Club bans metro-sexual attire

[D7M]

http://www.perthnow.com.au/lifestyle...-1226000693974

PERTH bars and clubs risk flouting Equal Opportunity laws by implementing bizarre dress rules such as a ban on "metrosexual" attire.

Engineering student Benjamin Chalk is offended by a banner at the front of Library nightclub in Northbridge that reads "Strictly No Metrosexual Attire".

The banner is displayed every second Friday, during the Library's Dorcia Fridays event.

The Sunday Times recently saw Dorcia staff turn away confused male punters in collared shirts and dress shoes, explaining they were "too dressed-up", while women were welcomed in formal dress.

Men wearing shorts and trainers were also allowed in.

But Dorcia promoter Scott Mellor said he was not discriminating.

"Girls can get in with jeans and trainers, too," he said. "There is no differentiation between men and women."

Mr Mellor said he introduced the dress code after noticing there were fewer places to go to and feel comfortable.

"A lot of nightclubs in Perth negate personal style," he said. "I've taken the exact dress codes of Subiaco clubs and inverted them."

Mr Mellor also forbids low-cut, V-neck T-shirts, skinny jeans, tight T-shirts, shirts with numbers on them, pointed white shoes and visible neck chains.

"A short chain and tight T-shirt is an aggressive style," Mr Mellor said.

WA Equal Opportunity Commissioner Yvonne Henderson, who did not want to comment on specific venues, said because "metrosexual" was used to describe males, it could be classified as discriminatory.

"Any venue policies that treat one sex less favourably than another in similar circumstances would almost certainly be breaching the Equal Opportunity Act," Ms Henderson said.

"This may include stricter dress codes where women are allowed to wear certain attire and men are not, given that community standards accepts that attire on both men and women.

"The Equal Opportunity Act requires that comparable community standards in relation to dress are applied to men and women. This does not mean identical clothes, but substantial difference in standard would be a breach of the Act."

Another event at the Library, called Sneaky, has specific bans for men only.

"Males are not allowed to enter with thick gold and silver neck chains, Ed Hardy and Tapout brand clothing, as well as gold and silver print T-shirts," a Sneaky promoter said.

Mullet hairstyles and rats tails are also banned, as are "large groups of guys".

Sneaky gives priority entry to women, with a promoter stating: "All girls can enter Sneaky via the VIP queue to receive priority entry."

Devilles Pad in East Perth and Malt Supper Club in Mt Lawley promote themselves as over-25s venues.

According to its website, Devilles allows "select" under-25s if they are "well dressed and display a respectful, mature-minded attitude".

Ms Henderson said the equal Opportunity Act outlawed age discrimination against people who were eligible to enter a bar or club.

"Giving preference to people over a certain legal drinking age could be breaching the Act," Ms Henderson said.

A doorman at Northbridge bar Ezra Pound recently asked an employee of The Sunday Times to remove his tie to gain entry.

Once inside, a barman allegedly said the policy was in place to deter "salary slaves and pretentious types", terms that Ezra Pound manager Jan Kulski said she did not endorse.

"If there are a large proportion of customers on a Friday, he (our doorman) will encourage patrons to remove or loosen ties so they are dressed more casually," she said. "This avoids the risk of alienating other customers who are trying to avoid venues like The George."

Ms Henderson said a man could argue that a ban on ties could be regarded as sex discrimination as women generally do not wear ties.

"This argument could be successful if women dressed to a level of formality similar to a tie (but) were not asked to dress down," Ms Henderson said.

Ae'lkemi designer and director Alvin Fernandez, whose "stylish European menswear" brand includes skinny leg jeans, said any ban on metrosexual attire was bizarre.

"Metrosexual style is a more trendy way of dressing and I think it's better to be overdressed than underdressed," he said.

It was a case of brains over brawn recently when lawyer John Hammond fronted burly door staff at Gold Nightclub accompanied by a mate wearing white sneakers.

