The German Etiquette Society supports a ban on sweatpants in schools. "Sweatpants are, as the name suggests, functional garments that are worn for sports or for the relaxation phase afterwards," said a spokeswoman on Thursday evening of the German press Agency. "Athletes wear their jersey as a work uniform on the sports field and sweatpants in their spare time after work. School time is working time, so sweatpants have no place there."

Most recently, a sweatpants ban at a school in Wermelskirchen near Remscheid had made high waves. The school said on Wednesday that it wanted to maintain the dress code "despite criticism in the media". The students should be encouraged to wear clothes that do not tempt them to "chill". For the preparation for professional life, a departure from the sweatpants is important, informed the school further.

"A certain negligence and convenience"

A new convenience, which has crept in through times of home office, does not want to see the German etiquette society transferred to the outside world: "With working from home, a certain negligence and convenience has set in for many, which does not work outside their own four walls," said the spokeswoman.

Work clothes, uniforms and dress codes have grown socially. "Clothing expresses a certain task, authority or belonging. Based on this wealth of experience, sweatpants cannot be assigned to a valuable task in everyday life or not and meet with resistance."

The German Etiquette Society would like to spread the ideas of Adolph Freiherr Knigge, who died in 1796, rooted in Enlightenment and humanism. She is committed to perfect style, secure knowledge of current manners, moral self-responsibility, morally impeccable behavior as well as a situationally appropriate tolerant and relaxed interaction with each other.