I happened to be watching Casino Royale the other day, and it made me reminisce about my first visit to Vegas and to a casino there at the Monte Carlo. I was pretty excited – I’d seen the movies with people dressed to the nines in formal dress code, and the thought of making some easy money was tantalizing. Of course, the notion of the latter was quickly dispelled and my paradigm of how people dressed at casinos was shattered as well. I turned up in a suit and most everyone else was dressed in flip flops and berms. My mistake, of course, was not finding out the dress code for the casino, which is what led me to today’s article on different dress codes you may encounter for a casino entry.
Casino Dress Code: Formal wear to Cocktail
Formal wear or black tie is the dress code most people associated with casinos and movies like Casino Royale, with 007 dressed in a tuxedo, do little to dispel this perception. Unfortunately (or fortunately?), this is no longer the case these days, although on special occasions, formal wear is still required. When looking to dress extremely formal – the go to for a black tie event is a tuxedo, which requires a bowtie. However, for casinos, you can choose to simply dress formally with a suit and tie, with a french cuff dress shirt and cufflinks. Some casinos enforce a minimum of cocktail wear – which for men, simply refers to a dark suit with dress shoes and the choice of a tie – very much open to interpretation.
Casino Dress Code: Cocktail to Casual
Oftentimes these days, especially in Vegas and new casino cities like Singapore, although the dress code is stated as being cocktail, most patrons get away with a lot less. Let’s face it, for a casino, having greater footfall results in better returns and turning away patrons who may be dressed in bermudas but are being weighed down by cash in their pockets is not good business sense. As such, attire from business casual to shorts and flip flops were the common sight when I entered my first casino and resulted in my warped paradigm being destroyed. In fact, most casinos in Vegas have an open concept where you would walk across the floor from one entrance to get to your hotel lobby or the elevators – in order to entice you to stop and play.
Casino Dress Code: Bedtime
This is actually more tongue-in-cheek as I feel online casinos, such as JackpotCity, have garnered enough of a following to warrant a mention. Since plenty of men these days spend time in these virtual casinos, the lines for a dress code have blurred considerably. In fact, you could just as easily lie in bed – dressed in boxers and your undershirt – while making the same kinds of bets you would physically in Vegas or Monaco.
So there you have it – a quick guide on what to expect when dressing for your visit to the casino. Let me know about your experiences dressing for a casino in the comments below!
Image courtesy: UrbanDaily