Denied entry due to the dress code, the legal eagle took his buddy around the corner, he removed his own socks and gave them to his mate to slip over the sneakers.

The pair strolled back to the front door, where a confused bouncer eyed the updated shoes and let the smug pair into the club, to enjoy the Wednesday night frivolities.

Mr Hammond was last seen heading home to air out his Italian designer footwear.

[DSM4Life]

[D7M]

^wtf?

[Flagg]

I dont get that picture either.

Anywho, "Perth risks flouting equal opportunity laws", what a load of shit.

Every place of business can impose pretty much, any dress code they like. If this place doesnt want guys dressing like metrosexual pansies, then so be it. It's their dollar, and they obviously want a certain clientele.

And how is this discriminating against anyone? They don't like a certain type of look, so they are enforcing a crack down on detering said type of look.

[D7M]

I dont get that picture either.

Anywho, "Perth risks flouting equal opportunity laws", what a load of shit.

Every place of business can impose pretty much, any dress code they like. If this place doesnt want guys dressing like metrosexual pansies, then so be it. It's their dollar, and they obviously want a certain clientele.

And how is this discriminating against anyone? They don't like a certain type of look, so they are enforcing a crack down on detering said type of look.

Perfectly said!

[dec11]

some of these pansies dont knw wat to be, male or female. never seen as much preening in my life as in some of these girly boys these days.

[DSM4Life]

I dont get that picture either.

Anywho, "Perth risks flouting equal opportunity laws", what a load of shit.

Every place of business can impose pretty much, any dress code they like. If this place doesnt want guys dressing like metrosexual pansies, then so be it. It's their dollar, and they obviously want a certain clientele.

And how is this discriminating against anyone? They don't like a certain type of look, so they are enforcing a crack down on detering said type of look.

I totally agree but i think there is a huge gray area here. I use to work at a place that enforced a dress code after 9PM. One policy was all men had to wear their hat (baseball caps) to the front or remove them. I felt really weird telling other people how to dress but it was displayed on a sign at the door "After 9Pm dress code......." So how far are we allowed to take this ? Can i advertise "dress code: No cheap clothing?" Can i remove people who wear K-mart as oppose to Banana Republic ? Can i advertise "No black people after 8PM?" I just feel like its a slippery slope. It can easily be argued either way.

[D7M]

The thing that boggles my mind is HOW exactly they get into those ridiculous "skinny" jeans!

[dec11]

I totally agree but i think there is a huge gray area here. I use to work at a place that enforced a dress code after 9PM. One policy was all men had to wear their hat (baseball caps) to the front or remove them. I felt really weird telling other people how to dress but it was displayed on a sign at the door "After 9Pm dress code......." So how far are we allowed to take this ? Can i advertise "dress code: No cheap clothing?" Can i remove people who wear K-mart as oppose to Banana Republic ? Can i advertise "No black people after 8PM?" I just feel like its a slippery slope. It can easily be argued either way.

nope, thts racisim. i worked the door at club which had strict rules about who gets in, you can turn anyone away if you like, there is no law tp prevent you from doing so, in ireland anyhow. some low lives would bring disabled friends with them and then try to use that in court to pursue a claim for discrimination

[DSM4Life]

I dont get that picture either.

Anywho, "Perth risks flouting equal opportunity laws", what a load of shit.

Every place of business can impose pretty much, any dress code they like. If this place doesnt want guys dressing like metrosexual pansies, then so be it. It's their dollar, and they obviously want a certain clientele.

And how is this discriminating against anyone? They don't like a certain type of look, so they are enforcing a crack down on detering said type of look.

I would also like to add more on this. Do you agree Flagg that Planet Fitness does then have the right to ban people for grunting too loud ? Just curious.

[chi]

weird but they are just trying to drum up business with that so it intrigues people to come out and see what its all about.

