Yes I always see the meetings with members in a suit and tie and hats and others that look like they just got off a logging job and straight to the Lodges
We have the 2 casual dress summer months but we tend to have several that either don't know or don't care what they look like........or have a reason for not having a suits and tie.
I guess we just need to say at the end of a meeting that the next one will have a Grand member visiting and see how that works.......not that you can be at every Lodge meeting even if it is just a test to see what would happen.......only time I am not in the suit is at the Loggers Degree
Lest I be misunderstood, I think that I may need to clarify. I don't think that everyone needs to wear a suit to Lodge, nor that suits are appropriate for all Lodges. Heck, I don't remember the last time I wore a suit to Lodge. Tuxedo yes, jacket and tie yes, but not a suit.
I am not against the casualisation in dress that we are seeing in society.
What I was trying to get at was a sense of caring. Maybe I can illustrate with an example:
Not long ago, I attended a funeral. I wore a suit. Most people did not. That they didn't was not a bother to me at all. But what did bother me were the men who didn't remove their ball caps during the ceremony.
So, I've got nothing against jeans and a shirt at a funeral, and I've got nothing against ball caps. But I was bothered by what I perceived as a lack of respect and care shown by those men who were throwing years of correct and accepted behavior aside as a part of their dress by not removing their ball caps.
Hopefully that makes some sense.
I dress differently than most people, and I have all of my life. Most everyone wears a bow tie with a tuxedo, I wear a big silver bolo tie. And I think that's all fine, we are all individuals, and I've worked with cows enough to justify in my own mind that it isn't a costume.
But, at that Lodge meeting I mentioned, it really struck me that I'm no longer really caring about my dress, and how that presents me to the world. That's the standard I see slipping within myself, and I fear that if I didn't recognize that, I'd eventually end up as one of the guys wearing a ball cap to a funeral.
In some of the rural lodges outside our major city of Halifax, I often see much less formal wear and members tend to reflect more blue collar jobs, then they'll all suit-up for annual installations! Yet their ritual work is often spectacular!
A dress code is necessary for creating a sense of discipline. Not only by learning the rituals or the monitors, but also how we look to others. Like an armor.
Every place has a dress code. What a judge will think of me if I go in shorts and a t-shirt? Impressions matter.
How that apply to Masonry? In a spiritual realm is everything. "As above, so below", everything we do will reflect in the spiritual realm. Every spiritual being has a signature dress code, once you look at an image you know who it is. Same way we need a signature dress code, or a way to be identified by those beings when times comes.
Few Lodges here have dress codes, but I am a big believer in them for Lodges. Not for reasons of discipline perhaps, but rather because I believe that they are powerful tools for building brotherhood, an esprit de corps, if you will.
But, to work, in my view the dress code needs to reflect the Lodge itself, and the community in which it resides.
We have a Lodge in Seattle, all the members wear black suits, and matching plain white aprons (including the officers.) It looks extremely sharp, and I think it builds bonds of Brotherhood among the members.
We have a Lodge in an old Railroad town up in the mountains. All the members wear jeans and Railroad shirts, as if they were working old steam trains. In their case as well, it looks really sharp, builds fellowship, and as they often wear their Lodge dress while traveling, has given their Lodge an impact greater than most.
When I was Master of the Lodge in my city, we instituted a dress code of logging shirts. Because those shirts reflected the history and values of the community. I believe that doing so made the Lodge stronger, plus it was a lot of fun.
I don't disagree with your view that this does play into the spiritual realm as well. Particularly with a Lodge's egregore. I would argue that in the three cases mentioned above, the egregore is or was quite healthy and perceptible.
Your comment, "Standards can slip, so slowly, so imperceptibly over time, that we don’t even realize it’s really happening," not only applies to dress but also ritual, officer selection and commitment, and dedication. I served in two progressive officer lines, my lodge, and the Shrine. I have watched standards slip in both, as well as the level of leadership ability. When the fraternity started compromising on standards to ensure full officer lines, we created an erosion of quality.
Thank you Brother. I think that this is the point I was ultimately trying to touch upon with my post. That we need to be mindful of what we are doing, and what our Lodges are doing.
