DERBY CITY CLASSIC DRESS CODE

[Tobermory]

If the alternative is tight neon lycra covered in sponsor logos and the player's name in some dumb font, give me the hoodies and jeans every time.

I actually agree with that.

 

[Maxx]

What happened to the dress code at the DCC? Folks looked like a bunch of bums. I am tired of T shirts...especially black. I guess the black is ok because it doesn't show the dirt after wearing it for a week.

Don’t worry, it’ll be summer soon and you can get back to yelling at kids that cut through your yard.

 

[skogstokig]

Derby City has always had the "pool room" vibe - it's part of what makes DCC the DCC, to me at least.

As Fats said, "putting a tuxedo on a pool player is like putting whipped cream on a hot dog."

i think that quote specifically refers to tuxedo (formal wear) as opposed to for example a business suit (informal wear). those were the western dress codes in his day.

dressing in that era's informal wear would look overdressed today and i wouldn't even suggest that. in my opinion the dress code should allow for clothes that are comfortable to wear when stretching over a table, maximizing the play ability, while at same time not look like a complete bum. i think WNT dress codes are good, they even allow sneakers if they're dark colored. a polo shirt isn't a big ask.. DCC is a different animal though, herding 5-600 players is difficult with limited referees etc.

 

[iusedtoberich]

It’s never had a dress code. Only the TV table would be asked to wear a polo shirt or better.

Without Pat there, there is probably no one to remind the TV table players.

The difference this year is all tables are streamed via DigitalPool and their YouTube syndicates, so the sweats plus hoodie outfit is now visible to all.

 

[DynoDan]

You had specific outfits for the club when I was in my 20s. It's a total slobification of our society.

I’ve had younger guys (dressed like homeless bums) come up to me in night clubs & fancy restaurants, and hostly inform me that I was overdressed (wearing sport shirt & slacks). Very Kafkaesque. I actually got that same lecture from a guy in t-shirt, shorts & sandals, because I was wearing a summer suit at the bar of an upscale resort bistro.

 

[Tobermory]

Don’t worry, it’ll be summer soon and you can get back to yelling at kids that cut through your yard.

I have proof that I do not yell at kids crossing my lawn. I bought my house in the Seventies. It has a wide, flat front yard, and I was careful about the grass. But my corner was designated a school bus stop. Each morning in the fall, the boys who were waiting for the bus would take one of those peewee-sized rubber footballs and toss it around on my front yard for ten minutes. My across the street neighbor came to me and said, “Don’t let those kids do that. They’ll tear up your yard.” I said, “Oh, Charlie, don’t worry about it. I’m relying on one of those boys to be my ophthalmologist when I get old.” Fifty years later I needed to have my cataracts removed, and, sure enough, a boy who had been waiting for that same bus removed them, although he had been waiting two or three stops away.

Now, if those kids had come back after school and turned my front yard into a gridiron, that would have been a different matter.

In the Twenties, Gertrude Stein, a leading figure in the Modernist movement in arts and literature, gave this advice to boundary pushing artists and writers: “When you are going too far, it is important to know how far to go.”

The boys with the peewee football understood that principle. The guys in the T shirts don’t.

 

[KAP1976]

I’ve had younger guys (dressed like homeless bums) come up to me in night clubs & fancy restaurants, and hostly inform me that I was overdressed (wearing sport shirt & slacks). Very Kafkaesque. I actually got that same lecture from a guy in t-shirt, shorts & sandals, because I was wearing a summer suit at the bar of an upscale resort bistro.

I knew that I was living on the world planet in college when I was told I was too "preppy" for daring to wear a polo shirt tucked into shorts in the 1990s when.....this is how most people were dressing.

 

[Kris_b1104]

I can see why a dress code would be important at the pro level. Those sports jerseys are not it though, they are very cringe and when amateurs wear them it makes them look like a tryhard. I don't get why you need a performance polo shirt for the most unathletic sport there is. It's hilarious seeing a sub-500 player wear a shirt with his name on it like he's in the Mosconi Cup, and proceeds to bang balls into the rail.

