Evening Dress For Men “Stuffy And Snobbish”

Press, Volume CII, Issue 30092, 28 March 1963, Page 2

Evening Dress For Men “Stuffy And Snobbish”

(N .Z .P.A .-Reuter—Copyright)

LONDON, March 27. A woman Labour member of Parliament last night urged th: Prime Minister (Mr Macmillan) to do something about the “stuffy way” men were expected to dress. The M.P.. Miss Jennie Lee, widow of Mr Aneurin Bevan, struck a blow for men who hate having to wear evening clothes at official occasions. She told the House of Commons that the custom was “old-fashioned, stupid, and snobbish.” Citizens should be asked to wear their own best clothes and not be subjected to the “indignity and expense of hiring them.” She urged Mr Macmillan to modernise the regulations governing dress and decorations. which, she said, no longer responded to contemporary taste and social attitudes. He should seek the advice of representative citizens, including those in the Commonwealth.

Mr Macmillan disclaimed any Ministerial responsibility except for uniforms of those subject to discipline. Whether decorations should be worn was usually a matter for the .host. He always thought it was “a matter of good taste to put on the best clothes one had.”

Miss Lee commented: “You must be aware that 99.9 per cent of the men who are now invited to official occasions are not in the habit of wearing the clothes that no doubt the Prime Minister likes wearing.” Mr Macmillan retorted: “If Miss Lee is referring bo the habit of men wearing clothes, I would have thought that was very widespread in many classes of the community today.”