An old engineer friend of mine once told me a story about when he worked for a large, national electronics design and manufacturing firm (probably GEC, Marconi or suchlike) - that would have been sometime in the 1960-70s...
Apparently, the R&D lab was full of long-haired, cheesecloth-shirt-wearing, sandaled, 'hippy' types. One day the Managing Director walked in, called everyone together and announced in a stern voice that there was going to be a very important visitor on the premises the next day and so everyone needed to smarten themselves up because they looked very shabby and unprofessional.
The next day, the MD walked in to the lab with his visitor...to find that all the engineers in full wedding suits with top-hats, casually soldering, probing, pouring over circuit schematics etc. just like a 'normal' day..!
I've always thought it was a bit ridiculous when we get an email that basically asks us to construct a Potemkin Village because so-and-so is coming around.
I have naturally curly hair, which isn't unruly, it's just very curly. People with straight hair often seem to think that my hair could be 'neater' if I 'did something' with it. Case-in-point: One time the new head of the board was coming in, and HR specifically asked me to comb my hair. I told HR that was a terrible idea, yet they insisted.
So I come to work the next day with combed hair, and I look like the main character of Eraserhead[1]. My hair is a giant poofy frizzy mess. HR comes by, sees what my hair looks like, and freaks the hell out. They kept asking me to comb it better, or do whatever I could to fix it.
They were not amused when I told them that the only thing I could do to fix it was to take a shower and let it settle naturally. So I met the new director of our board with hair that looked like I stuck my hand in a electrical outlet, all because HR felt that curly hair on a guy wasn't normative enough or something.
Given the racial undertones of "your hair is the wrong straightness/curliness/nappiness", I'm kind of surprised anybody would risk it even if they did have strong opinions on the subject.
You would think that. I've actually asked people about that before, and they are like "Well you are white, so it's different." If you press them on the matter they can't really articulate it.
Not to mention that there isn't actually that much difference between my hair and "ethnic hair." The hair product I use is actually in the "ethnic hair" section of the hair aisle, which just goes to show how stupid the actual classification is. I'm probably as far from "ethnic" as you could imagine. I'm not even Jewish, or some other white ethnicity known for having curly hair.
My only guess was that HR associated curly hair with "skate culture" or something, and thought that the appropriate way for a white person to style such hair was to slick it back like an 80's power broker.
The entire HR situation at that company was a mess though, and I'm really glad I no longer work there.
I don't have that condition thankfully. What makes my hair kind of weird is that unlike most people with curly hair, the hair on the sides and back of my head is completely straight. I have curly hair on the top of my head [1], and on the very back of my hair I have 5 cowlicks. So it's kind of like I'm a curly-haired Calvin from Calvin & Hobbes.
It's not at all unkempt though. It's a pain to take care of, but as long as I keep it up people seem to generally find it attractive/stylish.
That HR department really just hated everything that they couldn't control.
Is it? It might be. I feel like there's a perfectly legitimate joke to be made saying "I'll wear a morning coat!", the humor drawn from the antiquation and over-the-top nature of the suggestion, rather than the fact that it describes a style of dress that has always been for a different type of situation.
In fact, I think the structure of that joke ("I'm doing what you said, too hard") is a better one than the structure of the joke you imply, though the joke loses something in the current environment of general unfamiliarity with morning dress...
Apparently, the R&D lab was full of long-haired, cheesecloth-shirt-wearing, sandaled, 'hippy' types. One day the Managing Director walked in, called everyone together and announced in a stern voice that there was going to be a very important visitor on the premises the next day and so everyone needed to smarten themselves up because they looked very shabby and unprofessional.
The next day, the MD walked in to the lab with his visitor...to find that all the engineers in full wedding suits with top-hats, casually soldering, probing, pouring over circuit schematics etc. just like a 'normal' day..!
I don't recall what happened next!