{"id":14,"date":"2008-04-27T23:18:25","date_gmt":"2008-04-27T23:18:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/gap\/wp\/?p=14"},"modified":"2008-04-27T23:18:25","modified_gmt":"2008-04-27T23:18:25","slug":"top_hat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/gap\/2008\/04\/top_hat\/","title":{"rendered":"Top Hat"},"content":{"rendered":"

If I haven’t been to hear the local symphony in a while, I sometimes forget about this<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"tux.jpg\"<\/span><\/p>\n

In the 21st century, the tuxedo is still generally the costume of the classical musician. I don’t mean to beat on this fashion choice–though in most cases I’m not sure how much of a choice it really is–but seriously, Patrick Dempsey and George Clooney aside, who really carries this look with conviction these days? <\/p>\n

But it’s an iconic trope, with as much expressive weight in a music performance as flannel or safety pins, and so maybe the field shouldn’t be quick to shirk it in those attempts to “attract a broader audience” that we hear so much about at conferences. After all,\u00c2\u00a0Esquire<\/span> designed a nine-page layout around capturing classical music mojo as seen draped in Armani and such. Why ditch the branding?<\/p>\n

The general argument against such formal wear, of course, is that it gives off the wrong vibe.\u00c2\u00a0It’s not like being suited up\u00c2\u00a0for a shift at Mickey D’s, but it can look as uncomfortable and as insincere. Also, it’s hard to cry, “No, no, you’re wrong! Orchestra performances are not formal, elitist affairs!” while wearing a cummerbund.\u00c2\u00a0But as John Stewart pointed out recently in reference to Barack Obama’s struggle with a (loosely related) issue, “Doesn’t elite mean good?”\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n

When you’re dealing with a crew of 70-some musicians, the options are limited. Any kind of continuity in dress is going to get you some sort of stock feel, which conflicts with the \u00c2\u00a0whole “creative performing artist” side of the equation. But for better and worse, classical = formal wear, there’s just no point in running from that. I mean, would you want to see the tuxes traded for the bolder images of, say, punk<\/a>? Minding the gap doesn’t mean tripping into the ditch, just sayin’, and I’d hate to see the dry cleaning bill on that $4,000 suit.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If I haven’t been to hear the local symphony in a while, I sometimes forget about this. In the 21st century, the tuxedo is still generally the costume of the classical musician. I don’t mean to beat on this fashion choice–though in most cases I’m not sure how much of a choice it really is–but […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-14","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-uncategorized","7":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/gap\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/gap\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/gap\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/gap\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/gap\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/gap\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/gap\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/gap\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/gap\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}