On the amateur side, I don't mind players dressing casually to play in a tournament. What bothers me is when they have to stretch over the table to make a shot and they force me to see their ass crack. That's some sexual harassment shit right there

Like bro, at least tuck your shirt in, for everyone's sake.

 

[garczar]

Until Diamond issues a stricter dress code why worry about something we're all powerless to change? Current code is : no shorts, ripped jeans, backward hats and sagging. I only went once and most people dressed fine with the usual amount of grunge to be seen. BTW, in '07 there were hookers from Gary, Ind. in the bar clearly showin 'beav' to prospective customers. No one bitched that i know of.

 

[jasonlaus]

This isn't being televised, who cares. Maybe somebody should tell basketball, soccer, rugby, football, shall I go on?

Wtf does anybody care? If you want to go to a fashion show, go ahead, nobody is stopping you and we don't care about that either.

If you're worried about what the players are wearing, you should probably go check your gas tank cause there may be a little sugar in it .

Seriously though, go ahead and keep complaining, it makes this site more fun.

I hate jump cues, go ahead, give it to me

 

[maha]

i remember when people thought and said,, "clothes make the man"
you even were supposed to wear a suit when on a plane. and had to take your hat off when into a restaurant to appease who, the waiter.

now you can be yourself and wear what makes you feel good. as it should be.

 

[jasonlaus]

i remember when people thought and said,, "clothes make the man"
you even were supposed to wear a suit when on a plane. and had to take your hat off when into a restaurant to appease who, the waiter.

now you can be yourself and wear what makes you feel good. as it should be.

Agreed.

These guys aren't going to a fashion show lol they're going to play pool.

There's still quite a few places you have to dress "appropriately" for, although the high end restaraunts in most casinos/vegas don't care as long as you can pay the bill.

Food is supposed to be enjoyed and sitting up straight with a suit and tie on does not sound like fun. That's just me though

 

[Jimmy_Betmore]

Coming from a 52 year old who doesn't give rat's ass about what the players at The Derby wear, go yell at a cloud if you don't like its dress code. It's The Derby. For one glorious week every year, a venue feels kinda sorta like a giant pool room. Granted, for better or worse, it's not like it was. But it's still a tournament unlike any other. And I dig its vibe.

As far as the lack of dress codes causing sponsors to stay away goes, I don't buy it. Sponsors stay away because there's no money in it. If there was money to be made, the players could wear gimp suits and sponsors would be lined up out the door. Think of all the posts you've seen of people complaining about $20 to stream a match or $30 chalk. Another big reason there's no money in it is because the pool room culture just isn't as attractive as it used to be to the younger crowd. There's better things for kids to do now than hang out with a bunch of grumpy old men. Hell, even this website has a reputation of being full of blowhard asshats who want to go off on new members just for asking simple questions.

The last thing I'll say is if someone thinks everything about the past was better, you're looking at it through some very selective rose colored glasses. Some things were better. But some things were a lot worse. In my humble opinion, as a whole it's really not much better or worse. It's just a lot different. And that's pretty uncomfortable for a lot of people.

 

[july9x]

There will be always some old timers who say dress code is BS and it's violating their first amendment, specially when Matchroom requires players to wear their jerseys in all tournaments few years ago

For an event like Derby, no basic dress code is insane. T-shirts, sweet shirts, sweet pants, jeans, shorts, gym pants, tight pants, legging pants etc. crazy.

I like what they do in Asia, and Snooker. Chinese 8-ball you have to wear dress shirts and bow ties, TV table or not, same as Snooker. A Chinese 8-ball event has 128 - 256 players on average not counting pre-event qualification rounds, all players dress properly, they must feel good to dress nice to play. Sunday tournaments on local pools hall in Vietnam and Philippines require jerseys and pants. Almost all tournament is streamed on Youtube and some major ones are on TV in Asia. Parents look at those players on screens in proper shirts and pants and allow their kids to play this sport, thinking this is not likely some thing for homeless and drunk

Here come some old timers quoting this post below...

