A colleague says she has taken advantage of the sales to go buy clothes for work, with the particularity that, during the next few weeks, the pandemic will force her to work from home. She explains that she doesn't want what happened to her when she had to telework for the first time, in March of last year, to happen again, and she spent all day in her pajamas. She has decided to get dressed and ready every day to start working, even if she does it from home and no one has to see her.
In these very gray times we are living in ---teleworking in pajamas and tracksuits and practically unable to go anywhere---, we appreciate even more a series where the characters dress wonderfully and chain together balls with transgressive parties and operatic evenings.Thedress codeor dress code are a series of rules and guidelines that identify the way of dressing on certain occasions. In the West, they have been relaxing with the argument that thedress codeis old-fashioned and elitist, although some think that with everyone going wherever they want, we've gone a bit too far. In 2009, the Gremi de Restauració asked to be able to ban people who weren't wearing a shirt, generallyguiris, because it harmed "the aesthetics and atmosphere of the place." Two years later, I interviewed forCatalunya Ràdioto Lluís Sans, manager of the Santa Eulalia stores, who confirmed to me that in Barcelona "unfortunately, there has been a bit of an abuse of thecasual", a phenomenon that, although global, was especially prevalent in our city. For Sans, it was not about always dressing formally but with intentionality. That is, to be elegant, it was not necessary to look like we had just come from having an aperitif at the mythical Sandor.
But, in Barcelona, can everyone really dress however they want? Well, it depends. For example, the Twenties nightclub explains on its website that "knowing how to dress is key to not having problems getting into most of the trendy nightclubs in the city" and details how to do it to avoid "a bouncer giving you a hard time." It then lists how boys and girls should dress. In the case of girls, it adds: "If you have shaved hair, very short hair, or an unusual color, sometimes it can be a reason in some chic nightclubs in the city not to let you in." And it recommends: "If that's your case, try a little harder so they don't notice." By wearing a hat? A wig? It doesn't say how.
In the West, dress codes have been relaxing with the argument that the dress code is old-fashioned and elitist, although some think that with everyone going as they please, we have gone too farParadoxically, at the Gran Teatre del Liceu ---for some people, the height of elitism, especially for those who have never set foot in it--- there is no dress code. In fact, opera houses around the world have been fighting for years to shake off this label. Not long ago, The English National Opera launched a campaign starring Damon Albarn (Blur, Gorillaz) and Terry Gilliam (ex-Monty Python) to demonstrate that opera was not a dull show for old millionaires dressed in formal wear. Rupert Myers, a lawyer and writer, dedicated a critical column to it with a title that is already a declaration of intent: "It's not elitist to dress up for the opera" (The Guardian, October 4, 2012). Myers ---citing novelist David Mitchell--- considered that for men, putting on a jacket is a tremendously reassuring way to look unusually intelligent ---verybritish all of it--- and that it is also totally democratic because you can buy a jacket at M&S for less than what a pair of sneakers costs you. He concludes that dressing up is part of the opera experience in the same way that football or rugby fans dress in the same colors as the players on the field.
So, dressing up, in a way, is wanting to be part of the show, whatever it may be and wherever it takes place.
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