American couture: freedom of style or fashion decline?

Have Americans’ fashion habits become too casual? Are expectations around what’s considered appropriate or respectful attire become too lax? Recent headlines, at least, suggest so.

The restaurant chain Ruth’s Chris Steak House has introduced a business casual dress code for guests, banning ball caps and gym wear in its dining rooms. The move prompted a playful response from competitor Chili’s, which joked its only requirement is that guests be dressed.

The conversation extends beyond restaurants. U.S. Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy is encouraging airline travelers to bring a greater sense of courtesy and presentation to the experience by asking to “dress up to go to the airport” and “have some decency.”

So what does how we dress say about us as a society? What do we gain or lose by becoming less or more formal? And who should set the rules?

Guests:

• Vanessa Friedman, fashion director and chief fashion critic of The New York Times
• Ali Howell Abolo, associate professor and program director of fashion design at Drexel University’s Antoinette Westphal College of Media Arts & Design