Cracking the club code

What will get you into - and keep you out of - Boston's nightclubs

These sneakers got writer Christopher Muther booted from a nightclub. How could fancy $105 LaCoste shoes get denied entry? He decided to find out. (Yoon S. Byun/Globe Staff)

It was supposed to be Brandon Walters's big Friday night on the town, but instead he found himself cold and increasingly frustrated.

Visiting Boston from California, his first stop was Gypsy Bar on Boylston Street, but he was told that the club's dress code didn't allow sneakers. Even his immaculate Prada sneakers. He continued on to the Liquor Store, where he was told the same thing.

"I go out in LA all the time and I never have a problem getting into places dressed like this," he said after he was unceremoniously bounced from the line at the Liquor Store in Boylston Alley. "If anything, I'm dressed better than I am at home."

Boston's dance clubs can be a harsh place for a guy who tries to wear something besides the standard thick-soled shoes and untucked dress shirts that are the nightlife norm. Most of the city's dance clubs have a list of verboten clothing, which usually includes sneakers, baseball hats, work boots, and team jerseys. The dress codes may, at first glance, appear to be a subjective morass of rules, but the bouncers and promoters say there are reasons behind them.

"A dress code is set up as an excuse to say 'No' to people who want to get in," explains Ace Gershfield, a promoter with 6 One 7 Productions, which is responsible for several weekly club nights in Boston. "We set a dress code to deter and not let in random people off the street."

This may sound counterintuitive to running a bar, where the idea is to get people in the door and spending money on alcohol, but Boston's bouncers explain that the dress code gives them a measure of control over the crowd. Regulars know the dress code and because they frequent a place, they are less likely to cause problems.

"You want to keep a certain environment," explains Sherif Hashem, an imposing and exceedingly polite manager at Venu. "You want people who are dressed well who fit the ambience of the place. Ideally, you want someone who has exhibited an effort. The dress code acts as a filter."

This is how the filter works: If a bouncer sees a regular arrive in a pair of dressy (i.e., non-athletic) sneakers, chances are the regular will have no problem getting in. Someone who is not a regular in the same pair of sneakers will have a more difficult time. Likewise, if a member of the Red Sox or Celtics arrives in a pair of sneakers and a baseball hat, or Mark Wahlberg shows up wearing a Patriots T-shirt, they will not have a problem gaining entry.

The dress code also rears its head if a bouncer anticipates a customer is going to be trouble. On Saturday night, a clearly intoxicated gentleman stumbled up to the door at Venu wearing sneakers. He was told that sneakers were not allowed. After creating a scene with Hashem, the man eventually left. Meanwhile, a sharply-dressed regular wearing sneakers was allowed to enter.

The question, however, is why are sneakers so bad? And what's wrong with going to the Roxy to hear house music while wearing a Celtics jersey?

"Clubs use a dress code to set a tone," says Shu de Jong, a door manager at the Cielo nightclub in New York. "Whenever I'm in Boston, people are always telling me that I need dress shoes to get into places."

I know this from experience, because I was recently denied entry to the Liquor Store because I was wearing a pair of Lacoste sneakers. I still don't understand why it is OK for women to ride a mechanical bull in the Liquor Store while wearing a bikini, while my pricey sneakers are not considered dressy enough for the club.

"Listen, man," the doorman told me when I pointed this out to him. "You want to get in, you need to be wearing shoes."

The subjective dress code may sound discriminatory - especially in clubs that impose rules that bar baggy jeans and work boots, given that work boots and baggy jeans are often associated with hip-hop culture. But according to the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination, these rules are perfectly legal as long as they are enforced evenly.

"If they were using a dress code to deny entry to racial minorities, that would be illegal," says Barbara Green, assistant to the chairman of the MCAD. "But if it is enforced among all groups, there is no problem with it."

Not all clubs in Boston impose a dress code. Rock clubs such as the Middle East and gay clubs like Club Cafe are far more forgiving when it comes to clothing. Look carefully at Boston nightclubs that enforce a dress code, and you'll quickly figure out that all of these rules are aimed squarely at men.

"If a dress code says no jeans and no sneakers, you'll have women there in jeans and sneakers," says Christophe Muller, manager at Underbar. "It's very subjective. Some clubs use it as a way to keep limits on the number of men in the club."

Yes, limiting the number of men entering a club may seem odd, but bouncers are in the business of making sure the ratio of women to men in a club stays about even.

Club managers will tell you that men are more likely to go out than women, so the dress code evens the playing field by weeding out men. Promoters also confess that women are usually better than gentlemen at putting a little effort into their appearance for a night on the town.

"We don't want 95 percent of the customers to be guys, because then the girls would be uncomfortable," says Sal Boscarino, who works with Gershfield at 6 One 7 Productions. "We also want to bring in good-looking guys for the girls. But it's a fine line. I try to make it fair and not to be a jerk about it. I'll tell a guy in a hoodie that if he goes home and changes into a dress shirt that I'll let him in."

In many ways, the bouncers and doormen have become the city's nightlife fashion police for men. While some bouncers make little distinction between beat-up Converse basketball shoes and a stylish pair of Lacoste dress sneakers, others take their role as style arbiters quite seriously.

"Impress me," says Alex Bossi, the VIP host at District nightclub by night and a budding fashion designer by day. "Yeah, we have a no-sneaker policy, but if someone has clearly put a lot of thought into what they're wearing and it's done with the right attitude, then I'm going to be more open to it. At the end of the night, it's all about style."

And if Boston's dress codes are too much to digest, Underbar's Muller has some simple advice.

"I think people should try to make a little more of an effort to dress up," he says. "Which doesn't mean no jeans, no sneakers - it means to make sure you're looking good. I think if you have to call a place to find out how you should dress, you probably don't belong there."