Dressing for dinner? and thanks

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Hi! New here (after tons of lurking).

We're taking a sleeper (Coast Starlight) for the first time later this month (have done a couple of shorter coach trips), and I saw someone's post about feeling uncomfortable when not in jacket and tie for the evening meal in the dining car. Is that a personal issue, or do I need to re-arrange my clothing/carry-on plans? Don't want to stand out as slobs (in nice jeans and shirts), but we're having packing issues (due to needing to take more than originally hoped for).

And I just want to give a big "THANK YOU" to everyone here. Without this board, I wouldn't have.....

........ had a good idea of what to expect in a roomette (I expect lots of giggling....)

.........even THOUGHT about tipping (DUH!)

........ been prepared for the threat of cancellation and a last minute car rental (hoping to be taking the Empire Builder later this month)

.........known I could leave the big bags at the station when we do an overnight in Portland

.........been looking so much forward to the Pacific Parlor Car

You guys are the BEST! I do so love active boards.............

Barb in so cal
 
From the way I've seen some people dress in the diner, dressing in jeans and a nice shirt would be dressy!! I wouldn't worry about it at all. That poster, I believe, was expressing his own personal preference. Me, I make sure that the clothing I have on is clean. I usually wear jeans or shorts and a clean shirt, mainly T-shirts. And that is better than some I've seen. Your casual wear will be just fine.

Have fun and enjoy your trip! :)
 
Attire in an Amtrak dining car at dinner is pretty much what you would see in an Applebees or Olive Garden. You certainly do not need to pack anything special.
 
I do not dress up for dinner in the diner and I do not think I was ever denied good service because of my attire. Although I do not dress up, I think I took "respectable."
 
You'll be sitting on vinyl benches at plastic tables eating convection-wave meals like a McDonald's on wheels. In other words, if you have shoes and a shirt you'll get service.
 
Hi! New here (after tons of lurking).

We're taking a sleeper (Coast Starlight) for the first time later this month (have done a couple of shorter coach trips), and I saw someone's post about feeling uncomfortable when not in jacket and tie for the evening meal in the dining car. Is that a personal issue, or do I need to re-arrange my clothing/carry-on plans? Don't want to stand out as slobs (in nice jeans and shirts), but we're having packing issues (due to needing to take more than originally hoped for).

And I just want to give a big "THANK YOU" to everyone here. Without this board, I wouldn't have.....

........ had a good idea of what to expect in a roomette (I expect lots of giggling....)

.........even THOUGHT about tipping (DUH!)

........ been prepared for the threat of cancellation and a last minute car rental (hoping to be taking the Empire Builder later this month)

.........known I could leave the big bags at the station when we do an overnight in Portland

.........been looking so much forward to the Pacific Parlor Car

You guys are the BEST! I do so love active boards.............

Barb in so cal
Barb, Welcome!! I lurked for a long time before making it official. Enjoy.

I dress very casually while on the train and it works fine. I don't think the crew even notices, they are so busy. I know I don't pay attention to what others wear. Just have a great time and file a trip report......please.
 
on my last long-distance trip, there was a lady who spent the entire trip in a poofy wedding dress, complete with train and artificial roses. that's a bit too dressed up. :) wear what you normally wear and as long as you aren't a nudist, you'll be fine. just be comfy and enjoy the trip! :)
 
The diners are a cross section of the folks riding the train. I've seen people in shorts, sandals and a t-shirt. I've seen men in suit, tie and coat and women in nice dresses. There has been a thread here previously about the propriety of men wearing hats in the diner. It was hotly debated! :hi: Personally I dress for comfort with a nod towards decorum.

And welcome! A word of caution though... AU can be habit forming! :help: :help: :help: :giggle:
 
Hi! New here (after tons of lurking).

We're taking a sleeper (Coast Starlight) for the first time later this month (have done a couple of shorter coach trips), and I saw someone's post about feeling uncomfortable when not in jacket and tie for the evening meal in the dining car. Is that a personal issue, or do I need to re-arrange my clothing/carry-on plans? Don't want to stand out as slobs (in nice jeans and shirts), but we're having packing issues (due to needing to take more than originally hoped for).

And I just want to give a big "THANK YOU" to everyone here. Without this board, I wouldn't have.....

........ had a good idea of what to expect in a roomette (I expect lots of giggling....)

.........even THOUGHT about tipping (DUH!)

........ been prepared for the threat of cancellation and a last minute car rental (hoping to be taking the Empire Builder later this month)

.........known I could leave the big bags at the station when we do an overnight in Portland

.........been looking so much forward to the Pacific Parlor Car

You guys are the BEST! I do so love active boards.............

