Remember how in old movies it was always a big deal to go out to a show or dinner? And how the characters would don fancy gowns and suits?
It seems that here and now, those days are long gone.
"Dressing in restaurants has definitely become more casual," said Laura Cunningham, the director of operations for the French Laundry in Yountville, where a dress code still exists (no jeans, no tennis shoes, no shorts; jackets required for men).
"The only way in which we can set a precedent is by making a jacket mandatory, and then the dress for women will follow suit," she said.
"'Wine Country Casual' is basically saying nothing. It states that it's a rural area and casual is OK. Any restaurant that is catering to a special occasion or milestone should have a dress code. ... People should take more pride in going out."
On a night out at the Santa Rosa Symphony, there's a dress code in force for the musicians - black for the women and tails for men - but the audience can come dressed any way they please.
"We're not in New York or Philadelphia, we're in Wine Country," said Santa Rosa Symphony executive director Alan Silow. "People have accepted a casual way of dress."
On the other hand, many ticket-holders wear dress clothes to acknowledge that it's a special night.
"I think one of the enjoyable things about the symphony is that you can feel like you're dressing in subdued elegance," said Connie Wolfe, the symphony's development director.
While the Saturday night crowd tends to go a little dressier - "more cocktail, going-out-to-dinner" attire - the Sunday and Monday crowd is content with "refined European chic," Wolfe said. Most of the men do not wear ties, and only about half of them wear jackets.
"I wear a suit or a dress or pants," Wolfe said. "It's just a cut above what I'd wear to the movies."
Comfort rather than style sometimes seems to be the key. Scan the room in almost any dining establishment, and the wait staff is likely to be better dressed than their guests.
"We tend to tell people that we are 'comfortable however you are comfortable,'" said Bryan Dempsey, the co-owner and general manager at Restaurant Mirepoix in Windsor.
"For tourists, especially from the North or Southeast, that is usually ... business attire, or men in golf shirts and khakis and ladies in slacks or a skirt. The locals tend to be in jeans and tennis shoes more often than not, unless it is a special occasion."
Are we so spoiled by the level of culinary excellence in local kitchens that we're letting the food be fancier than we are? Or is a larger statement being made?
"Sonoma County seems to try and glamorize the agricultural society that it is by making it OK to dress down in more formal situations," Dempsey said.
"You can go to any other area in America right now, and many people will know what you are talking about when you say 'Wine Country Casual,' so the image is definitely working."
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