Dress code for restaurant staff

Long ago I remembered that we always dressed up to eat out at a restaurant. Some pubs have a dress code. Really gets my goat screaming kids running around. My parents taught us how to behave in social situations, and we passed that to both my children and grandchildren.

Back in the 80s, to earn extra money, I used to be a waitress at the Spurs restaurant in Tottenham. Our dress code was extremely decent and proper, white blouses and black skirts with tights!
The tips were good.

I did once complain about a waitress, that was back in the 1960s and I was in my early 20s. I used to lunch in a little cafe, all squashy seating and low coffee tables, quite tightly packed.

One of the waitresses wore a skirt so short that when she bent to clear a table, as she wasn't wearing tights, the skirt went right up and you face was almost in her bum crack. It wasn't very pleasant.

I could have said nothing and gone elsewhere, but the food was good and reasonable, so I just had a quiet word with the manager and drew her attention to the problem, which she understood immediately.

After that the waitress wore trousers.

Whitewavemark2

I suppose it depends where you eat really. The smarter the restaurant, the smarter the clothes worn by the staff.

Personally I think ripped jeans a bit naff. - but each to their own.

As for tattoos - I second the sailor image, but also wonder how those tattoos on young skin will fare as that skin ages and wrinkles?

Plus of course fashion will change and it will become very passé - then what?

I really dislike visible tattoos, any facial hair. But I have no choice in such, apart from not going. My usual - don't leave home - works well.

I suppose it depends where you eat really. The smarter the restaurant, the smarter the clothes worn by the staff.

Personally I think ripped jeans a bit naff. - but each to their own.

As for tattoos - I second the sailor image, but also wonder how those tattoos on young skin will fare as that skin ages and wrinkles?

Plus of course fashion will change and it will become very passé - then what?

Having eaten out twice in the last 2 days, an Indian restaurant and a pub, the uniform code in both seemed to be 'wear all black', with the staff member left to interprete that as they would. The girls wore skirts or trousers, the boys tops were tshirts, shirts or polos.

It hsn't changed much since my waitressing days in the mid 1960s. I had to wear all black or navy with the additionof a little nylon apron, washed out over night and worn the next day.

My favourite pair of faded, slightly ripped and fraying jeans expired today, very miffed.

Thank you for all your replies. It is interesting to get other views. Perhaps I need to rethink my feelings about ripped jeans. I might even treat myself to a pair!

V3ra -
I could understand no coats but (probably because I don't have an anorak-type jacket) I was thinking of suit jackets and the sort of jacket I might wear instead of a cardigan! Obviously you are right 🙄 - ha ha.

I was imagining them wrestling people out of suit jackets which sounded ridiculous (because it is).

Your mistake is thinking ripped jeans are casual - they’re not. They’re deliberately curated to give a specific look, so the waitstaff actually are dressing up. I’d actually much prefer people to be able to wear their own clothes with an apron over than a uniform - that seems so stuffy to me, and even the expensive restaurants I go to on occasion don’t seem to demand that anymore.

I love tattoos - they always have a story behind them, even if that story is just “it seemed a good idea at the time…”

Hithere

Tattoos represent a personal journey

We've all been on a personal journey. It's called life. But we don't all need to mutilate our bodies as we go along. Maybe we should remember our bodies are precious and should be treasured and cared for. Our skin is a miracle, it wraps and protects our internal organs and is self-healing, unlike ripped jeans!

Glad I haven’t been on that journey then!

Hithere

Tattoos represent a personal journey

👍

Tattoos represent a personal journey

I accept that it’s entirely up to the individual but I really don’t like to see tattoos on ladies unless it’s something small and discreet. My hairdresser is truly beautiful, and if I dare conflate the two, well educated, but her lovely young skin is covered in tattoos . I really hate to see acres of exposed skin on women, covered in tattoos. I don’t understand why they mutilate themselves in this way. As the skin ages it looks even worse. Perhaps someone with extensive tattoos could explain - I wouldn’t dream of asking my hairdresser.

Germanshepherdsmum

I have never understood why people have tattoos.

When I think of tattoos, I have this image of a tough-looking, bearded sailor smoking a pipe (or a "Woodbine") and sitting by the edge of a dock waiting to moor a big ship looming in the distance - with a tattoo on his muscular arm showing an anchor plus a heart underneath with the inscription "Mother" .

What some people call standards, others think it is snobbish

Coats and jackets are to be placed in the cloakroom upon entry. I don't know what they do if you want to actually wear your jacket inside...

I read that as an outdoor, anorak-type of jacket. I wouldn't want to eat my meal wearing one.
I wouldn't expect them to ask someone to take off a suit-type of jacket.

I've got ripped jeans. I didn't buy them ripped, they just wore out Most of the staff in the pubs/restaurants wear black trousers and white shirts which look nice.

If we eat in a pub or restaurant my preference would be the wait staff in black trousers and white tops, however nobody cares what I think. Assuming the staff will dress as told/ allowed, we'd leave if the staff, clothing, or location wasn't clean enough to suit us. I dislike tattoos, body piercings, facial hair, excess makeup - but I realize we're not all the same, so I ignore.

Joseanne

Check out Fred Sirieix starting on E4 tonight. He knows his restaurant stuff and what is required.

I suppose if the restaurant has a dress-code for clients it would be a bit odd to have a "wear what you like" attitude to staff!

Here is their dress code for customers:
Dress Code -No sportswear. Smart casual attire is required for dinner. Coats and jackets are to be placed in the cloakroom upon entry
I don't know what they do if you want to actually wear your jacket inside...

I have never understood why people have tattoos.

Oh dear to those who don't like tattoo's. I have rather alot of them dotted around my body

KWEST That reminds me of my uncle who was horrified when I wore patchwork jeans he told me my GF who had been a bespoke tailor would be ashamed of me !
Honestly? My mother whose dad it was used to tell stories of how he sat up all night hand sewing the latest fashion for her even though HER mother wasn't keen on some of it .
It has always been this way my dad used to tell me I'd get arrested for indecent exposure ....lol Mum told him it was fashion and you're as well dead as out of fashion when you're young .

We just got back from a birthday evening meal at the local Japanese restaurant. All the female staff were wearing kimonos and the males an embroidered black tunic, Japanese born or not. It was lovely and helped to create the atmosphere. Just an ordinary restaurant, not a ‘posh’ one.