Say what you want about Austin — it’s NIMBY heaven, all the good old stuff is gone, it’s too expensive to be this bland — but there’s one thing that everyone has agreed on since people started complaining that Austin “was better 10 years ago”: sandals are acceptable attire at all times.
Seriously, one time I interviewed for a job at a software consulting company (don’t ask), and since we were meeting at the Driskill — and because it was a literal job interview — I wore a suit and tie. The CEO showed up in cargo shorts and flip-flops. This was my first few months in Austin, way back in 2011, and I was swiftly told, both by the CEO and by everyone I knew in the city, that people don’t wear suits in Austin unless they’re passing legislation.
Thus, it’s not unusual to see folks wearing baseball caps or ripped jeans at Clark’s or Perla’s or a non-MML restaurant because, well, we’re weird, if you haven’t yet heard. But new disco club Superstition, opening later this month in the old La Bare space with a set by Chromeo, is preparing for Austin’s shiny new future.
“Upscale and fashionable attire required,” Superstition’s website reads. “Dress code strictly enforced with management discretion.”
The first thing to come to mind is: a dress code at the site of famously nude male strip club La Bare? But we jest.
Superstition must be located on Dirty Sixth, is the next thought. Clubs like Lit Lounge have had dress codes in that area for years, and it doesn’t really count because, well, it’s Dirty Sixth. But reading comprehension is key here. It’s in the old La Bare space, as I mentioned above, which has laid vacant for 15 years just off South Congress.
Surely this must be some sort of wink-wink dress code, then, a way to ensure that people embody the Studio 54 vibes that the “elite multi-room nightclub’s” press materials evoke. Not so. Here’s what Supersition’s website has listed under the Prohibited Items section:
“Athletic gear & apparel (hats not allowed in VIP area)
Shorts (denim, biker, sweatshorts)
Torn or cut-off clothing
Sports team attire
Slides, flip flops”
A Reddit thread pointing out the dress code elicited mostly negative reactions from locals, who were either outraged by its existence (“Austin isn’t Dallas”) or resigned to the fact that Superstition is walking distance from a SoHo House and an Hermès store (“Dude look around you the ‘austin vibe’ is beyond dead”).
Many more pointed out that dress codes have historically been used by bars and nightclubs as racist tactics, especially considering the line “with management discretion.” That subjectivity can — and likely will, the first time someone is spotted inside wearing a Tony Parker jersey — lead to discourse about class and racial divides not just at Superstition and other dance clubs, but across the city.
Who decides which hats are OK in the VIP area? Does a Stetson get precedence over a flat-brimmed throwback Astros cap? Are expensive, fashionably ripped jeans acceptable depending on the person wearing them? Will the CEO of that software company — a rich, white guy — be able to get into Superstition wearing his dirty flip-flops?
Superstition did not respond to a request for comment.