Because if we aren't paying attention, standards can slip. They can slip for dress, but they can just as easily slip for things like officer quality and candidate quality.
It's not a matter of what style of clothes we wear, or how our Lodge handles its activities, but a matter of caring enough to notice. Do we care about how the clothes we are wearing present us to the world? Do we care about the commitment our Worshipful Master makes to his Lodge? Do we care that our candidate is well and properly taken through the process?
Or do we just let these things happen, without a thought?
Where were you first made a Mason? (hint: the answer isn't Brooks Brothers)
MW, I've never seen you look anything like a schlub, and the mere suggestion could cause some Masons to fall into the trap of putting formality over substance. Come on! You're a PGM. You've got to careful about what you say!
We make a big deal about being neither naked nor clad to teach us that outer appearances aren't what matters. Yet we continue to make judgements about attire as if we're the friendly neighbor on the Donna Reed show who wears a sweater and a tie when he's trimming the rose bushes. The standard of dress in our society hasn't slipped, it's evolved. Does your banker, lawyer, or priest still wear a tie? Do you still put on a suit if you're going to meet someone at the airport? How many very wonderful new Masons have been initiated in the past few years and told us before their degree, "Uh, I don't have a suit". Of course they don't. If not for an obsolete standard that we impose when would they ever wear one?
Any time we put into needlessly formal appearance detracts from time we could spend on nobler deeds, higher thoughts, and greater achievements. And I checked, there's nothing in that apron lecture about starched collars and shiny cufflinks.
I get your point about the standards for a lodge slipping. We've all seen it. But it has nothing to do with dress code. For that matter, it has little to do with the appearance of the lodge room. One of the best nights in my lodge was when you presided over our reconstitution a few year ago. You'll recall that our lodge room is a 100 year old community meeting room that's been infused with our solid programs and a vivid imagination. And while I've not attended an outdoor degree I've always heard about how great they are. They take place in the woods, so they must be great because of the thoughtful preparation that goes into a substantive program.
Substantive programs are what matters. A well guarded West Gate matters. it's important to remember that we make good men better. And it's equally important to remember that we don't 'make good men dress better.
In closing, I should say that if you want to wear a suit you should wear one. Even a very nice one. Who am I to judge?
As an aside, alas, I own no more Brooks Brothers. I claimed that it all shrank, Melinda claimed that we eat too much and exercise too little. We donated it all to a Demolay Chapter, lest it keep mocking me every time I opened my closet.
On to the topic at hand though, I'm not arguing that our Lodges make a return to the suits of the past. As mentioned in the post, I'm not opposed to the casualization of dress that we are seeing in our society. Nor do I think we all need to look the same in either blue or grey. I still marvel at how strong an impact blue jeans and goofy Railroad shirts had on feelings of brotherhood within our Lodge at Skykomish, and I still wish that our Lodge at Centralia would go back to it's 'logger outfits.'
Rather, the point I was attempting to make is that we should care about how we are presenting ourselves, no matter what we might choose to wear. And that is the standard that I had recognized was slipping within myself. It isn't so much that what is considered acceptable dress has changed, as it was that I found myself no longer caring how well the jacket fit or if the shoes/boots were dusty.
And I think that there is a lesson in that for our work within our Lodges. Do we care that our programs are excellent, or just good enough? That our candidate selection is excellent, or just good enough?
So, I think what I was trying to get at is the importance of mindfulness. It's OK in my mind that we aren't wearing suits like we were thirty years ago. But it is still important that we be mindful about what we are wearing. Likewise in our Lodge. It is perfectly OK in my mind if a Mason has to read a ritual part, but I hope that he is mindful enough to spend a bit of time with it so that he can read it well.
Going off on another tangent...
You should certainly come to an outdoor Degree, I think that you would greatly enjoy it! I might suggest that the most fun will be had at the Starlight Fellowcraft Degree. We'll be doing that again this summer in Quilcene. We'll feed you mountains of truly amazing BBQ first. The dress will be suitable for running around in the woods. Except for the Officers, those poor guys will be wearing clothing that some guy in the 1960's imagined King Solomon wore during his reign.
