Clothes (un)make the man
When Jordan Chodorow [Feedback, Oct. 4] chides Roger Walton for saying, “when one attends the theater they must show some respect by dressing up,” Chodorow misses the point.
We don’t dress up to please the actors, we dress up to show respect for the venue and those who attend with us. If I saw someone come to the Ahmanson Theatre in shorts and sandals to attend a fine play, I would feel disgusted with this person’s arrogance and lack of civility. This person is saying, “Look at me. This is what I think of myself. I don’t care what you think.”
That attitude is not cool. In their effort to show indifference, they are making fools of themselves. Paul L. Hovsepian
Sierra Madre
Perhaps Mr. Chodorow doesn’t mind looking like an absolute slob while attending such functions, but those of us who adhere to good taste and decorum when dressing appropriately would strongly disagree. Shorts and sandals, Mr. Chodorow? An East Coast phenomenon, Mr. Chodorow? Really?
How about at least trying to act like a classy person for once in your life instead of accepting this as the way things are or should be in your Los Angeles? I, for one, would not only not want to see you in any of these places, but I most certainly would not want a low-class creature like yourself even sitting near me either.
Perhaps residents of Los Angeles should learn to dress appropriately for such functions, especially since a majority of them are not even natives here. I have no doubt that these same people most likely dressed quite appropriately in their respective hometowns. Don’t lower yourself by suggesting that it’s simply a “Los Angeles thing.”
Michael Powell III
Encino
Chodorow thinks it isn’t necessary to “gussy up and don a penguin suit” to attend an opera. In fact, he said he attended a performance of the opera in question several years ago in shorts and sandals. I wonder why he felt it necessary to wear anything at all.
Ray Sherman
Duarte