Wearing Blacks in Non-Backstage?

[Hughesie]

i am thinking of drawing up a dress code for our venue
i shall post it once im finished for you guys to use/steal

[AndyPandy]

I always wear black, no matter where I am, or what i'm doing on a night.

I'm usually on lights FOH, but we dont have a booth. (its just a hall we convert to a theatre for our shows) so I can be seen at any time by the audience. also, i usually end up crawling about on stage at some point during a show to fix something, so its just easier to wear black all the time.

[Andy_Leviss]

FWIW, typical in touring and Broadway is some form of business casual these days. Some companies that do a more "corporate" product, such as VEE, require either a company polo or collared shirt (be it generic company logo or show-specific), or at a minimum something else business casual with a show jacket over it.

Some venues do require shirt and tie, my first tour advised FOH staff to have a suit as part of their wardrobe in case, although I haven't run into it personally.

[mixmaster]

We don't require any particular clothing for our students beyond "reasonable for the event" Our crew does pretty good at figuring that out. If there is a specific dress code for an event, that gets communicated ahead of time. Generally though, I like to see my crews at FOH dressed at least as well as the audience, and as dark as possible.
Personally, I wear black all the time. I have black jeans, black T-shirts, black Polos and black dress clothes/suit. And yes, I change after the show, before strike. It only takes a few minutes, and beats tearing up an expensive pair of pants. I know it's been a long day when I take home enough dirty laundry to require two loads in the washer.

[Spikesgirl]

I'm only wearing black until they make something darker...

Personally, I tend to wear black whether I'm in or out of the theater - no messing around with what goes with what. When we're in the booth, we ask that folks wear a dark colored top, but bottom half is to their liking. Backstage, everyone wears black.

Charlie

[howlingwolf487]

Dress blacks if needed. A nice pair of black dress khakis and a button-down black shirt; a pair of black dress shoes might be a good idea, too.

[museav]

Admittedly a slightly unsual situation but when working at a large amphitheatre the shirts were matching polos but the colors indicated the role; stage and FOH crew as determined by the artist (usually black), security in white, ushers in yellow, parking in orange and maintenance staff in red (the theatre's color scheme was yellow, orange and red). So it was very typical to see staff in black, yellow, white and red shirts in the house at any time.

[LD4Life]

I also have the tendency to wear black outside of the theatre as well. Not all black, but, when you have as many black shirts as I do, you just wear them most of the time anyway. I'm also guilty of wearing my steel-toe work boots with dress blacks. That and having my Gerber multitool and Garrity flashlight on my belt at odd times. You get some really weird looks in a college cafeteria when you and your crew are eating in dress blacks, work boots, and a belt full of tools.

[tech2000]

I think that no matter where your position is, if you are working a technical position (sound, lights, or backstage), then you should wear all black. Pants and long sleeve shirt. Then, if you are FOH and you have to move around, then during the event/show, you will not be noticed.

Thats just my opinion.

[Wolf]

I always wear full black NO matter were I am. If you're FOH on any board or spot, SM whatever you never know when you'll have to run back stage. When im light board op I like to even wear a tie thats not black it does help the audience so they dont think why is the grim reaper here. When im on spot its still long black pants and long sleeve black shirt, you never know whos going to look up. If I have authority over a crew I will tell them to be wearing black no blue, no just dark color black, sometimes people wear short sleeve blacks i dont like that too much but at least its black. And it doesnt matter if your African American or not wear black clothes. But yes even FOH and FOH should even have button shirt or nice looking shirt.