We'll see how my calendar develops this year. I'd love to finally attend an outdoor degree. I'd even volunteer for a place on the degree team. But my daughter's Christmas gift to us was news that we'll have a grandson in June, and I'm going to let him tug real hard on my cable tow.
That's going to be really awesome! Congratulations! We've got two now, and eight year old, and an eight month old. Great fun, and of course when visiting us, no rules!
Don't say no rules, the parents may some day take exception. I've sort of told my daughter the same thing by saying that I'll foster a sense of empowerment in my grandson.
What a great analogy! As we are a military lodge (RCAF, but more RCN and Army these days!) We have a dress code of Walking Out dress (blue blazer & grey slacks) with white shirt, regimental tie & crest of your service unit (mine is RMP from the UK) or the RCAF crest if you're not a vet or serving. We have many non-military members in our Lodge. Otherwise a suit. Sr. officers, black tie or parade dress. This seeps into our ritual and footwork, in which we take pride. New brothers say they enjoy a night to look more spiffy than usual. Our June meeting is always casual business, collared shirt, no jacket...'cause in our part of Canada, anything over 20C (68F) constitutes a massive heat wave :-)
We are the same here in Western Washington. Much over 70F and we are damn near dead from the heat. Of course, in fairness, most of our Temples were built before the days of modern insulation, HVAC, and without windows. So it can get mighty hot in them in the summer months. Many of our Lodges close in the summer, the ones that don't generally switch to polo shirts and the like.
P.G.M. Bailey, you gave me a good laugh with this posting. In college in the late 1960's, we as students often dressed in 3- pieces students. Ha! That did go downhill as the snow started to fall!
One of my high school teachers asked me to take her daughter to her Class of '69 Senior Prom (the daughter's boyfriend lived out of state, and was not able to attend that Prom)! It was my luck, that one of my dad's older Tuxedos fit me (he was a WV State Grand Master). So I always endeavor to ask for reasonable dress code in my Masonic Lodges.
For my installation as Master of Everett Lodge No. 137, I wore my U.S. Army Dress Blue Uniform. Thanks again for your stories such as this.
Thank you Brother! I'm glad that you enjoyed the post!
I've always found it quite awesome when Brothers wear their military uniforms to Lodge. At a recent Table Lodge a number of the Masons present did so, and it looked really sharp!
I very much looked forward to Lodge night. I enjoyed dressing up. I had a nice selection of shirts and ties that I had accumulated from 15 years as a detective where we were required to wear a tie. When I was WM, I had a conversation one night with our Tyler, a very distinguished PM and DDGM. He was very adamant that the Brothers be properly attired which included wearing a tie. I thought for a moment and told him that I agreed with him but it wasn’t a hill I was willing to die on. It was more important to me that a Brother was in lodge than how he was dressed. The idea of denying entry into the Lodge because of the lack of a tie was unfathomable to me. In a time when we struggle with membership and attendance I think it is much more important to have a Brother feel welcome. The dress up piece will come back to him.
One of the very best Masons I know, also a distinguished PM and PDDGM sometimes doesn't get off work until late. And he works a very dirty job. We would much rather have him in Lodge, in his work clothes, than miss out on his fellowship.
In his book "Observing the Craft" Brother Andrew Hammer goes into detail on this very subject. Basically the gist of it is that when you dress well, you mentally elevate and prepare yourself for the upcoming task. It also displays reverence towards the activity. There was a reason why people (used to) dress in their "sunday best" for church.
But "sunday best" may mean different things to different people. Farmers may consider bib overalls and a clean shirt to be dressed up. Then there's ZZ Top, which claims a silk suit and a tie tack makes you a sharp dressed man.
I have neither one of those.
Here at least in Washington State, there are folks that wear wear socks with their birkenstocks, so there is no accounting for taste.
I was part of a masonic funeral a few years ago. There we were, all wearing black suits, white shirts, ties, white gloves and aprons, honoring a fellow mason as he travels to that undiscovered country from whose born no traveler returns. I am sure that the deceased, in the casket, was also suitably dressed for the occasion, although I think he needed help putting it on.