[DSM4Life]

nope, thts racisim. i worked the door at club who had strict rules about gets in, you can turn anyone away if you like, there is no law tp prevent you from doing so, in ireland anyhow. some low lives would bring disabled friends with them and then try to use that in court to pursue a claim for discrimination

What of one of the rules at your club was that you were not allowed to wear ANY clothing on your head (hats etc). You have a female cancer patient that is going through recovery wearing a bandanna. Do you tell her she has to remove it or your going to escort her ?

[D7M]

What of one of the rules at your club was that you were not allowed to wear ANY clothing on your head (hats etc). You have a female cancer patient that is going through recovery wearing a bandanna. Do you tell her she has to remove it or your going to escort her ?

Sure. she can go to another club. It's not sad or unfortunate, it's just the rules of that establishment.

[dec11]

What of one of the rules at your club was that you were not allowed to wear ANY clothing on your head (hats etc). You have a female cancer patient that is going through recovery wearing a bandanna. Do you tell her she has to remove it or your going to escort her ?

well if someone was obviousily ill, we used our common sense. we used the dress code more as a tool to stop the scumbags and undesirables, hats werent a big prob on certain nights. w'ends were generally more 'dressy'

[DSM4Life]

Sure. she can go to another club. It's not sad or unfortunate, it's just the rules of that establishment.

If you are the owner are you ready to face the media on this ? "Club owner bans cancer patient." I am not saying your wrong i am just pointing out these gray areas. Doesn't matter if you are right in this situation you will lose and so will your business.

[crazy_rocks]

one thing i do hate is when men wear t shirts with those really short sleeves like its suppose to be hot or something

[Flagg]

I totally agree but i think there is a huge gray area here. I use to work at a place that enforced a dress code after 9PM. One policy was all men had to wear their hat (baseball caps) to the front or remove them. I felt really weird telling other people how to dress but it was displayed on a sign at the door "After 9Pm dress code......." So how far are we allowed to take this ? Can i advertise "dress code: No cheap clothing?" Can i remove people who wear K-mart as oppose to Banana Republic ? Can i advertise "No black people after 8PM?" I just feel like its a slippery slope. It can easily be argued either way.

Banning someone for the colour of their skin is blatant racism. Dress Code is nothing new, for instance if someone invited you to a party and stated it was Black Tie, you wouldn't turn up in street wear, nor would you have any grounds to complain if you were then, not invited into said party. I don't think it has nothing to do with a walking a fine line. For instance, you go to a Job Interview, and you would naturally go in a suit or shirt and tie at the least. You imagine the impression you would give if you just turned up in a pair of baggy jeans, hanging halfway down the back of your legs and wearing a baseball cap backwards?

A few resteraunts advertise for people to wear shirts and shoes.

Yeah i'd feel a bit of a wally telling people what they can or cant wear, but you're only enforcing the rules. If you had your own place of business, would you allow any dress code? A gym wouldnt let you workout if you rocked up in a suit or shoes every day.

As for Planet Fitness banning people for "grunting", is this their actual policy? It depends on what they qualify a grunt, I mean sometimes i'll make a bit of noise on that last rep on that last set, but some people are just loud for no good reason at all. But overall, yeah..i would see it as a bit extreme for a gym to ban people for making noise, as gyms arent, or not supposed to be, social hubs.

If certain places deter the wearing of hats, they are CLEARLY trying to deter a certain type of clientele. I don't think a business would turn away a cancer patient who has a head wrap, though it wouldn't surprise me to learn it's happened.

At the end of the day, there is a lot of snobbery :P

Edit: Dec11 has pretty much summed it up. Dress codes exist to turn away, what that place deems, an undesirable.

[layeazy]

yeah its clever advertising as Perth is great tourist attraction for the Europeans and american backpackers.

[Shol'va]

[Shol'va]

[layeazy]

fhhahaha funny stuff

[Noles12]

Sounds about like where i worked once except it was more based on race. I was the door guy at a club and the owner told me to not let in anyone in really baggy clothes. He then proceeded to whisper pretty much if they are black dont let them in.