Barb in so cal
That was me mentioning being uncomfortable in the diner without a coat and tie on. I think I get to offer the credit for that to my grandmother (who, when I went on my first LD trip back in December, 2006, sent me off in a tan linen suit and panama hat for a coach ride down to Florida...it's how she remembered the diner being). It's strictly my preference, but I always manage to feel a bit out of place on a train if I'm under-dressed at dinner. I think the other reason for this has to do with the fact that I have taken the train to plenty of more "professional" events (conferences, etc.), and so being dressed up was already on the agenda. But yes, if I'm on a long distance trip, you can probably tell me by the fact that I'll be in a suit coat, tie, and have a hat near me when I'm in the diner. It is by no means required, but...well, I can't say that I've ever felt awkward being decently well-dressed at dinner, and on some trains I haven't been the only one in there. Consider it a bit of "memory by proxy", if you will.
 
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When they serve me a steak on a china platter is when I'll start wearing a suit and tie in the diner :)
 
I wear a t-shirt and blue jeans while on the entire trip. I want to be conftable on the train.
 
You'll be sitting on vinyl benches at plastic tables eating convection-wave meals like a McDonald's on wheels. In other words, if you have shoes and a shirt you'll get service.
I hope you wear more than shoes and a shirt, :rolleyes: or we might be reading about you. :lol: :lol: :lol:

Aloha
 
I hope you wear more than shoes and a shirt, :rolleyes: or we might be reading about you. :lol: :lol: :lol:
Indeed. I'll just never forget the old "No Shirt. No Shoes. No Service." window stickers that were probably born during the hippie heydays and thus predate my consciousness if not my very existence. As for myself I try to find a balance between the slobs and the snobs and shoot for a bland and boring polo-khaki ensemble. ^_^
 
At breakfast I've seen girls in their pajamas, so no, don't worry about being underdressed. As noted above, it's not exactly the fine dining of yore either. Just dress however you're comfortable.
 
I hope you wear more than shoes and a shirt, :rolleyes: or we might be reading about you. :lol: :lol: :lol:
Indeed. I'll just never forget the old "No Shirt. No Shoes. No Service." window stickers that were probably born during the hippie heydays and thus predate my consciousness if not my very existence. As for myself I try to find a balance between the slobs and the snobs and shoot for a bland and boring polo-khaki ensemble. ^_^

You are correct about the timing of the hippie days.I did not go through a hippie stage myself but it would have been age appropriate. By all means it is no longer expected to dress for dinner but I recall it was done at one time. Especially if you were in a sleeper and could more easily change your clothes.

Similarly, during the old time days, it was kind of an unwritten rule that you checked into a hotel in a suit.

So, say traveling the train on a similar schedule to today's Crescent, I might board Atlanta in a suit for eating dinner, then go back to my room and change to casual then go to the lounge.Or I might just keep my suit on for the lounge Then go to bed. Put on regular clothes for breakfast and lunch. But dress up before detraining in Manhattan so I will be dressed up to check into the hotel.

Good riddance is what I say!!! Though I understand Anderson's reasoning about his own case, and I got advice from my mother like he got from his grandmother.
 
I think one should be presentable. I wear trousers and a collared shirt

and proper shoes. As I recall, most passengers in the dining car are

dressed well and behave well.
 
Casual is fine. And casual on Amtrak can mean shorts, t-shirts, etc.
 
This is about planes instead of trains but it shows the other side of the coin.

A few years ago I flew from Atlanta to Tampa and back in one day to attend the funeral of a 95 year old aunt.

My southbound schedule was tight and I knew I would go from the Tampa airport to the funeral home so I flew dressed in a suit all the way down. After the funeral was over I changed to casual.

Just to show that sometimes it still makes sense to dress up. But not often, at least not to me.
 
This is about planes instead of trains but it shows the other side of the coin.

A few years ago I flew from Atlanta to Tampa and back in one day to attend the funeral of a 95 year old aunt.

My southbound schedule was tight and I knew I would go from the Tampa airport to the funeral home so I flew dressed in a suit all the way down. After the funeral was over I changed to casual.

Just to show that sometimes it still makes sense to dress up. But not often, at least not to me.
For me, there's never been a good "middle" setting...I can't do polo shirts, I've never been comfortable in jeans, and I only got comfortable wearing even a hoodie in the last few months. I could digress about this for a while, but I think part of it is a revolt against the "hippie" fashion and a number of other trends that have been offloaded on us (even the t-shirts I wear regularly are ones that I've worked on with a friend and added a simple diagonal stripe design...you'll never see me wearing something from most of the clothing chains out there directed at "my" age group).

So, lacking a middle setting, I've got to choose between over-dressing and under-dressing for dinner. For me, over-dressing will usually win out if a tux isn't involved (though I've got a nice Columbia jacket those same friends helped me put that same general color scheme on which I can swap out for a sport coat if I want to relax a bit, and I can do some mix-and-match with t-shirts and khakis, it's not quite the same). Then again, I'll admit that I've found that the service I get always seems to improve a bit when I'm dressed up for some reason...
 
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