Out in the audience, the family and friends were all seated in folding chairs, looking they either were stopping at a dance club afterwards, or had just gone to walmart for some last minute shopping. Not a single one spent a single minute contemplating what they were wearing. That entire experience resonated with me. I don't think a single one of use actually knew the deceased, yet we dressed up to honor his memory anyway.
I remember Bro. Hammer's arguments about dress very well. He advocates for extremely formal dress, and I think that makes a good deal of sense given where his Lodge (when he wrote the book) is located.
But, I think that each Lodge needs to adapt that concept to its own area and culture. Putting the guys in Centralia Lodge (I'm including myself here, not picking on anyone) in White Tie Formal Wear would not make for a sharp dressed Lodge, rather it would make for a room full of men who looked as if they were wearing costumes.
Better, in Centralia I think: cotton pants (jeans, dockers, canvas, in whatever color) dress shirt, jacket. Better yet, I think, hickory shirts as a 'Lodge Uniform.' For the esprit de corps that arises when there is a 'Uniform.' And I think that is well in line with Bro. Hammer's concept.
As you rightly point out, it changes from place to place, lodge to lodge, community culture to community culture.
John made the point above that you probably don't see your banker or attorney wearing a tie at all times now. Towards that end, and sticking with my Centralia Lodge, it is no longer possible to purchase a Sports Jacket or a Blazer within Centralia, indeed this can't be done anywhere in our County. That is I think an important indicator about what our Lodge should be wearing.
Ultimately though, I think the switch from schlub to sharp is mindfulness. What are we wearing? How does that communicate? Why is that what we are seeking to communicate? If we are mindful about it, we will be sharp. Even in those bib overalls if those are appropriate. But on the farm we called those 'hougies.'
The funeral stuff makes me nuts too. Go to a funeral, see a bunch of guys in ball caps during the service. Not good.
Yes I always see the meetings with members in a suit and tie and hats and others that look like they just got off a logging job and straight to the Lodges
We have the 2 casual dress summer months but we tend to have several that either don't know or don't care what they look like........or have a reason for not having a suits and tie.
I guess we just need to say at the end of a meeting that the next one will have a Grand member visiting and see how that works.......not that you can be at every Lodge meeting even if it is just a test to see what would happen.......only time I am not in the suit is at the Loggers Degree
But then here I am up at 3:30am for some reason
Lest I be misunderstood, I think that I may need to clarify. I don't think that everyone needs to wear a suit to Lodge, nor that suits are appropriate for all Lodges. Heck, I don't remember the last time I wore a suit to Lodge. Tuxedo yes, jacket and tie yes, but not a suit.
I am not against the casualisation in dress that we are seeing in society.
What I was trying to get at was a sense of caring. Maybe I can illustrate with an example:
Not long ago, I attended a funeral. I wore a suit. Most people did not. That they didn't was not a bother to me at all. But what did bother me were the men who didn't remove their ball caps during the ceremony.
So, I've got nothing against jeans and a shirt at a funeral, and I've got nothing against ball caps. But I was bothered by what I perceived as a lack of respect and care shown by those men who were throwing years of correct and accepted behavior aside as a part of their dress by not removing their ball caps.
Hopefully that makes some sense.
I dress differently than most people, and I have all of my life. Most everyone wears a bow tie with a tuxedo, I wear a big silver bolo tie. And I think that's all fine, we are all individuals, and I've worked with cows enough to justify in my own mind that it isn't a costume.
But, at that Lodge meeting I mentioned, it really struck me that I'm no longer really caring about my dress, and how that presents me to the world. That's the standard I see slipping within myself, and I fear that if I didn't recognize that, I'd eventually end up as one of the guys wearing a ball cap to a funeral.
In some of the rural lodges outside our major city of Halifax, I often see much less formal wear and members tend to reflect more blue collar jobs, then they'll all suit-up for annual installations! Yet their ritual work is often spectacular!
