It can be hard to know what to wear when there is a smart casual dress code without leaning towards one or the other, so the policy may be a little ambiguous.
For this reason, it’s said that it’s better to overdress than under. However, it doesn’t sound as if Reddit user Ok-Training3714 is familiar with the term, as she recently turned up to a colleague’s leaving meal wearing extremely casual footwear.
The 29-year-old said: “When we got to the restaurant, it turned out they had a dress code, and the hostess loudly told me I couldn’t come in wearing Crocs. It was extremely embarrassing in front of my coworkers.”
She points out that she lives in a “hot climate” and lots of people wear sandals, Crocs, and flip-flops and so she didn’t think it would be a problem.
Photo-illustration by Newsweek/Getty
To eat at the barbecue restaurant, she opted to wear a “nice skirt” and button-up top paired with the cushioned shoe that made a comeback in 2020.
“It wasn’t even a fancy restaurant so I really wasn’t expecting this,” she wrote.
She states her colleague urged her to go home and change her footwear. But she was too distraught so she went home and stayed there.
She concludes the post by saying: “My coworkers are now collectively angry at me for leaving and not coming back. My boss told me the event wasn’t about me and I should’ve sucked it up.”
Newsweek discussed the post that has 3,900 upvotes with etiquette expert Lisa Mirza Grotts, from San Francisco, California.
She said: “No matter the dress code, the goal is to look polished so you feel confident and comfortable in any dining situation.
“Crocs do not fall into the category of smart casual, even in a warm climate. They are cringeworthy except on the beach or while you’re in your own home. Kids look adorable in them and while they are comfortable, they are not suited for restaurant attire.
“Trainers are the new smart casual shoe because they come embellished and look anything but a tennis shoe. However, to the patron’s point, they are still tennis shoes.
“This is a gray area in the world of etiquette. If a restaurant says smart casual, it should also be item specific such as no Crocs or tennis shoes. Most restaurants have reading glasses and ties on hand, but to carry shoes in every size would be impossible.”
At the time of writing, the post shared on February 19 has amassed 3,200 comments. The top one alone has 24,600 upvotes.
It said: “I was told that the dress code was ‘smart casual’—Nowhere has that ever meant ‘foam toddler shoes.'”
Another said: “They are the most comfortable shoes I own, but they have a place, and that place is my back garden not a restaurant.”
“Seriously, I live in BBQ-country & I’ve never heard of a bbq joint with a dress code. If they did, dress code would be crocs or steel toe boots… Regardless, wearing crocs as part of a ‘smart casual’ outfit is questionable in itself,” said a third commenter.
Newsweek reached out to u/Ok-Training3714 for comment. We could not verify the details of the case.
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.