# Senate says goodbye to dress code **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [September 20, 2023, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senate-says-goodbye-to-dress-code/990409 "2023-09-20T06:05:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2023, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senate-says-goodbye-to-dress-code/990409/1 "2023-09-20T06:05:05Z")
The unofficial dress code for the US Senate has been done away with. Senators no longer have to wear business attire. Gift link for WaPo article: > **[The Senate chucks its unwritten dress code. Bring on the gym shorts!](https://www.washingtonpost.com/style/power/2023/09/19/senate-dress-code-changes/?pwapi_token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJyZWFzb24iOiJnaWZ0IiwibmJmIjoxNjk1MDk2MDAwLCJpc3MiOiJzdWJzY3JpcHRpb25zIiwiZXhwIjoxNjk2NDc4Mzk5LCJpYXQiOjE2OTUwOTYwMDAsImp0aSI6IjAwMWIzZTk4LTU3ZDgtNDFhOS1iYzJlLTBjZjY1MDA4NjdkMCIsInVybCI6Imh0dHBzOi8vd3d3Lndhc2hpbmd0b25wb3N0LmNvbS9zdHlsZS9wb3dlci8yMDIzLzA5LzE5L3NlbmF0ZS1kcmVzcy1jb2RlLWNoYW5nZXMvIn0.N9voOeW8O1_Y0Hacy2cQtANknJsbuHuEU6wvfESVSFY&itid=gfta)** > > This is phenomenal news for sartorial renegades John Fetterman (D-Pa.) and Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.) > [@](#): > > “The Senate no longer enforcing a dress code for Senators to appease Fetterman is disgraceful,” [tweeted](https://twitter.com/RepMTG/status/1703492525498020129) Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), who for this year’s State of the Union address wore [a Cruella-like ecru wool coat that had a hood trimmed with alpaca fur](https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2023/02/08/marjorie-taylor-greene-coat-state-union/?itid=lk_inline_manual_24). “Dress code is one of society’s standards that set etiquette and respect for our institutions. Stop lowering the bar!” You know you’ve entered BizarroWorld when you get lectured about etiquette by MTG. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2023, 6:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senate-says-goodbye-to-dress-code/990409/2 "2023-09-20T06:41:25Z")
How do you get rid of an unwritten rule? ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2023, 6:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senate-says-goodbye-to-dress-code/990409/3 "2023-09-20T06:45:57Z")
You tell the person who enforces it to stop enforcing it. In this case, the Senate Sergeant-at-Arms. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2023, 7:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senate-says-goodbye-to-dress-code/990409/4 "2023-09-20T07:14:20Z")
How did they enforce an unwritten rule, then? If a Senator showed up in the chamber without a tie (or in a Grateful Dead t-shirt) what was the Sergeant-at-Arms going to do about it? There’s no book he can point to that gives him the authority to keep that senator out. I’ve heard the same thing about unwritten rules in baseball, like you don’t bunt if the opposing pitcher is working on a no-hitter. Break the rule and some sportswriter might squawk about it, but there’s no means to enforce it. Unwritten rules only work to the extent that a bunch of people agree to follow them. If someone comes along who doesn’t agree to it, they don’t. So how do you officially repeal a rule that was never officially instated and written down? ---
**Author:** ![Dissonance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/85f322/32.png) [@Dissonance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dissonance)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2023, 7:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senate-says-goodbye-to-dress-code/990409/5 "2023-09-20T07:32:55Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > How do you get rid of an unwritten rule? Logically you’d umm… write it down? I didn’t say it would make any sense, just that its logical. ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2023, 9:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senate-says-goodbye-to-dress-code/990409/6 "2023-09-20T09:26:40Z")
You enforce it through peer pressure, I guess. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2023, 9:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senate-says-goodbye-to-dress-code/990409/7 "2023-09-20T09:45:23Z")
Clothing styles and norms change over time. If the Senate hadn’t adapted already Senators would still be wearing powdered wigs. ---
