• We are now running on a new, and hopefully much-improved, server. In addition we are also on new forum software. Any move entails a lot of technical details and I suspect we will encounter a few issues as the new server goes live. Please be patient with us. It will be worth it! :) Please help by posting all issues here.
  • The forum will be down for about an hour this weekend for maintenance. I apologize for the inconvenience.
  • If you are having trouble seeing the forum then you may need to clear your browser's DNS cache. Click here for instructions on how to do that
  • Please review the Forum Rules frequently as we are constantly trying to improve the forum for our members and visitors.

open carry and "dress code"

SouthernBoy

Regular Member
Joined
May 12, 2007
Messages
5,837
Location
Western Prince William County, Virginia, USA
imported post

scorpio_vette wrote:
45acpForMe wrote:
I would be more afraid of your ride. It looks like it has piercings all the way down its backside! Ouch!

I miss the days before helmet laws. I used to ride without one in CA but when I moved to VA I got pulled over a couple times for not wearing one. Eventually sold my bike for lack of riding (VA thunderstorms all summer made riding each day a crap-shoot).

good eye. LOL yeah did some custom rear lights on it before a bike rally last year, and since most of the hardware was removed with the lighting, i needed something to tie the inner and outer fender back together. so i bolted them together with the spikes. LOL i currently have the bike completely disassembled to finish the theme across the whole bike.
here's a better view of the rear fender. thought you might get a kick out of it. LOL
5573_243004865093_612595093_8151585_4874351_n.jpg
Oh boy. Make sure you hold tight when hitting the throttle. Those spikes could alter the octave level of your voice. (oh, I bet that smarts).

As for my comments about a "dress code", remember you posed the question. And it is a valid question in the context of the current socio-political climate in my opinion. I personally don't have a problem with people who carry and like to dress a little different. I do have opinions, but my rights stop where others' begin.

However, rights come with responsibility - a basic truth and they must. That's all I was trying to put forth.
 

Hawkflyer

Founder's Club Member
Joined
Feb 21, 2007
Messages
3,309
Location
Prince William County, Virginia, USA
imported post

scorpio_vette wrote:
...SNIP

@hawkflyer---i understand what you mean, and yes i'm aware that my choice in tats, piercings, clothing, transportation all creates an "image" about me, and that's what i chose. i understand that that choice carries with it what people are going to think about me, and while i accept that, there is no reason why i can't say that is is absolutely stupid.
in my opinion judging somebody for tats or piercings is like judging somebody because they're black. not all blacks are gangbangers, thugs or whatever else people wanna think of them. and not all tattooed and pierced people are drug dealers/users, fighters or other types of criminals.
the same way not all white people are KKK, and not every guy wearing a cowboy hat is a cowboy, etc..etc..etc...
i fully understand that there are stereotypes everywhere, and that i have chosen which stereotype to be in. i still think it's complete BULL though.
so i take no offense to what you said, and i was not asking for permission or anything.

i was simply trying to make conversation about something i was thinking about.

The example you give is not really the same thing at all. There is a big difference between a persons race (which they did not choose) and the life style choices we are discussing here. WHen you make these choices you are preselecting the way the world will see you, and by default, in most cases you are also preselecting the people you will associate with. Lets face it, you do not walk up to a stranger and try to get to know them without first noticing something that may produce some common ground from which to build a relationship. People do judge a book by it cover, and that is just life.

I am not slamming you in any way for your choices. Those choices were yours to make and you made them. But in the end they were choices, not preexisting conditions over which you had no control.

So comparing people who do not agree with your choices to racists is no correct. The bottom line is that people make choices and others who did not make the same choice are not racists just because they decide not to try to understand your decisions. After all they have the right to make choices too.

Try an experiment sometime, that i have found interesting. Meet some people on this forum that you enjoy talking to and perhaps agree with often or who you find interesting. Make a lunch date. You might be surprised when you meet them how many life choices you have in common.
 

NY2AZ

Regular Member
Joined
Oct 5, 2009
Messages
75
Location
Yuma, Arizona, USA
imported post

Although your attire may negatively affect how others view you, especially when open carrying, I don't think you should let it affect your choice of dress. I am of the opinion that one's demeanor does more to affect peoples perception of others than does dress. However, one must always remember the impact first impressions have on others.

On another note; don't forget the importance of having a good, safe, and respectable holster. Iv'e noticed that goes a long way toward peoples perception of you.

I don't dress the way you do. I dress in a way that most would call preppy, but I have a VERY visible tattoo on my neck. So far I have yet to see any negative reaction to it. Maybe its because I tend to smile 95% of the time. Smiles help too......... OK Thats enough mindless rambling.

Be safe out there. Keep riding, and keep carrying!!!!
 

45acpForMe

Newbie
Joined
Nov 21, 2008
Messages
2,805
Location
Yorktown, Virginia, USA
imported post

NY2AZ wrote:
On another note; don't forget the importance of having a good, safe, and respectable holster. Iv'e noticed that goes a long way toward peoples perception of you.
Yes if you jam your glock down the front of your sweatpants you look like a thug up to no good.