A dress code is necessary for creating a sense of discipline. Not only by learning the rituals or the monitors, but also how we look to others. Like an armor.
Every place has a dress code. What a judge will think of me if I go in shorts and a t-shirt? Impressions matter.
How that apply to Masonry? In a spiritual realm is everything. "As above, so below", everything we do will reflect in the spiritual realm. Every spiritual being has a signature dress code, once you look at an image you know who it is. Same way we need a signature dress code, or a way to be identified by those beings when times comes.
Few Lodges here have dress codes, but I am a big believer in them for Lodges. Not for reasons of discipline perhaps, but rather because I believe that they are powerful tools for building brotherhood, an esprit de corps, if you will.
But, to work, in my view the dress code needs to reflect the Lodge itself, and the community in which it resides.
We have a Lodge in Seattle, all the members wear black suits, and matching plain white aprons (including the officers.) It looks extremely sharp, and I think it builds bonds of Brotherhood among the members.
We have a Lodge in an old Railroad town up in the mountains. All the members wear jeans and Railroad shirts, as if they were working old steam trains. In their case as well, it looks really sharp, builds fellowship, and as they often wear their Lodge dress while traveling, has given their Lodge an impact greater than most.
When I was Master of the Lodge in my city, we instituted a dress code of logging shirts. Because those shirts reflected the history and values of the community. I believe that doing so made the Lodge stronger, plus it was a lot of fun.
I don't disagree with your view that this does play into the spiritual realm as well. Particularly with a Lodge's egregore. I would argue that in the three cases mentioned above, the egregore is or was quite healthy and perceptible.
Your comment, "Standards can slip, so slowly, so imperceptibly over time, that we don’t even realize it’s really happening," not only applies to dress but also ritual, officer selection and commitment, and dedication. I served in two progressive officer lines, my lodge, and the Shrine. I have watched standards slip in both, as well as the level of leadership ability. When the fraternity started compromising on standards to ensure full officer lines, we created an erosion of quality.
Thank you Brother. I think that this is the point I was ultimately trying to touch upon with my post. That we need to be mindful of what we are doing, and what our Lodges are doing.
Because if we aren't paying attention, standards can slip. They can slip for dress, but they can just as easily slip for things like officer quality and candidate quality.
It's not a matter of what style of clothes we wear, or how our Lodge handles its activities, but a matter of caring enough to notice. Do we care about how the clothes we are wearing present us to the world? Do we care about the commitment our Worshipful Master makes to his Lodge? Do we care that our candidate is well and properly taken through the process?
Or do we just let these things happen, without a thought?
Where were you first made a Mason? (hint: the answer isn't Brooks Brothers)
MW, I've never seen you look anything like a schlub, and the mere suggestion could cause some Masons to fall into the trap of putting formality over substance. Come on! You're a PGM. You've got to careful about what you say!
We make a big deal about being neither naked nor clad to teach us that outer appearances aren't what matters. Yet we continue to make judgements about attire as if we're the friendly neighbor on the Donna Reed show who wears a sweater and a tie when he's trimming the rose bushes. The standard of dress in our society hasn't slipped, it's evolved. Does your banker, lawyer, or priest still wear a tie? Do you still put on a suit if you're going to meet someone at the airport? How many very wonderful new Masons have been initiated in the past few years and told us before their degree, "Uh, I don't have a suit". Of course they don't. If not for an obsolete standard that we impose when would they ever wear one?
Any time we put into needlessly formal appearance detracts from time we could spend on nobler deeds, higher thoughts, and greater achievements. And I checked, there's nothing in that apron lecture about starched collars and shiny cufflinks.
I get your point about the standards for a lodge slipping. We've all seen it. But it has nothing to do with dress code. For that matter, it has little to do with the appearance of the lodge room. One of the best nights in my lodge was when you presided over our reconstitution a few year ago. You'll recall that our lodge room is a 100 year old community meeting room that's been infused with our solid programs and a vivid imagination. And while I've not attended an outdoor degree I've always heard about how great they are. They take place in the woods, so they must be great because of the thoughtful preparation that goes into a substantive program.
