At my office we had a bowling outing, and this was the dress code of the bowling alley:

Dress Code (strictly enforced): The following are not permitted; athletic wear, sweats or sports jerseys, motorcycle colors, excessively baggy clothing, sleeveless t-shirts, plain white t-shirts (short or long sleeve), construction boots, headgear, chains, ripped or soiled clothing.

I asked what "motorcycle colors" are, and at first was told that it was wearing all black with studs and leather. When I pointed out that studs and leather are not colors, I was then told they probably mean Hell's Angel's colors. When I then asked what those colors those are, our office had no idea. So I checked Google and found they are red and white. That can't be it. Do you have any idea what they meant?

We also weren't sure what "head gear" is, but I had already irritated our planning committee enough so I didn't ask about that. Some thought that meant hats, but why not just say hats? Others thought perhaps it meant headphones from iPods or something like that.

No athletic wear or sweats for a bowling outing? What does she think one does at a bowling alley, sip cocktails? This person is an idiot.

Here is something about motorcycle colors.

Obviously this bowling alley is strictly black tie.

May I recommend that you send the invitation to this site? http://www.thisistrue.com/

The expression "Motorcycle colo(u)rs is not one I have ever heard of. But restrictions on the wearing of motorcycle apparel do exist in the UK. Typically these will involve security in places such as banks, where the wearing of helmets would be an effective disguise.

However, some pubs and similar establishments do occasionally place restrictions on clothing and this can include motorcycle gear. But, speaking as one who has been into many pubs wearing my motorcycle clothing, I have never found it to be a problem - although I have sometimes joked about my eligibility as a customer whilst wearing my jacket and leggings. I suspect that these kinds of prohibitions are simply there to allow doorkeepers to keep out undesirables - some of whom wear scruffy motorcycle gear as some kind of badge of office.

I'm astonished, especially at Richard, that this is an unfamiliar term.
It's a modern extension of colours as in "showing your true colours" or "striking the colours".

Different motorcycle gangs wear different designs on their clothing - different "colours". I thought Richard, as a man with a love of motorcycles and vehicles, would have known that.

It means designs used as badges and signs of affiliation.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: BobHale,

The one that puzzled me was "plain white T-shirts". What could possibly be the problem with a plain white T-shirt?

Of course, I have not had much to do with motorcycle gangs as such, although I have met a few members of such. Mind you, most of those I have met have been in Hedley, in the Canadian Rockies, where they seem to act as an unofficial police force (the RCMP having no presence nearer than Princetown, about 30 miles away).

We have a fair number of motorcyclists in West Sussex, but no gangs so far as I know.

And I am with Bob insofar as T-shirts are concerned; I could understand a ban of T-shirts with offensive or inflammatory designs - but how can one object to a plain white T-shirt? And would one be allowed in wearing a coloured T-shirt?

It reminds me of our visit to that bar in Chicago (was it Mac's?) where we weren't allowed in until we could assure the doorman that we had some age-identifying ID, even though not one of us was under 40!

And here "headgear" just means any kind of head covering be it a baseball cap, a top hat or a motorcycle helmet.

And while I'm being puzzled, would a bowling team shirt count as a "sports jersey".
I can just picture a bowling tournament where the only teams allowed to compete are the ones NOT dressed as bowling teams.

It is not the colors or motorcycle gear that the bowling alley is objecting to but the people who are wearing them. Might be the same with plain white t-shirts: may be a gang-related problem. When I worked at a local high school, running the computer lab for the English department, all the staff had training in recognizing gang colors, gestures, etc., from the local police department.

The trouble seems to lie not in wearing of colors but of there being more than one group displaying their colors in the establishment. Ordinarily this leads to massive friction between the groups, which is a euphemism for gangfights. The plain white T-shirt may be some gang "color" in that area or they may just be objecting to wearing of underwear as an outerwear.

I guess it would have been OK to go nude? Well, except for the requisite bowling shoes.

Not only shoes but it takes a lot of balls to be a bowler.

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where the wearing of helmets would be an effective disguise.

But in the U.S. many bikers wear helmets, including little kids. I guess they could leave them outside the bank, though.

I may just call the bowling alley to see precisely what they mean. I agree that I was flummoxed by the plain white t-shirt, short or long sleeved. I can see sleeveless t-shirts, and I suppose a short-sleeved one could be an undershirt...but a long sleeved white t-shirt?