If people thought about it, that people OC-ing are actually less of a threat because they are knowingly letting you know they are carrying as opposed to a thug that wants secrecy until he pounces. If you have it in a holster OC or CC, you at least look like a person who has considered carrying and not someone that simply shoved the gun in a backpack, sweatshirt/pants or jacket.

Of course anti's or sheeple don't necessarily "think" they just react (badly).
 
Joined
Jun 21, 2009
Messages
2,381
Location
across Death's Door on Washington Island, Wisconsi
imported post

Re Preppy, I went to school fifty miles from the heart of 'Prep School', Providence, RI, in Groton/New London, Conn at GD/Electric Boat, with two other engineers from my SC shipyard.

Well into the six months long class we were accused of wearing a prep-school uniform. Sure enough, without any discussion, we all wore a uniform of pastel double-knit 'golf' shirts, wash khaki trousers, no socks or socks matching the shirt and penny loafers.

A trio of lowcountry good-ol' boys wearing prep-school uniforms! We selected our hotel near our favorite bar so we wouldn't ruin our trousers crawling the three or four doors home at 'time'.

I suppose 'preppy' is what you make of it.
 

since9

Campaign Veteran
Joined
Jan 14, 2010
Messages
6,964
Location
Colorado Springs, Colorado, USA
imported post

chewy352 wrote:
I don't change the way I dress just because I am carrying. I usually wear jeans and a t-shirt (sometimes offensive to some). However I don't think that one should have to change how they dress in order to make others more comfortably.

That being said if I dressed like you do I would expect a lot more MWAG calls to be made because the sheeple will profile you.It is a decision that you have to make and only you can make.
For me, it's not about making someone else more comfortable. It's simply applying common-sense to the fact that nearly all people make judgments about others based on their appearance. It's simply an aspect of human, with evolutionary roots dating back millions of years.

Having said that, I don't exactly fit the "clean-cut" profile, either. But I do shave and dress well any time I'm in OC mode.
 

bigdaddy1

Regular Member
Joined
May 7, 2009
Messages
1,320
Location
Southsider der hey
imported post

i find that what I wear usually doesn't come in to play anyhow, as most people are busy looking at my aluminum foil hat (Tin is hard to find now-a-days):dude:



On a more serious note, Ihave to wear a tie to work, so unless I am working I prefer casual attire. I don't wear torn or really shabby clothes so I guess its OK, but I really don't take the time to worry about what reservations others may have.
 

Nutczak

Regular Member
Joined
Dec 2, 2008
Messages
2,165
Location
The Northwoods, lakeland area, Wisconsin, USA
imported post

scorpio_vette wrote:
45acpForMe wrote:
I would be more afraid of your ride. It looks like it has piercings all the way down its backside! Ouch!

I miss the days before helmet laws. I used to ride without one in CA but when I moved to VA I got pulled over a couple times for not wearing one. Eventually sold my bike for lack of riding (VA thunderstorms all summer made riding each day a crap-shoot).

good eye. LOL yeah did some custom rear lights on it before a bike rally last year, and since most of the hardware was removed with the lighting, i needed something to tie the inner and outer fender back together. so i bolted them together with the spikes. LOL i currently have the bike completely disassembled to finish the theme across the whole bike.
here's a better view of the rear fender. thought you might get a kick out of it. LOL
5573_243004865093_612595093_8151585_4874351_n.jpg

It'll keep the GF from sliding off the back!! (I see you're running a solo saddle, so obviously that is not an issue)
Just don't ever use armor-all on the seat!! Been there, it's not fun accelerating or deceleratingand I see it being extra painful in your case.

Are those studs for a snowmobile track??
 

YoZUpZ

Regular Member
Joined
Jan 5, 2010
Messages
144
Location
SLC, Utah, USA
imported post

I've been OCing for a little less than a month now. In that time I have had people ask me about it 3 different times, "is that a gun?", "are you a cop, then why are you carrying a gun?", "I need to make sure you have a permit for that"...

Whats strange is that every single time someone has said something about my gun is when I was wearing my work clothes (dress shirt and dress pants) ...But not once have I had anyone ask or say anything about my gun while wearing my "street clothes" (jeans and a hoodie, etc)
 

okboomer

Regular Member
Joined
Oct 18, 2009
Messages
1,164
Location
Oklahoma, USA
imported post

Standing outside of a courthouse with SO. I am in nice jacket and dark blue jeans, SO is in buttondown shirt and dark blue jeans. Others standing around waiting to go to court are dressed in ratty t-shirts, ratty jeans, other inappropriate clothing for court.

Lawyer walks from the street towards us, passing the others and we are the only ones he says "Hi" to ... there was no specific reason for him to speak to us rather than the others, in fact he had to walk through a group of 4 and he didn't say anything to them.

