Dress Code
For me, there are two defining moments in pop culture about laundromats. The first is a scene in Mr. Bean where he somehow manages to get his washing mixed up with a woman’s, and has to wear a long brown dress instead of his traditional pants. Unsurprisingly, hilarity ensues.
The second comes from the movie Die Hard With a Vengance. John McClane (after surviving a subway crash) walks into a bank, and when the security staff baulk at his state of dress, he explains “It’s laundry day”. And that’s usually what happens to me (minus the subway crash, clearly). By the time it comes to laundry day I have usually worn all my somewhat-good looking clothes, and am down to the traditional trackpants and torn tee shirts.
Except the last time I went was somewhat different, I went to the laundromat because I didn’t have any clean trackpants. You see I’ve been in the middle of exams, and therefore walking around the house (and uni) in trackpants and torn tee shirts. So I actually had to head to the laundromat in nice, somewhat decent-looking clothes. This led me to wonder if laundromats have an implicit dress code. Did I stand out and look like a fool because I wasn’t wearing trackpants? Or did I just have too much time on my hands while waiting for the end of the spin cycle?












June 29th, 2008 at 10:08 am
Well well well…. William Midgley finally reveals his most secret desire….
… DIRTY, SWEATY MEN…………. WEARING DRESSES!!!!!
While a little surprised, I’m sure everyone else, like me, is more than happy to support you and your lifestyle choices
June 29th, 2008 at 3:34 pm
Pete, so much enthusiasm for paying people out, so early in the morning…!
June 29th, 2008 at 10:49 pm
hehe…. 10am isnt early… it’s a sleep in!
June 30th, 2008 at 12:49 pm
Pete, what are you talking about? That’s sacrilege! As engineers we’re loathe to get up any earlier than 10am… What were you thinking man?!
June 30th, 2008 at 3:28 pm
Will ur not an engineer… not even close, sure you’ve finished a degree… but don’t for a minute think that you can group engineers in with your sleeping in past 10am bullshit