I have a somewhat schizophrenic view on this. As an audience member, I would never go to an opera or concert without a suit on. It helps make the event special, and with the trouble the performers have gone to to prepare the performance, it dorsn't hurt to go to the trouble of dressing up a bit. On the other hand, I'm a performer, and looking down from the stage, you would rather see people in jeans than empty seats. And on the opera stage, because of the stage lights, you can't see past the first couple of rows anyway. Besides, how can you tell WHY someone isn't dressed up? Perhaps he (she understood as well, of course) is a tourist, or just in town for the day without anything else to wear, and saw a performance advertised that he didn't want to miss? Maybe something unforeseen help him up at work, and he didn't have time to go home and change? The trouble comes when the two groups start to feel superior to each other.... the dressing crowd looking down at the great unwashed, thinking "How dare they came looking like that? What an affront to culture!" And the gruffy crowd thinking "Look at the snobs, they aren't here to see the opera, only to show off their Armani outfits."
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