**Author:** ![Stratocaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stratocaster/32/16393_2.png) [@Stratocaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stratocaster)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2023, 10:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senate-says-goodbye-to-dress-code/990409/8 "2023-09-20T10:04:41Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > How did they enforce an unwritten rule, then? If a Senator showed up in the chamber without a tie (or in a Grateful Dead t-shirt) what was the Sergeant-at-Arms going to do about it? He wouldn’t permit you to enter the chamber if you weren’t wearing a tie, same as he wouldn’t if you showed up with an AR-15 hanging on your shoulder. If you demanded he show you the rule that gives him the authority, he’d say, “Listen, Senator SovCit, we can debate this all day, but you are not getting in until you don your clip-on.” Repeat as necessary. ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2023, 11:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senate-says-goodbye-to-dress-code/990409/9 "2023-09-20T11:15:42Z")
Didn’t Ted Cruz show up in sweats one time to vote? ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2023, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senate-says-goodbye-to-dress-code/990409/10 "2023-09-20T12:00:44Z")
Hey - maybe this will attract more qualified candidates! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Kropotkin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kropotkin/32/18045_2.png) [@Kropotkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kropotkin)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2023, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senate-says-goodbye-to-dress-code/990409/11 "2023-09-20T12:18:45Z")
I kinda wish they’d made and continued to enforce that rule ---
**Author:** ![rocking\_chair](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocking_chair/32/2918_2.png) [@rocking\_chair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rocking_chair)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2023, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senate-says-goodbye-to-dress-code/990409/12 "2023-09-20T12:46:06Z")
senators would be just outside the door and lean in the door to vote. the change in code means they could go into the chamber. the soa would stop them at the door if men did not have a tie. both parties would lean in, it wasn’t just one senator. the pit thread has picture of republican senators in casual or work out clothes, leaning in to vote. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2023, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senate-says-goodbye-to-dress-code/990409/13 "2023-09-20T14:00:25Z")
Right. OTOH in the House, they use e-voting-card stations located in the chamber or as exceptions vote by voice from one of the floor mics, so you have to be _inside_ (during lockdown/distancing they enacted proxy voting so a reduced number of members would be inside and they’d read the vote of those who had signed off on the proxy). ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2023, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senate-says-goodbye-to-dress-code/990409/14 "2023-09-20T14:35:47Z")
Give him some slack… he had probably just molted, and his new scales were tender! ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2023, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senate-says-goodbye-to-dress-code/990409/15 "2023-09-20T14:36:52Z")
He was fresh from his soup-cocoon. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2023, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senate-says-goodbye-to-dress-code/990409/16 "2023-09-20T18:13:45Z")
When I first heard about this, I was somewhat disappointed. I mean, come on. Respect the Position. But upon further reflection, these people do not respect the position. They are clowns, slobs and Scumbags. Put them in a suit, and it doesn’t change that. They might as well look like clowns, slobs and Scumbags. How long until we see Cavanaugh sitting on the bench with one of those hats with Beer holders on the sides? ---
**Author:** ![XOldiesJock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/ec9cab/32.png) [@XOldiesJock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XOldiesJock)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2023, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senate-says-goodbye-to-dress-code/990409/17 "2023-09-20T18:55:54Z")
Considering the number who are allowed in without a brain, what they are wearing should be a minor issue. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2023, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senate-says-goodbye-to-dress-code/990409/18 "2023-09-20T20:55:54Z")
> ---
**Author:** ![flurb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/51bf81/32.png) [@flurb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flurb)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2023, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senate-says-goodbye-to-dress-code/990409/19 "2023-09-20T21:07:16Z")
This is fine. ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2023, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senate-says-goodbye-to-dress-code/990409/20 "2023-09-20T21:09:09Z")
and (seriously) That is why I voted Fetterman! [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senate-says-goodbye-to-dress-code/990409.md?page=2)