How did it used to be?

Going to the theater used to be a social event. People wore the best clothes they had hanging in their closets to impress the theater troupe. It was never allowed to wear the same clothes to the theater that you would wear at home. However, one must admit that people used to wear suits and dresses, even for a walk in the park. Now, people think about comfort. Most people no longer have formal wear. Students graduate in jeans and female students in sneakers. They no longer wear anything respectable for special occasions. So even going to the theater is no longer an obligation to wear formal wear. After all, it is the theater.

Is it just the new generation?

However, I do not blame the younger generation; even the older generation is often confused about what to wear. The cause may lie with the older generation: in the 1970s, small theaters, called kotogekijo, began to appear in large numbers. These theaters wanted to set themselves apart from the conservative large theaters. They differed in their approach to performance, in their ideas, and in the freedom of dress they allowed their audiences to wear. This looseness has carried over into today\’s theaters. Large theaters often turn to small theaters to lure a younger generation that no longer goes to the theater as they once did. They prefer to feel at home. So theaters offer them the opportunity to come to the theater dressed in the same clothes they wear to the computer all day long.

So what should they wear?

The times are driving theaters to post on their websites the ethics of theater attire and behavior. In short, theaters must educate their audiences themselves. But if there is any advice I can give, it is to always dress neatly in the theater. Even if you are the only one in the audience wearing formal attire, you are probably the only one who knows how to dress fashionably.