[CarGuys]

PS-

Safe Trip Trish. See you when we get down there.

H

[njbchbum]

Originally Posted by Trish Crocker

Thanks everyone!! Now I don't have to repack or (uurrg!) PAY for another bag containing dress clothes at the airport. The last time we came down, we were very careful to weigh our suitcases to make sure they were under 50lbs...only to find out the allowable weight was changed to 40. The thing that made me mad was I would rather have paid for an additional piece of luggage then pay $25 because my suitcase was a few pounds too heavy. Ah well, live and learn.

as a former employee of the state agency that was responsible for the state weights and measures office i learned that when you are as sure as you can be that your bag meets the weight limit and the counter clerk tells you it is slightly over...challenge the clerk politely by asking to have it weighed on one or two other scales...or ask when the scale being used was last checked and certified as 'true'...odds are that you will get varying weights and you can hope that at least one of them will be in your favor...the request to know when the accuracy of the scale being used was last certified is often flustering and the clerk will waive you on. it's always worth a try if you would rather spend your $25 someplace else!

[Trish Crocker]

Originally Posted by njbchbum

as a former employee of the state agency that was responsible for the state weights and measures office i learned that when you are as sure as you can be that your bag meets the weight limit and the counter clerk tells you it is slightly over...challenge the clerk politely by asking to have it weighed on one or two other scales...or ask when the scale being used was last checked and certified as 'true'...odds are that you will get varying weights and you can hope that at least one of them will be in your favor...the request to know when the accuracy of the scale being used was last certified is often flustering and the clerk will waive you on. it's always worth a try if you would rather spend your $25 someplace else!

Cool!! Thanks for the info!

[Schaumburger]

Excellent question and great answers as always. Trish, have a great time. Don't drink all the Arnold Palmers! I will need one on June 8!

[senior citizen]

Originally Posted by CarGuys

I wondered also? Wondered if leaving the suits home was a good or bad idea?

I like the "Were on permanent vacation idea!

Besides the suit coat is a little tight. Funny how they shrink?

Suits have gone the way of the dinosaur nowadays.....so less to pack.

About six years ago, there were still some places in Maine that required a man to wear a jacket and tie in order to be seated for dinner. Obviously, hubby did not pack a suit jacket, nor tie.........so they came out and gave him one. Embarrassing.

Those days are thankfully OVER.........but I always pack too much anyway. Less is more.

Don't feel bad about your suit shrinking.....it happens to everyone.

[Posh 08]

Thanks for asking. I was wondering if I needed to bring a blazer for dinner at the CCs.

[CaptainRickA]

Nope. Unfortunately, anything is acceptable. However, I always remember what I was told. The way you dress tells the world something about you. Another adage: those who know, know. I used to wear a light weight sport coat to the "country clubs." But I don't any more, unless there is a chill in the air. Still, I'd rather overdress slightly than the opposite.

[senior citizen]

Originally Posted by CaptainRickA

Nope. Unfortunately, anything is acceptable. However, I always remember what I was told. The way you dress tells the world something about you. Another adage: those who know, know. I used to wear a light weight sport coat to the "country clubs." But I don't any more, unless there is a chill in the air. Still, I'd rather overdress slightly than the opposite.

We remember those days well when we also, like everyone else, enjoyed getting dressed up a bit for dinner out........somewhere during our almost 50 years of marriage (upcoming in 4 more years) this "dress code" fell by the wayside........so it seems. The generation before us has died off and ours was inbetween both ..........the dressed for dinner and the casual type.

It also depends on where one is..........obviously, for a wedding, people still dress, although I've seen guests at weddings up here come in denim skirts and red blouses and shirts. Anything goes nowadays.

In Maine, as my husband would point out, many visitors came on motorcycles or boats and dressed casually.......some were doctors and lawyers. They would be wearing docksides/chinos/shorts, LLBean polo shirt, boat shoes, no socks and be made to put on a suit jacket and tie.........so, finally, this strict dress code seems to have disappeared in the last several years. I'm talking about resorts. You can still wear any old thing while eating on a pier or wharf restaurant. We like casual and again, less to pack......but at one time we were a "slave to the dress code" like everyone else.

[senior citizen]

Originally Posted by JimPete

The dress code is---you have to be dressed. We have only been to Bonifay. Everyone was dressed in shorts, slacks, polo shirts and casual tops. We have seen only one guy in a suit. He looked out of place and uncomfortable. If you are pleasently dressed you'll feel right at home.

Enjoy yourself.

I chuckled at your reply. At least we've now clarified that TV is NOT a nudist colony.....and won't start a rumor on that........

[buggyone]

Formal wear for men at The Villages means wearing long pants and socks.

[jsw14]

Here's a thought, sandles, shorts, polo shirt.....& U can get in anywhere....They will be glad to take ur Green-Backs!!!!!!

[graciegirl]

The folks at Glenview always seem a bit.......dressier...I am not sure. The girls look a bit more polished and look like they have "cleaned up" to go out to eat. And the gentlemen sometimes wear jackets there.

It might be my imagination. The surroundings there remind me more of our Country Club back home...and the area is a Little older, so the residents may be too.

I can't believe I just typed that. I hate when people bring up age as a discriptor.

Bad Gracie.

[senior citizen]

Originally Posted by graciegirl

The folks at Glenview always seem a bit.......dressier...I am not sure. The girls look a bit more polished and look like they have "cleaned up" to go out to eat. And the gentlemen sometimes wear jackets there.

It might be my imagination. The surroundings there remind me more of our Country Club back home...and the area is a Little older, so the residents may be too.

I can't believe I just typed that. I hate when people bring up age as a discriptor.

Bad Gracie.

No, it is definitely generational. You are right on target.

When we were younger, our friends and neighbors who were about 14 years older than us, who dated during World War II, would always dress very formally to go out to dinner and to church. **Mink coats, etc.

It was the dress code all over back then.......but not for us. These friends are now in their early 80's.

My childhood memories of my aunts coming from New York City with "fox collars" (the fox had eyeballs and claws; to a kid a bit scary).....the men wore suits, ties, overcoats and dress hats, just to visit the sticks (as they called it) of New Jersey....sticks meaning the country.

**Obviously not in Florida....no need for furs.

We were the era of MAD MEN......and you can see how the men still wore sport jackets and suits, ties, etc. to dine out.....or even dine in their own homes. I was a private secretary for men like that.

We wore dresses with high heels every day.........even in high school before we went out into the working world.

So, yes, age is a descriptor as you call it. It's just generational.

Most of the younger folks' weddings now, whether on the west coast or mountain states, etc. are asking guests to dress "casually elegant" but not too dressed..........not all in black, no glitter, no feathers, no whatever.

Again, you'd be surprised how people decipher that "casually elegant" or "elegantly casual". It's a little tricky, but most of the college educated adult children just do their own thing and don't worry about society's dress codes.....not like we did.

Times have changed. I, for one, am glad that THE VILLAGES allows comfortably casual.

[Golfer in Sanibel]

Originally Posted by BarryRX

I believe collared shirts are required for the guys, but that's about it.

Yep. I was busted. you have to wear collared shirts on the golf course and at the Golf Learning Centers as well.

[uujudy]

Originally Posted by buggyone

Formal wear for men at The Villages means wearing long pants and socks.

Trish, when we moved here 3 years ago I was told that "NO shorts" was the dress code for concerts at the Church on the Square and the Savannah Center.

A few months ago we went to the opera at the Savannah Center and the woman in the row in front of us wore a gorgeous outfit while her husband/date wore camoflage cargo shorts and a T-shirt with words on it. The times they are a changin'...