EDITORIAL: Relaxed dress code could start precedent

Sep. 24—When rogue GM executive John DeLorean showed up in the executive suite one day wearing a double-breasted blue blazer instead of a suit, CEO Roger Smith supposedly asked him if he was going sailing.

But the quirky yet innovate DeLorean proved that clothes don't necessarily make the man. Some members of Congress, for example, strutting about in exquisitely tailored suits while acting shabbily, are heroes only to the haberdasher.

Yet Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer's recent decision to relax the Senate dress code, which already was unofficial but widely observed, can only make things worse.

The decision apparently was in deference to Pennsylvania's junior senator, Democrat John Fetterman, whose hoodies and gym shorts famously are a personal trademark.

"Senators are able to choose what they wear on the Senate floor," Schumer said.

The Senate majority leader's decision prompted Maine Republican Sen. Susan Collins to joke that she might show up to work in a bikini.

She and most of her colleagues likely will stick with business attire, of course.

But the comment, as noted by The Washington Post, is where the casual rule could lead.

With so many politicians given to political theater over policy and substance, it's not hard to imagine some of them showing up in politically oriented T-shirts or other regalia and preening for the cameras.

Imagine such a rule in the House, where the circus always is in town, even with its performers well-dressed.

Schumer might be wise to restore the unofficial rule, recognizing that how the politician/performers dress might well influence how they act.