Substantive programs are what matters. A well guarded West Gate matters. it's important to remember that we make good men better. And it's equally important to remember that we don't 'make good men dress better.
In closing, I should say that if you want to wear a suit you should wear one. Even a very nice one. Who am I to judge?
As an aside, alas, I own no more Brooks Brothers. I claimed that it all shrank, Melinda claimed that we eat too much and exercise too little. We donated it all to a Demolay Chapter, lest it keep mocking me every time I opened my closet.
On to the topic at hand though, I'm not arguing that our Lodges make a return to the suits of the past. As mentioned in the post, I'm not opposed to the casualization of dress that we are seeing in our society. Nor do I think we all need to look the same in either blue or grey. I still marvel at how strong an impact blue jeans and goofy Railroad shirts had on feelings of brotherhood within our Lodge at Skykomish, and I still wish that our Lodge at Centralia would go back to it's 'logger outfits.'
Rather, the point I was attempting to make is that we should care about how we are presenting ourselves, no matter what we might choose to wear. And that is the standard that I had recognized was slipping within myself. It isn't so much that what is considered acceptable dress has changed, as it was that I found myself no longer caring how well the jacket fit or if the shoes/boots were dusty.
And I think that there is a lesson in that for our work within our Lodges. Do we care that our programs are excellent, or just good enough? That our candidate selection is excellent, or just good enough?
So, I think what I was trying to get at is the importance of mindfulness. It's OK in my mind that we aren't wearing suits like we were thirty years ago. But it is still important that we be mindful about what we are wearing. Likewise in our Lodge. It is perfectly OK in my mind if a Mason has to read a ritual part, but I hope that he is mindful enough to spend a bit of time with it so that he can read it well.
Going off on another tangent...
You should certainly come to an outdoor Degree, I think that you would greatly enjoy it! I might suggest that the most fun will be had at the Starlight Fellowcraft Degree. We'll be doing that again this summer in Quilcene. We'll feed you mountains of truly amazing BBQ first. The dress will be suitable for running around in the woods. Except for the Officers, those poor guys will be wearing clothing that some guy in the 1960's imagined King Solomon wore during his reign.
We'll see how my calendar develops this year. I'd love to finally attend an outdoor degree. I'd even volunteer for a place on the degree team. But my daughter's Christmas gift to us was news that we'll have a grandson in June, and I'm going to let him tug real hard on my cable tow.
That's going to be really awesome! Congratulations! We've got two now, and eight year old, and an eight month old. Great fun, and of course when visiting us, no rules!
Don't say no rules, the parents may some day take exception. I've sort of told my daughter the same thing by saying that I'll foster a sense of empowerment in my grandson.
That's what I'm going for too. That sense of empowerment. I had that as a kid, but I fear that lots of kids don't get any of that today.
What a great analogy! As we are a military lodge (RCAF, but more RCN and Army these days!) We have a dress code of Walking Out dress (blue blazer & grey slacks) with white shirt, regimental tie & crest of your service unit (mine is RMP from the UK) or the RCAF crest if you're not a vet or serving. We have many non-military members in our Lodge. Otherwise a suit. Sr. officers, black tie or parade dress. This seeps into our ritual and footwork, in which we take pride. New brothers say they enjoy a night to look more spiffy than usual. Our June meeting is always casual business, collared shirt, no jacket...'cause in our part of Canada, anything over 20C (68F) constitutes a massive heat wave :-)
We are the same here in Western Washington. Much over 70F and we are damn near dead from the heat. Of course, in fairness, most of our Temples were built before the days of modern insulation, HVAC, and without windows. So it can get mighty hot in them in the summer months. Many of our Lodges close in the summer, the ones that don't generally switch to polo shirts and the like.
P.G.M. Bailey, you gave me a good laugh with this posting. In college in the late 1960's, we as students often dressed in 3- pieces students. Ha! That did go downhill as the snow started to fall!
One of my high school teachers asked me to take her daughter to her Class of '69 Senior Prom (the daughter's boyfriend lived out of state, and was not able to attend that Prom)! It was my luck, that one of my dad's older Tuxedos fit me (he was a WV State Grand Master). So I always endeavor to ask for reasonable dress code in my Masonic Lodges.