Well i am in no way racist and didnt want to do that. So i start letting everyone through and he comes up and chews me out about it. For the next two months i worked there i was having to turn down people based on the color of their skin and it really pissed me off. I would get into to arguments with guys because they said i was racist since white guys would come in dressed the same way. It sucked. The owner was Albanian and would let any Albanian come in dressed how they wanted.

Looking back now im mad at myself for not quitting sooner

[Twist]

Sounds about like where i worked once except it was more based on race. I was the door guy at a club and the owner told me to not let in anyone in really baggy clothes. He then proceeded to whisper pretty much if they are black dont let them in.

Well i am in no way racist and didnt want to do that. So i start letting everyone through and he comes up and chews me out about it. For the next two months i worked there i was having to turn down people based on the color of their skin and it really pissed me off. I would get into to arguments with guys because they said i was racist since white guys would come in dressed the same way. It sucked. The owner was Albanian and would let any Albanian come in dressed how they wanted.

Looking back now im mad at myself for not quitting sooner

You could have sued.

I would like to state that I am not racist, sexist, homophobic etc... But I can't understand why the government is allowed to tell people who they have to let onto their private property. In DSM's comments above, if I had a rule that said no baseball caps and someone (no matter who) wanted to come in with a baseball cap, and I wasn't there to personally approve it, I would not want that person let in. If some asshole doesn't want black/white/hispanic, or whatever race, on his property then why should someone say that he has to let them in? I would say do what you want, but people should make the right decision on where to go with their business.
If it is a publicly traded company or it is something necessary like a grocery store or pharmacy or something, then everyone should be let in.

Wondering what everyones thoughts are on this.

[Bojangles69]

On one hand I think sure they own the business they should be able to do whatever they wish, on another hand I think some of these places take it way too far. If I ever got kicked out a place for wearing a tight shirt I'd wanna firebomb the club. I couldn't imagine why type of anger would be illicted telling certain races they couldn't come through the door. And then you actually put at risk anyone who IS allowed to come into the club. You'd have groups of the races that weren't allowed in hanging outside the club ready to jump any of the "racist" customers who came out. And soon a place like that would get names like "kkk club" and it would quickly put the place out of business w/out even needing any kind of government intervention.

As far as clothes go I wouldn't be found dead in this club. You're going to kick me out for wearing a tight sure? Well guess what? I'm going to go on facebook and have people boycott your lame little club. You're free to keep me out, and I'm free to give you as much bad publicity as I can. So in the end I almost say let any business owner do what they want. If they take it too far regardless of who comes in to raise the flag eventually its just not going to work out well anyway.

Overall I think this is cheap marketing tactics. The more a club can seem like they're different then the rest the more idiots will flock there to wanna get drunk. But eventually if the place is shit the place is shit. It might get people through the door but its definitely not going to keep them coming back. And if I ever walked into a club that told me I couldn't wear a tie, and proceeded to walk through the doors then saw chandeliers and fancy gold fountains on the dance floor I'd take a shit right on the bar and tell managment to suck my cock. My favorite places to go are places that have very little no dress code at all. I mean a lot of places do, but most the places I go to either have 1 or 2 bs rules (like no sneakers) or they don't even really enforce is with an iron hand.

So in summation, whether its right or wrong I still think its pretty fvckn gay.

[Friend]

Far too lenient imo. The death penalty would be more suitable.

[Flagg]

You could have sued.

I would like to state that I am not racist, sexist, homophobic etc... But I can't understand why the government is allowed to tell people who they have to let onto their private property. In DSM's comments above, if I had a rule that said no baseball caps and someone (no matter who) wanted to come in with a baseball cap, and I wasn't there to personally approve it, I would not want that person let in. If some asshole doesn't want black/white/hispanic, or whatever race, on his property then why should someone say that he has to let them in? I would say do what you want, but people should make the right decision on where to go with their business.
If it is a publicly traded company or it is something necessary like a grocery store or pharmacy or something, then everyone should be let in.

Wondering what everyones thoughts are on this.

