Well we have discussed a number of bizarre things here on the forum that have widened my horizons, including multi page threads on socks, gloves, and all sorts of particular tools, so I thought the forum would be a good place to pose a question that is perplexing me this evening.
Tonight during dinner the (house) phone rang, which was strange because the house phone hasn't worked in 5 days and I hadn't even called to complain yet, enjoying the peace from telemarketers. Anyway, it was Bill, my part time boss. He called to invite my wife and I to the 'company holiday party'. This somewhat surprised me because A) I didn't know he had a 'company holiday party', 2) I am not a full time employee, I just contract to run his mill from time to time, and C) I didn't think I belonged there. But he was adamant that I did indeed belong as part of his team. So when I got over the fact that I was part of 'a team', I accepted and he rattled off the details, time and place. I had to ask again about the place. He had picked the high end restaurant in town which I thought was odd. He knows the owners and does work for them (but he knows everybody and does work for them), but I figured he would pick the barbeque place where we have work lunches sometimes and he does a lot of work for them and buys meat from them. Anyway, as he picked the upscale place I jokingly remarked that I would have to find some clean fancy clothes' and wasn't sure what I should wear. He just said "Oh, the dress code is Canadian Formal" as he laughed and hung up. So I am standing there looking at the phone (still surprised that it worked) and wondering what 'Canadian formal' is.
So I came back to the dinner table and informed my wife about the conversation and a debate ensued about what the proper dress code was. At first I thought I knew, but now I'm not so sure.
I KNEW my friends here would have the answer, you always do, so I ask. What should I be wearing to this party?
Tom,
I have no idea. I am betting is very, very informal with something like "Socks, if worn, should be of a somewhat similar color".
To mess will Bill you could wear a tux and have your wife wear a very fancy evening gown.
You definitely have me laughing about your story Greenhorn 😂. After you get the dress code figured out here your going to need to take your phone to figure out the fancy names of the menus items 😂
The first thing that popped up on a Google search was a guy wearing a plaid skirt thingy, and kneehigh socks :o :D :D :D
Well, I am hoping some of our members from the great north will chime in with more definitive answers. Maybe @stephen1 or @ehp (https://forestryforum.com/board/index.php?action=profile;u=1195) or @sawguy21 (https://forestryforum.com/board/index.php?action=profile;u=1763) or perhaps @Swampdonkey . I need some help. Skirts and kilts are definitely out, mine are all at the cleaners and they are for a different kind of party anyway. :D
I have been to formal dinner gatherings in Kenora, Ontario.
A Kenora dinner jacket is red and black plaid wool jacket.
Wool pants and suspenders, no kilts or man-skirts involved here. More like a cleaned up lumberjack going into town with the Missus.
Five day stubble is good, hob-nailed boots not so much.
The Canadian Tuxedo
https://elvdenim.com/blogs/stories/canadian-tuxedo#:~:text=by%20Charlie%20Newman,to%20his%20double%20denim%20attire. (https://elvdenim.com/blogs/stories/canadian-tuxedo#:~:text=by%20Charlie%20Newman,to%20his%20double%20denim%20attire.)
Plaid shirt, blue jeans and leather casual shoes. Best answer I have right now. ;D
I would have to agree to all of the above. Except the skirt thingy as that's Scottish.
I would where my new plaid shirt, a new pair of jeans, and if it's below freezing I put on my goose down puffy jacket. It's winter so you are allowed to wear winter boots. Sometimes I even wear my insulated rubber boots.....but my kids give me a warning beforehand not to wear them to a restaurant
I love the Canadian tuxedo. I haven't owned a denim jacket since the 80s though. Maybe I need a new one. Maybe this will guide you.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/36921/250px-Paul_Bunyan_and_Babe_the_Blue_Ox.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1703681159)
Well, I have to be honest, I did not know this was 'a thing'. I had thought it was a humorous yet friendly dig at our fine neighbors to the North in that proud frozen land. I did not check google because if I want real answers I come to the FF, not google, which often sends me back here anyway. :D
So I have been truly enlightened indeed. I was unaware there was such a thing as a Canadian Tuxedo (really) which was designed by Levi Strauss in 1951 for Bing Crosby after he was denied entrance to an upscale Canadian Hotel for being poorly dressed. This tux is still a thing.