 

[straightline]

There will be always some old timers who say dress code is BS and it's violating their first amendment, specially when Matchroom requires players to wear their jerseys in all tournaments few years ago

For an event like Derby, no basic dress code is insane. T-shirts, sweet shirts, sweet pants, jeans, shorts, gym pants, tight pants, legging pants etc. crazy.

I like what they do in Asia, and Snooker. Chinese 8-ball you have to wear dress shirts and bow ties, TV table or not, same as Snooker. A Chinese 8-ball event has 128 - 256 players on average not counting pre-event qualification rounds, all players dress properly, they must feel good to dress nice to play. Sunday tournaments on local pools hall in Vietnam and Philippines require jerseys and pants. Almost all tournament is streamed on Youtube and some major ones are on TV in Asia. Parents look at those players on screens in proper shirts and pants and allow their kids to play this sport, thinking this is not likely some thing for homeless and drunk

Here come some old timers quoting this post below...

They gotta lose the black. It's Tee Vee. TnA is OK. Trophy packages too.

 

[JPB2]

There will be always some old timers who say dress code is BS and it's violating their first amendment, specially when Matchroom requires players to wear their jerseys in all tournaments few years ago

For an event like Derby, no basic dress code is insane. T-shirts, sweet shirts, sweet pants, jeans, shorts, gym pants, tight pants, legging pants etc. crazy.

I like what they do in Asia, and Snooker. Chinese 8-ball you have to wear dress shirts and bow ties, TV table or not, same as Snooker. A Chinese 8-ball event has 128 - 256 players on average not counting pre-event qualification rounds, all players dress properly, they must feel good to dress nice to play. Sunday tournaments on local pools hall in Vietnam and Philippines require jerseys and pants. Almost all tournament is streamed on Youtube and some major ones are on TV in Asia. Parents look at those players on screens in proper shirts and pants and allow their kids to play this sport, thinking this is not likely some thing for homeless and drunk

Here come some old timers quoting this post below...

First.

They typically have to wear a waistcoat as well. Sorry to disappoint you, but wearing a waistcoat without a jacket is not a good look. I think they have sponsors patches and such as well. That isn’t tasteful nor “ classy”. It is stupid looking. If you have a waistcoat and tie on you can’t take the jacket off in public. If stodgy old guys retire to the billiard room after dinner and take their jackets off while drinking port, the public would not be invited in. The waistcoat and pre- tied bow tie look is not good. It is contrived and a parody of good taste IMO. It takes elements of semi- formal evening wear and applies them to playing a sport. Why? How is that good? It actually degrades the players in a sense because they look like waiters or valet parking attendants or something.

So if you go that direction require morning wear for daytime matches and dinner jackets in the evening. Of course no advertisements on any clothing. And never, ever take the jacket off in front of a camera. Right? Or we could just be normal.

 

[skogstokig]

First.

They typically have to wear a waistcoat as well. Sorry to disappoint you, but wearing a waistcoat without a jacket is not a good look. I think they have sponsors patches and such as well. That isn’t tasteful nor “ classy”. It is stupid looking. If you have a waistcoat and tie on you can’t take the jacket off in public. If stodgy old guys retire to the billiard room after dinner and take their jackets off while drinking port, the public would not be invited in. The waistcoat and pre- tied bow tie look is not good. It is contrived and a parody of good taste IMO. It takes elements of semi- formal evening wear and applies them to playing a sport. Why? How is that good? It actually degrades the players in a sense because they look like waiters or valet parking attendants or something.

ALL the snooker players except for maybe shaun murphy want to change the dress code. and the tendency is going in that direction too, with the home nation series, the shootout and the two matchroom produced events not enforcing the waistcoat/bow tie dress code.