The only difference with the Albanian guy, is that he is saying his reason for not letting in black people was based on their baggy clothing, regardless of any white people wearing the same. Never in a million years is he going to say "No black people". It's a shame because he is just a massive racists and a liar.

I agree though, the Government should have NO RIGHT to tell you who you can and cant let in, however im pretty sure that Albanian guy could have been fined at the very least, unless he could have catagorically stated why black people shouldnt be let into his club. He clearly wouldnt be and its all about his prejustices, if it was any other reason then he'd have been boldly able to say :"No Black People". He clearly knows its wrong.

EDIT: Not to sound patronising, but some of you are trying to equate a dress code, no matter how bizarre, to racism. Racism and dress codes are two TOTALLY DIFFERENT THINGS and trying to find a similarity is just the kind of the thing the rabble rousing media like to do. If someone is racist, they are racist and thats it. Society today says that racism is wrong, and rightfully so, however people will always look for a more "sociably" acceptable reason to subjugate someone of a different race, because they know racism is not acceptable.

I really dont see what race and this business in Perth banning metrosexual dress code has to do with one another. It's like "race" has become the new Godwin argument, whereby any debate, left to go on long enough, will invariably come back to Hitler and Jews, killing all credibility of the argument.

[DSM4Life]

The only difference with the Albanian guy, is that he is saying his reason for not letting in black people was based on their baggy clothing, regardless of any white people wearing the same. Never in a million years is he going to say "No black people". It's a shame because he is just a massive racists and a liar.

I agree though, the Government should have NO RIGHT to tell you who you can and cant let in, however im pretty sure that Albanian guy could have been fined at the very least, unless he could have catagorically stated why black people shouldnt be let into his club. He clearly wouldnt be and its all about his prejustices, if it was any other reason then he'd have been boldly able to say :"No Black People". He clearly knows its wrong.

EDIT: Not to sound patronising, but some of you are trying to equate a dress code, no matter how bizarre, to racism. Racism and dress codes are two TOTALLY DIFFERENT THINGS and trying to find a similarity is just the kind of the thing the rabble rousing media like to do. If someone is racist, they are racist and thats it. Society today says that racism is wrong, and rightfully so, however people will always look for a more "sociably" acceptable reason to subjugate someone of a different race, because they know racism is not acceptable.

I really dont see what race and this business in Perth banning metrosexual dress code has to do with one another. It's like "race" has become the new Godwin argument, whereby any debate, left to go on long enough, will invariably come back to Hitler and Jews, killing all credibility of the argument.

It was a leap going from clothing to skin color but i think the main point was based on if a owner can do what he/she wants with their business.

[Flagg]

It was a leap going from clothing to skin color but i think the main point was based on if a owner can do what he/she wants with their business.

Well, Dress Code can be good for business, depending on who you want to attract, or more specifically, whose wallets you want to attack. If a business, any business said "No black people" they would get hammered in the press and wouldn't attract hardly anyone. Technically though, a business owner can do what he or she likes and I would hate for the Government to turn round and say "Well, we know its yours, you built it from the ground up, but we want you to run it our way". You cant tell me if you owned a nightclub, and you had a dress code of something like smart casual to deter the losers/junkies/wannabe thugs/etc, the government then said to you "You have to make your club accessible to EVERYONE, no matter what they look like"

I think the metrosexual look, looks utterly ridiculous, but I don't know why you would want to turn that look away, as guys that dress like that are usually fairly placid and dont start trouble at all, but i recognise a good percentage of young males dress that way, so it seems like you are cutting off a demographic that would happily spend money in your bars and clubs.

[DSM4Life]

Well, Dress Code can be good for business, depending on who you want to attract, or more specifically, whose wallets you want to attack. If a business, any business said "No black people" they would get hammered in the press and wouldn't attract hardly anyone. Technically though, a business owner can do what he or she likes and I would hate for the Government to turn round and say "Well, we know its yours, you built it from the ground up, but we want you to run it our way". You cant tell me if you owned a nightclub, and you had a dress code of something like smart casual to deter the losers/junkies/wannabe thugs/etc, the government then said to you "You have to make your club accessible to EVERYONE, no matter what they look like"

I think the metrosexual look, looks utterly ridiculous, but I don't know why you would want to turn that look away, as guys that dress like that are usually fairly placid and dont start trouble at all, but i recognise a good percentage of young males dress that way, so it seems like you are cutting off a demographic that would happily spend money in your bars and clubs.