Thanks you all for removing the veil of mystery from my eyes and yet again expanding my social horizons. Now I have to go through the closet. :)
Old Greenhorn I know what your talking about. I don't bother with "dress" clothes much either.
So if you don't have a Canadian tux, just wear your cleanest unstained work clothes you have. I always figure people can take me as I am or leave me be. And I'm lucky that Mrs. Lapp feels pretty much the same way. But, having said that there are certain situations where that approach simple wont due. Even I can understand that. When those very rare times come around I just don't go. Those things normally happen at places I really don't want to visit any way.
If you do go have a good time.
Well I do have some dress clothes left from my pre-retirement days, but I avoid wearing them. The most formal I have dressed in recent years is for a singular annual event where I have to look presentable to the general public who doesn't know me. Even at that, it includes newish jeans.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/52103/IMG_20221022_121301529_HDR.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1666629750)
I have a matching jacket for the vest, but it was warm that afternoon and I was working.
(I am the guy on the left, you can guess who my friend on the right is (Hint, he has at least 3 Grammy's))
Anyway, at least I have a good idea what will pass as acceptable for this event. We don't get out much. ;D :D
I only had 2 Grammy's... and 2 Gramper's too. ;D
For me dressed up means a shirt with buttons. Once upon a time I would have added jeans without holes in the knees but now that seems to be allowed or even desired.
I vote the Johnny Cash version-scroll down the page:
https://hespokestyle.com/canadian-tuxedo-trend/
I am enjoying this! :D If it involves more than a clean pair of dress slacks and a golf shirt I don't go. My button down long sleeve shirts (few) don't fit anymore as they have all shrunk.
Quote from: sawguy21 on December 27, 2023, 11:39:58 AM
I am enjoying this! :D If it involves more than a clean pair of dress slacks and a golf shirt I don't go. My button down long sleeve shirts (few) don't fit anymore as they have all shrunk.
If it's like me the problem is the refrigerator and not the dryer.
GAB
Tom:
Thanks for all the chuckles and the education on this post.
Me thinks that if you wear the same as you did at Jake's get together you should be ok.
GAB
GAB: nail on the head! It could be called Project Formal, but just with a little more plaid.
I'm not thinking that Bing Crosby in a denim suit jacket is ever going to be thought of as "Canadian Formal".
That's just hanging the wrong label on a thing.
That's 'protest fashion', just because he was miffed that a hotel in Vancouver dared hold him to a dress code. Pfffft!
Sure, we recognize celebrities and make exceptions, but they need to be at the level of Shaina Twain or Celine Dione.
Here's the Kenora version of a Dinner Jacket.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/19307/IMG_5730.jpeg?easyrotate_cache=1703697621)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/19307/APB_more_fur_than_face.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1474682519)
Canadian Informal.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/19307/IMG_5726.jpeg?easyrotate_cache=1703701416)
Canadian Formal.
maybe get an old-fashioned chimney sweep outfit. then the prank is on him. I say get cleaned up and go. I stopped wearing shirt and tie to even funerals or weddings, as most guest are in blue jeans or overalls. I have been to funerals of patients and all the poll bearers were in nice overalls and a long sleeve shirt.
I was just cleaning out my closet and drawers, I found my suit that I last wore at my daughters wedding .10 years ago? I had to throw the pants out as they had what looked like the moth holes. Well I kept the jacket as I figure they can bury me in it! 8)
I don't get dressed up to much. My mom always told me to visit the sick and bury the dead and dress up when you do it. I still wear a suit to wedding and funerals. Before my wife retired I would wear a pair of dress pants, shirt and tie to her company's Christmas party. I even leave my overalls at home to run to town to get supplies. Doesn't hurt to put on some nice jeans and a shirt for the season to run to town.
Thanks everybody, I just KNEW that the FF was THE place to go for fashion advice. If I understand Andrie's post Canadian formal is warm, attractive, and cuddly, and Informal is...just warm.
Basically this is the normal way I dress when I go to something local, so now I will have to spread shirts on the bed and figure out which plaid shirt matches my mood that evening, then I have to find jeans without holes or readily visible sap stains.
GAB, I had bought a brand new shirt for the Project, but never got to wear it because it was too dang hot down there. 80+° and blazing sun in April? Who does that? I came home with a good start on my redneck for the year. I never got past a t-shirt. :D
This has been quite the learning experience and I am glad I asked the question.
