Written in response to Chris Grillot’s Feb. 22 column “A firsthand look at Tigerland’s discriminatory dress codes”
First of all, let me say that I found your article regarding Tigerland’s “discriminatory” dress code very entertaining, as I do with most of The Daily Reveille’s opinion articles. I feel like you made a valid point, how most of the bars in Tigerland have a similar dress code, and how that may upset certain people to whom this dress code may not apply. Those people, whoever they may be, have every reason to be upset, because let’s face it: Everyone wants to have a good time and go out with their friends every now and then. However, while I am not here to bash your article in any way, shape or form, I am simply going to explain to you why most of the bars in that area have such a uniform dress code.
I have experience working at two bars in Baton Rouge in my four years at LSU, not to mention my fair share of encounters at the different bars in Tigerland. In my time here, I have seen Tiger Bar turn into The Box and then The House; I have seen Heisman’s turn into Mike’s; I have seen Shady’s go from a place no one really knew about to a Thursday night mainstay for several people. A big reason why Heisman’s failed my freshman year was because it was a place that “Jersey Shore-esque” dressed people frequented. I have seen, on countless occasions, innocent bystanders get called out by these guys and get jumped for no reason. When Heisman’s became Mike’s my sophomore year, it was more of the same thing. I can remember one night when I was picking up some friends from Mike’s when a random guy who didn’t like the way my friends dressed (polo, khakis, etc.) punched out my car window and ran off. It was absurd.
When I go out, I like to have a good time, get a few drinks and catch up with friends. What Mike’s lacked was this type of atmosphere. It was filled with guys who went out looking for a fight at the end of the night. That’s when new management came in and cleaned house, also setting up this “strict” dress code more accustomed to the Bogie’s crowd. Now, Mike’s is a very successful bar; although frequented by so-called “frat boys,” it does 100 times better financially than it did before.
What I’m getting at is that the reason many of these bars have this dress code is because they realize that if they get the fraternity and sorority crowd, they will draw in large groups of people that travel in packs together and therefore make more money. If those people dressed like the cast of “Jersey Shore,” I’m sure that would become the norm in the dress code at these establishments. So in conclusion, I wouldn’t worry so much about what people dress like when they go out; at the end of the day, the bars are like anything else that operates in the service industry –they are a business and just want to have the best strategy available to stay in business.
Taylor Brett,
mass communication senior
 
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