Aren't we running it sort of their way ? If i build something from the ground up i do have rules. I have to allow everyone because the government says so. What if i wanted an all white club ? I can't do that. What if i wanted a gay club that didn't allow straight people ? I couldn't do that either.

I totally agree with a dress code but again where is the line drawn on a owner can/can't do with his business ?

[Flagg]

Aren't we running it sort of their way ? If i build something from the ground up i do have rules. I have to allow everyone because the government says so. What if i wanted an all white club ? I can't do that. What if i wanted a gay club that didn't allow straight people ? I couldn't do that either.

I totally agree with a dress code but again where is the line drawn on a owner can/can't do with his business ?

Well it's conforming to social norms, however don't quote me on this and it could be different in other countries, im not sure there are any laws that state you must let all genders, sexual preferences and race into your privately owned establishment. If you wanted a Club that said "No blacks" im pretty sure you could do that. It would be TERRIBLE FOR BUSINESS as no one would want to go there for obvious reasons, but if you really wanted to, you could have a club that said "No heterosexuals", again though...how well would that go over with the public? It's a funny thing, the more tolerant we become, the more afraid we are of offending someone, and it creates this kind of paradigm whereby people adhere to certain things and ways because of what is socially acceptable at the time.

Time will tell whether this thing in Perth will be a bone headed move. It comes across to me as a very petty type of dress code but I guess one bars ban, is another bars gain as those people will simply go else where.

[DSM4Life]

Well it's conforming to social norms, however don't quote me on this and it could be different in other countries, im not sure there are any laws that state you must let all genders, sexual preferences and race into your privately owned establishment. If you wanted a Club that said "No blacks" im pretty sure you could do that. It would be TERRIBLE FOR BUSINESS as no one would want to go there for obvious reasons, but if you really wanted to, you could have a club that said "No heterosexuals", again though...how well would that go over with the public? It's a funny thing, the more tolerant we become, the more afraid we are of offending someone, and it creates this kind of paradigm whereby people adhere to certain things and ways because of what is socially acceptable at the time.

Time will tell whether this thing in Perth will be a bone headed move. It comes across to me as a very petty type of dress code but I guess one bars ban, is another bars gain as those people will simply go else where.

There are discrimination law that prohibit that. I can't link to laws right now since I'm on my iPhone.

[Flagg]

There are discrimination law that prohibit that. I can't link to laws right now since I'm on my iPhone.

Mate, i've only just discovered that Zzyz thread, which answers what is up with your Avy, but seriously, that Zzyz twat is probably why the Metrosexual look is being banned in Perth! LOL

[muscle_dysmorphia]

You guys think this is bad??? LOL.

Have you ever been to some of the 'local' bars in Southern States???

Damn man.. if someone dressed like that and came into a bar in Mt. Pleasant, UT.... well... first off they wouldn't be allowed to take 1 step in the bar, and they probably wouldn't be walking anymore. That's for sure.

Discrimination happens everywhere on a daily basis.

Even in the GOOD OLE' U.S. OF MOTHERF***ING A!!!!!

[DSM4Life]

Mate, i've only just discovered that Zzyz thread, which answers what is up with your Avy, but seriously, that Zzyz twat is probably why the Metrosexual look is being banned in Perth! LOL

I been on a Zyzz kick for the past couple days.

[songdog]

Why do people always got to mind f--k something to death? A person owns a club.He or she wants to have people dress nice.Rules like that help keep rif raf out.But you got to use common sense.I worked the door at a few places years ago.You can wat if anything if you want to.But why must you.The rules are there.Obey or go some where else.