes I even wear jeans to church (with dress shoes and a nice jacket, usually). But I would not wear jeans to a graduation, wedding or funeral.

Well...most weddings, anyway. If it was a casual wedding and I knew it, I would wear jeans. My sister got married in lounge pants and a t-shirt.

[SoCalDem]

14. A guy wore SHORTS, sandals & a Hawaiian shirt to my son's wedding

No one reads "Miss Manners" anymore:(

[mike_c]

16. I wear academic regalia OVER my jeans....

And a flannel shirt if it's a typical cool north coast morning.

[Pithlet]

17. No jeans

I would never wear jeans to a formal occasion, particularly one honoring a group. I'm very liberal, but I believe it's disrespectful. A wedding, where the people getting married don't mind, that's one thing. If a couple wants their guests to be casual, I see nothing wrong with that. But public events like graduations, never.

[politicat]

18. What other people do is their biz, but I mightn't take 'em seriously.

I wish more people wore formal clothes for formal events: A daytime graduation calls for *at minimum* khakis and a shirt with a collar and shoes (not runners) on gents and either a summer tea dress or skirt or a summer pants suit for women. Period. There is no way that we would ever attend a graduation in less than that, nor a wedding (and depending on the to-be-marrieds wishes, far more formally if requested), nor a funeral. I don't see that it's that hard to do and is no more constricting than a pair of jeans (and may be less so, depending on the cut.)

I find it appalling that adults wear jeans to everything, especially when a pair of bloody dockers are the same price as a pair of jeans. To me, it's thoughtlessness and carelessness.

That said, I don't care if others chose to present themselves as slobs, but my opinion of them will follow their outward efforts and presentations.

This stuff is basic: if my navy wife and farmer's daughter mother, and farmer's daughter and wife grandmother could drill this into my head in the 80s, there's no reason that people today should not know this.

[Telly Savalas]

20. For people who wear sweatpants all the time jeans are dressing up

[intheflow]

21. Are the jeans clean?

It could be argued that insisting people dress up could be a classist assumption, i.e., you have the income to buy and maintain nice clothes. Or it could be that many people just think they look better in jeans than anything else. Or perhaps they don't show their esteem for the graduates/bride and bridegroom/whatever through dress but through personal interaction.

I have a "friend" who has hurt me numerous times by saying I don't care how I look merely because I don't wear make-up or dye my hair. Make-up makes me break out and takes forever to put on, so I prefer life without it. I'd hate to make the same assumptions about people just because their lives are made easier by what they choose to wear to what *others* deem a formal event.