For my installation as Master of Everett Lodge No. 137, I wore my U.S. Army Dress Blue Uniform. Thanks again for your stories such as this.
Thank you Brother! I'm glad that you enjoyed the post!
I've always found it quite awesome when Brothers wear their military uniforms to Lodge. At a recent Table Lodge a number of the Masons present did so, and it looked really sharp!
I very much looked forward to Lodge night. I enjoyed dressing up. I had a nice selection of shirts and ties that I had accumulated from 15 years as a detective where we were required to wear a tie. When I was WM, I had a conversation one night with our Tyler, a very distinguished PM and DDGM. He was very adamant that the Brothers be properly attired which included wearing a tie. I thought for a moment and told him that I agreed with him but it wasn’t a hill I was willing to die on. It was more important to me that a Brother was in lodge than how he was dressed. The idea of denying entry into the Lodge because of the lack of a tie was unfathomable to me. In a time when we struggle with membership and attendance I think it is much more important to have a Brother feel welcome. The dress up piece will come back to him.
One of the very best Masons I know, also a distinguished PM and PDDGM sometimes doesn't get off work until late. And he works a very dirty job. We would much rather have him in Lodge, in his work clothes, than miss out on his fellowship.
In his book "Observing the Craft" Brother Andrew Hammer goes into detail on this very subject. Basically the gist of it is that when you dress well, you mentally elevate and prepare yourself for the upcoming task. It also displays reverence towards the activity. There was a reason why people (used to) dress in their "sunday best" for church.
But "sunday best" may mean different things to different people. Farmers may consider bib overalls and a clean shirt to be dressed up. Then there's ZZ Top, which claims a silk suit and a tie tack makes you a sharp dressed man.
I have neither one of those.
Here at least in Washington State, there are folks that wear wear socks with their birkenstocks, so there is no accounting for taste.
I was part of a masonic funeral a few years ago. There we were, all wearing black suits, white shirts, ties, white gloves and aprons, honoring a fellow mason as he travels to that undiscovered country from whose born no traveler returns. I am sure that the deceased, in the casket, was also suitably dressed for the occasion, although I think he needed help putting it on.
Out in the audience, the family and friends were all seated in folding chairs, looking they either were stopping at a dance club afterwards, or had just gone to walmart for some last minute shopping. Not a single one spent a single minute contemplating what they were wearing. That entire experience resonated with me. I don't think a single one of use actually knew the deceased, yet we dressed up to honor his memory anyway.
I remember Bro. Hammer's arguments about dress very well. He advocates for extremely formal dress, and I think that makes a good deal of sense given where his Lodge (when he wrote the book) is located.
But, I think that each Lodge needs to adapt that concept to its own area and culture. Putting the guys in Centralia Lodge (I'm including myself here, not picking on anyone) in White Tie Formal Wear would not make for a sharp dressed Lodge, rather it would make for a room full of men who looked as if they were wearing costumes.
Better, in Centralia I think: cotton pants (jeans, dockers, canvas, in whatever color) dress shirt, jacket. Better yet, I think, hickory shirts as a 'Lodge Uniform.' For the esprit de corps that arises when there is a 'Uniform.' And I think that is well in line with Bro. Hammer's concept.
As you rightly point out, it changes from place to place, lodge to lodge, community culture to community culture.
John made the point above that you probably don't see your banker or attorney wearing a tie at all times now. Towards that end, and sticking with my Centralia Lodge, it is no longer possible to purchase a Sports Jacket or a Blazer within Centralia, indeed this can't be done anywhere in our County. That is I think an important indicator about what our Lodge should be wearing.
Ultimately though, I think the switch from schlub to sharp is mindfulness. What are we wearing? How does that communicate? Why is that what we are seeking to communicate? If we are mindful about it, we will be sharp. Even in those bib overalls if those are appropriate. But on the farm we called those 'hougies.'
The funeral stuff makes me nuts too. Go to a funeral, see a bunch of guys in ball caps during the service. Not good.