Of course, I wasn't OC ... not available in my state yet.

It does show that how you present yourself does make a difference in how others percieve you and your intentions.

Of course, my grandmother was one of those who thought that if a guys hair was over your ears and collar, or if you had facial hair, you were a hoodlum. Drove her nuts when my dad went that way :lol:

IMHO, the folks that get hysterical over the way someone is dressed are bigots who have either had a bad experience (not many) or have been trained to fear someone who dresses/looks like [insert other bigotry here](most) ... just be aware that it will happen, be prepared to deal with it, and go about your business as you see fit.

But if you are going to wear those "falling down baggy britches" I am going to laugh at how ridiculous I think you look. :lol:

The way I dress at certain times of the year, folks would call me "western," at other times "biker chick," and at others "survivalist." I also drive a pickemuptruck ... silver GMC 2500 HD extended cab w/tinted windows ... looks like hundreds of others on the roads here in OK and probably TX, NM, AZ. I wear Justins, steel toed Brahmahs, high-heeled black boots, tennis shoes, espadrills ... ya just never know, it depends on what I am going to do. (Had to give up the black leather mini ... I'm too old now :banghead:)
 

SpringerXDacp

New member
Joined
May 12, 2006
Messages
3,341
Location
Burton, Michigan
imported post

Nutczak wrote:
I used to have a shirt with printing on the back that said;
"If you can read this, The bitcqh must have fell off"
But I would never ever ride without leather covering my skin, so people could not see it while I was riding.
LMFAO :lol:
 

kwikrnu

Banned
Joined
May 14, 2008
Messages
1,956
Location
Brentwood, Tennessee
imported post

There is no dress code, dress however you want.People whotell youto dress a certain way are only in favorof limiting your freedom.
 

kwikrnu

Banned
Joined
May 14, 2008
Messages
1,956
Location
Brentwood, Tennessee
imported post

It is a basic freedom to dress as you choose. Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness should be afforded every human being. Freedom of speech if you like to wear political themed shirts.

You can choose not to associate with someone because you do not like them, but when cops harrass you for wearing gangster style, old ripped and tattered, or military camoflauge that is a violation of your civil rights. They need RAS and PC before they detain or arrest someone. RAS and PC usually do not come from clothing.
 
Joined
Jun 21, 2009
Messages
2,381
Location
across Death's Door on Washington Island, Wisconsi
imported post

kwikrnu wrote:
You can choose not to associate with someone because you do not like them,
Perhaps you should choose your (im)personal pronouns more carefully.

How can I "not like them" if I choose not to associate with them based on the first impressions that they embrace?

People are like books, there are far more of them that I will ever be able to 'read' and the vast majority, present company excepted, of course, are like comic books and formulaic like Robert Ludlum. So I, perhaps 'we', select books to read based on the author or the recommendation of a trusted acquaintance or the cover or the reviews, et cetera.

When I go to the library, I don't go to the childrens section or the trashy novels or the magazines rack.

As always, Mr. Phelps, this tape will self-destruct in thirty seconds... YMMV
 

david.ross

Regular Member
Joined
May 24, 2008
Messages
1,241
Location
Pittsburgh, PA, USA
imported post

After seeing so many photos of open carriers dressing in trailer trash(opencarry.org) to gangster clothes(a pennsylavania firearms forum I'm not naming), I've distanced myself.

I dress in BDUs or Tac.Us with a duty belt daily. My dress attire doesn't focus mainly to separate compared to what other open carriers wear, but to ease the public. I deviated from my normal khaki and shirt routine when I moved here to Alaska. When I started wearing shorts and other type of casual/dress shirts I started to get complaints and was confronted on occasion by individuals.

I don't have any more complaints going to store managers, confrontation, or notice any unease with individuals around me(i.e. open carry on a bus, etc).

I still get the typical inappropriate donut jokes, but those don't go away even if the person knows I'm not law enforcement.
 

XD40coyote

Regular Member
Joined
Oct 29, 2007
Messages
706
Location
woman stuck in Maryland, ,
imported post

I just wear casual- jeans, t-shirt, hat, but I am VERY self concious about how fat I am. It just doesn't look right for me to be obese and OC. I've tried losing weight and went about 3 months more than a year ago, lost 20 pounds of fat and went to size 16, but then it stopped, I just couldn't lose anymore. Then my nutty hormones peaked andI got too moody to do anything anymore. Men can do Atkins and do 30 mins hard workout daily and drop 10 pounds a week or so, but us women have it so it's like trying to climb Mt Everest without oxygen tanks.

However, size 18-20 or size 16, no one really notices when I OC. I was only asked about it once and it was positive. LOL I was wearing a coyote skin with the coyote's head on top of mine, and this drew the primary attention. It was after chatting 5 mins about York county coyotes when the guy said " oh I see you carry too". It was Halloween night btw. I went out into PA as an "XD40 Coyote".
 
Top