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“Adding to the ridiculous practice of establishments requiring a tie for entry (C8), in the late ’60s I was denied entry to the Chatswood Charles Hotel. They stated I needed a tie,” says Max Redmayne of Drummoyne. “My response was to take a shoelace and create a bow tie, and yes, that was acceptable, which points to the ludicrous practice.”
“During the 1997 Australian Professional Sumo Tour I was deputised by Wide World of Sports to take two sumo wrestlers to Eagle Farm racecourse for a day out and to present the trophy for the main race,” writes Katrina Watts of Murwillumbah. “They wore traditional cotton yukata (kimono) and zori (straw sandals). As they were greeted and ushered into the members enclosure I heard a dapper gent comment, ‘Just a minute, those two men can’t come in here. They are in dresses, have no ties and are wearing thongs!’”
Of course there are some establishments that secede from a typical dress code, as evidenced by Denis O’Calahan of Auckland, New Zealand: “In 1976, I was in Dallas, Texas, for training. They took us out to a restaurant called The Traildust where the sign on the door said ‘No Neckties’. If anyone tried to enter wearing a tie, a waiter would come out with a huge pair of scissors and cut it off. The walls were decorated with hundreds of the cut-off ties.”
James White of Beverage (Vic) reckons the media have blown the gig: “Whose cage do I rattle to get the news out that last weekend, Boyd Excell won his eighth consecutive title at the Four-in-Hand World Championship in Europe? He is a spectacular competitor in a sport that is spectacular But nothing in the news.”
“In the early 1970s, I was refused admission to Eastern Suburbs Leagues Club due to my hair being over my collar,” recalls Geoff Genford of Hurlstone Park.“I didn’t feel so bad when I read that hirsute star player and former rugby union international Russell Fairfax was taken into the club to sign his contract via the tradesman’s entrance.” Margaret Bellingham Holle of Woollahra remembers it, too.
Toby Waters of Emerald Beach notes that “Barnaby Joyce has recently been quoted in the ABC saying he is ‘back on the balls of his toes’. Does this explain his propensity for lying down after a big night out and why I’ve never seen him play soccer?”
Column8@smh.com.au
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