Tom:
You are correct this year ('23) was warm, the year before was BBRRRRR --- COOLLLDDDDD!!!
Gerald
Yeah Gerald, I know. I had seen all the photos from the previous year and prepared for that. I had long sleeve shirts, hoodie and a jacket. Little did I know, or expect, that I could have left all that stuff home and brought my speedo instead. But Jake doesn't have a pool and neither did the motel we stayed at. Well not one I would get into anyway. :D
Sure, ya won't opt for dat formal plaid kilt, but yer gun ho for dat speedo. ::) ::) ;D
No, I wouldn't wish that on anyone. I was just saying the weather would lend itself more to that. Nobody, including my wife has ever seen me in my speedo. I bought that and used it for a very specific reason and haven't used it in a couple of years now, that need has passed. It's not for public consumption, trust me.
So what superhero are you that you need a speedo?
I like to go to dinner occasionally and it's amazing what people will go out in. It's been a while but we went to one of Dayton's theoretically higher end places, get sat at our table and I looked over to see a girl with her pajama pants on.
I don't wear jeans but it seems like jeans and the button up shirt is the answer to just about all "going out" now. I've promised myself not to go to weddings or funerals without a tie on anymore, as I always feel awkward when I don't wear them, but I'd rather go Doc's route.
It probably doesn't help that for the folks with money, who go to fancy restaurants all the time, you can buy a pair of jeans that cost more than all the clothes I own combined.
I try not to look like a snob, or over dress relative to the crowd. I do under dress for some doctory stuff, but that is who i am. I do not want to make others who do not normally dress up feel less comfortable.
Since I retired in 2015 I've worn a necktie 3 times, for my MIL's funeral, for my Mom's burial service and one other time. The only reason I recall the third time is my wife commented on it. At one time I probably had 40 or 50 neckties, I think I own 5 now.
Our work dress code was business dress but the rest of the business world went business casual and our place stayed cost and tie business dress. Seemed like the women dressed more casually than the men could.
arg-smiley arg-smiley
I jinxed myself!
Formal New Year's Eve celebration...
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/48503/IMG_2270.jpeg?easyrotate_cache=1704071760)
Sorry Ted. You do resemble the gentleman in the photo behind you though, you just need to work on the beard a bit. :D
For my event the other night I relied mostly upon the solid advice offered here, but added just a subtle touch of bling to recognize the joyous occasion.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/52103/IMG_20231228_164344144_HDR5B15D.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1704072696)
I blended right in. One of the few events I have been to in years where I actually knew everybody and everybody knew me. That's rare.
Tom, that's looking like Canadian Formal to me. Was Boss Bob as well turned out as you?
I think you mean Bill, and he wore a polo type shirt, which kind of threw me off, I had never seen him in such a getup before. He looked good, but casual, yet strangely formal to me. :D ;D
Yup, Boss Bill, thanks.
Ah well, maybe he just meant casual, and threw in the Canadian part just to ?
No idea.
It led to some fun posts though.
I'm just happy there were no kilt and hairy leg photos. :D
If someone said Canadian Formal, I picture a red and black checkered logger shirt. I also picture what Red Green would wear which would probably be that plus a bowtie.
Quote from: Old Greenhorn on December 31, 2023, 08:33:29 PM
Sorry Ted. You do resemble the gentleman in the photo behind you though, you just need to work on the beard a bit. :D
:D They are my great grandma's parents on my dad's side.
Old Greenhorn I showed that pic to Mrs. Lapp. She says your a handsome fellow and she especially likes the hat.
Lookin' sharp Tom! smiley_thumbsup
(And I think I see Amanda Lynn hiding in the picture too.) :)
No moss growing under your feet, Tom. ;D
Well, you've all heard the expression about putting lipstick on a pig and now you know kind of what it looks like. :D
Yes, Res, that is indeed Amanda Lynn, unfortunately she is suffering from a dislocated neck so she just hangs there to look pretty.
SD, you can't even see my feet in that photo, how did you know?
I forgot to mention that Bill's polo shirt was a Woodmizer shirt, so we kind of matched. ;D
SawyerTed, thats gonna be a lot of beard growing to catch great-great grampa!
Tom, somebody cut out a chunk of your beam! Maybe your like me and got sick of hittin' your head on it and whittled it down ;D