You can tell a lot about a society by the way it dresses and presents itself to the world. In Victorian and Edwardian England, a society on the up and up, all those who could possibly afford one had at least one suit and wore it most days. Thus, even in the slums of Great Britain’s impoverished industrial towns, footage and pictures from the time show men just scraping by but still looking their best. Now, in modern America, a nation very much on the decline, even Senators aren’t expected to wear a suit.
Such was the rules change announced in a shocking report in Axios. According to that report, the Senate is now following in the footsteps of shabbily dressed America and will nix its dress code for members, which used to be business attire, and will now permit slovenly dress like that displayed by Senator Fetterman of Pennsylvania.
Axios suggested that the rule change has something to do with Senator Fetterman’s predilection for wearing basketball shorts and a hoodie instead of real clothes, reporting, “The new directive will allow Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.), who tends to favor gym shorts and hoodies over the business attire traditionally required in the chamber, to linger on the Senate floor before and after votes.”
Fox News Digital added that Sen. Fetterman had previously avoided wearing a suit by voting from the doorway, reporting, “The senator even found a workaround to the legislative body’s dress code rules by voting from the doorway of the Democrat cloakroom or the side entrance, making sure his vote is recorded before ducking out.”
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer told Axios that he would still be wearing a suit and that the other senators are welcome to do so as well, saying, “Senators are able to choose what they wear on the Senate floor. I will continue to wear a suit.”
Axios also quoted a former Senate staffer as saying, “Generous interpretations of the Senate floor dress code can only stretch so far before you have to square up and make formal changes. Hopefully this round will also protect the floor privileges of senators and staffers who don’t want to wear socks.“
While Senators needn’t dress like adults any longer, their staff and others entering the Senate floor will. According to Chad Pergram, the Senior Congressional Correspondent for Fox News, “Fox confirms that the Senate will no longer enforce a dress code for senators. Senators can now what ever they want. However, others entering the chamber must comply with the dress code. Coats/ties for men. Business attire for women.”
A commenter on Mr. Pergram’s post noted that the general shabbiness of America can be seen in other once formal places as well, saying, “Well, after 30 years of working for lawyers and going to court rooms judges, do not allow the lawyers to dress that way, so it just proves to me there’s no respect for the institutions that made America.“
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