By the way, in reality, people wore all black, sports jerseys, athletic shoes, baseball caps, and no one got any kind of a warning. In fact, the people who worked there wore all black and looked a little sketchy to me. While this was in downtown Chicago, the place was, by no means, fancy in any way, shape, or form. That's why this big message (that was sent to us 3 or 4 times) seemed so strange.

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But in the U.S. many bikers wear helmets, including little kids. I guess they could leave them outside the bank, though.

In the UK all motorcyclists wear helmets when riding; it's the Law and there are heavy fines for non-compliance.

Banks and other organisations that ban their wearing simply expect riders to remove their helmets before they enter. Most motorcyclists will just carry their helmets, which is fine; leaving them outside with their machines is only an option if there's secure helmet stowage, since helmets are very expensive and therefore very desirable to thieves.

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Banks and other organisations that ban their wearing simply expect riders to remove their helmets before they enter.

The local banks expect that everyone do so, as well as taking off hats and sunglasses, so the cameras get a good look at potential bank robbers. Of course, those actually aspiring to relieve the bank of their cash illegally totally ignore those commands.

I think my response to that invitation would have been not to go! It sounded most unwelcoming, and besides, I am a lousy bowler. I'm with everybody else on the plain white T-shirt. I've had some really nice plain white T-shirts and would have been proud to wear one to a bowling alley.

Kalleh, did you win?

Wordmatic

I wonder if that particular alley has had problems with some local gang who wear plain white T-shirts. It's possible that this is the reason for that particular odd requirement.

Isn't it just a more specialized version of "No shoes, no shirt, no service" signs you see in the States? Many might think this is some arbitrary curtailment of their right to arm bears and wear wife-beaters, but you'd be surprised what silliness people can get up to where team sports and alcohol are mixed.

Verily, Z, and you don't see the bowling alleys offering to quit selling alcohol!

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The local banks expect that everyone do so, as well as taking off hats and sunglasses, so the cameras get a good look at potential bank robbers. Of course, those actually aspiring to relieve the bank of their cash illegally totally ignore those commands.

Really? I haven't seen anything like that here.

WM, no, I didn't win...not even close. But I tried hard!

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you don't see the bowling alleys offering to quit selling alcohol!

It's been many, many years since I last went to a bowling alley, but I think that none of them served alcohol over here.

Nine-pin bowling is of course a different matter as that's a centuries-old pub game.

none of them served alcohol over here

On this side of the pond, every bowling alley I've ever been in had a bar on the premises. And you can take beers into the bowling alley proper. They usually have restaurants or cafes, too.

I haven't been bowling for about ten years but they all used to serve alcohol around my area.

I take that back, then. As I said, it's been a long time since I went bowling. I bet they didn't serve any decent beers, though! (To beat Richard to the punch. )

I think those rules are to avoid this sort of thing.

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Originally posted by arnie:
I take that back, then. As I said, it's been a long time since I went bowling. I bet they didn't serve any decent beers, though! (To beat Richard to the punch. )

You'd win. (The bet, not the bowling.)

Bowling has apparently turned around in the U.S. It used to be a working class game, but it seems to have changed. Here is a link to the place by us . I couldn't find a beer list, but you can see the wine list isn't bad. I went there with my daughter and her friend and her friend's mother, and it was so crowded that my daughter's friend had to talk these men into sharing their lane with us. BTW, my daughter's friend's mom was a ringer. She bowled 179, whereas I bowled 44.

Wow! A Bowling/Bocce/Bistro concept!

I have an idea that it's been centuries since I've been bowling! I clearly remember it as a very sort of low-class sport! But now the scales have fallen from my eyes.

WM

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BTW, my daughter's friend's mom was a ringer.

I know one of those; he rings for St John's in Redhill.

Comedian turned travel journalist, Paul Merton was in Germany this week. One of the events he attended was a nude bowling tournament. Perhaps that would satisfy your local alley.

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One of the events he attended was a nude bowling tournament.

Obviously they haven't banned purple and pink.

Some folks around here have so many tattoos that you'd never know they were nude.

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Originally posted by Proofreader:
Here is something about motorcycle colors.

Obviously this bowling alley is strictly black tie.

Excellent reference--covers the subject well. OMG = OMG. In the East we now have Black bikers who in an effort to differentiate, only ride rice-burners (Japanese bikes).

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Originally posted by BobHale:
Comedian turned travel journalist, Paul Merton was in Germany this week. One of the events he attended was a nude bowling tournament. Perhaps that would satisfy your local alley.

I could sort of see that though modified so men and women could have some support for the floppy bits.