Thoughts On The Proper Dress Of Masons While In Lodge

"The Brethren Will Be Clothed"

Perhaps I differ from many Freemasons, but in my view dress codes within our lodges are important and wholly positive.  Lodge dress is certainly a topic often discussed and I've heard views ranging from 'come as you are' to 'tuxedos are the only appropriate dress for lodge.'  This latter view seems to be most often expressed by those supportive of the Traditional Observance style of Masonry.

I'm a member of four lodges.  Three of those are without a dress code per se, but the men who attend seem to have informally adopted the dark suit as the appropriate dress.  These three lodges incidentally, while not failing, are also not smashingly successful.  They are getting by, quietly.

The fourth lodge I belong to does have a dress code.  Men show up for lodge in blue jeans, a very specific '1950's Television Cowboy Shirt' with the Square and Compasses embroidered upon the breast, and the Master dons a cap appropriate to the rest of the outfit and the theme of the lodge.

This fourth lodge is extremely successful, holding tremendous numbers of active members, many of whom must drive hours from their homes to the temple.  I believe the lodge is so successful that it currently has more members than the entire population of the tiny mountain town in which it is located.

In my view, one of the reasons this particular lodge is so successful is because of its dress code.  Masons want to feel a strong sense of belonging, a true fraternity with their brothers.  By dressing the same, the bonds of brotherhood are made stronger, both in feel and in fact.  The brethren active in this particular lodge understand the importance of dress and take steps to ensure that they are all dressed appropriately to this lodge.  Much like our brothers advocating for the Traditional Observance style do.

Where I differ from the Traditional Observance movement is in the fact that I don't believe the tuxedo to be the only, or even the preferred form of dress.  Rather, I believe that the form of dress adopted by a lodge needs to be reflective of the wider community around that specific lodge.  Otherwise we are not creating a positive dress code that will strengthen the bonds of brotherhood, we are creating a caricature.

These past few months I have had the honor of leading my local lodge while its Master has been away wintering in sunny Florida.  From day one I have tried to replace the dark suit and tie traditionally worn by the members of this lodge with a unique looking workman's shirt called a Hickory shirt.

Why?

Because the Hickory Shirt is appropriate to the community in which our lodge exists.  It is appropriate to the men who make up the membership of our lodge, and importantly, it is appropriate to the men we want to attract to Masonry.

I must say that before I moved to this small city from a much more urbanized part of our state, I'd never even seen a Hickory Shirt.  In this city however, when I shop where this community's men shop (the work-wear store, the big hardware/outdoors store) these shirts are abundant, displayed on huge racks with a multitude of brands and styles.  My wife and I even saw them for infants. This shirt symbolizes the outdoor living and hardworking nature of this community and the men who call it home.  It is a symbol of the community, just like the 'TV Cowboy' shirt worn by the very successful lodge I discussed earlier is a symbol of the community in which that lodge is based (a community built around railroading.)

I, along with a few other Masons, and our wives went to a play in our community last night.  It was a great play and we had a wonderful time.  Despite the fact that this is a small city, we are blessed with wonderful live theater here.  The thing is though, when I looked around the playhouse, there was not a single man, anywhere in the audience, wearing a suit and tie.  Men, every man in the place except for the actors was in blue jeans and casual shirts.

My wife and I though don't only go to the theater in this city, we also travel north to a much more metropolitan city and attend the theater there.  When I go to that theater I wear a nice suit and tie, as does almost every other man in the audience.  A suit and tie for the theater is expected and appropriate in that much larger city.  In the small city I now call home wearing a suit and tie to the theater would mark one as out of place.

It should be much the same in our lodges.  We should dress appropriately.  Maybe that appropriate dress is the formal tuxedo or at the other end of the spectrum, maybe it is the Hickory shirt.  It will differ from lodge to lodge, from community to community.  Whatever it is, it should be appropriate to that community, otherwise it is not a positive dress code that enhances the lodge; it is a caricature that marks the lodge as odd and an object of derision instead of an institution to be admired.

A lodge of men, ill at ease in ill fitting suits, in a community that does not even embrace the suit for the theater is not a lodge that other men in the community, even the best men in the community will want to join.  However, a lodge of men, dressed appropriately for their community and obviously having fun while doing good within that community will attract other men, including the very best of men.

I also think it proper to touch upon tradition.  As I've discussed, it is the tradition of the lodge in my city to wear suits, just as it is tradition within this lodge for the Master to don a top hat.  A Master in a battered and poorly fitting top hat is a poor sight indeed, yet it seems so important to some that the Master wear the hat due to 'tradition.'

What tradition I must wonder?

The top hat is not a truly traditional hat for the Master of a lodge to wear.  It cannot be so, because it was not invented until Masonry had already existed for hundreds of years.  I do not know what particular hat may have been worn by the Masters of the London lodges who formed the first Grand Lodge, but I know full well that it was not a top hat because the first top hat was made when the Grand Lodge system was well out of its infancy.

Masonic traditions are those things, which we hold dear that have existed within our noble institution from time immemorial.  The top hat, and the modern man's suit, are not such, rather they are newer creations that have simply taken on the form of tradition.  They can be dispensed with without harming our institution or its legitimate traditions in any way.  Indeed, in some situations and in some lodges they should be done away with in order to keep Masonry and its true traditions alive and vibrant.

I am not anti-suit, anti-tuxedo, or even anti-top hat.  I believe that all have their place, and that for a great many lodges they form the basis of a perfect dress code.  I do however recognize that this is not true in all locations, all communities, or all lodges.  I believe that an appropriate dress code can do more to strengthen the bonds of brotherhood, and strengthen a lodge than almost any other action that can be taken.  The key is appropriateness, for without it the opposite will occur and weakness will be the result instead of strength.

My lodge can continue to be perceived as a dusty old institution composed of dusty old men wearing dusty old suits and doing dull things, or it can stop fighting the community in which it exists and present a fun and vibrant front to that community and thereby attract other good men who desire to become better men.

For my lodge this is a choice between vital life and decay & death.  This issue, that seems so trivial, is in fact of tremendous import.  My lodge, given its own unique circumstances is best served with a Hickory shirt.  Another lodge, with its own unique circumstances will be best served by tuxedo and tails.  The fundamental question is:  Given the unique circumstances of your lodge, what best serves it?