“Don’t you know anything about the hospitality industry?” mock-chastised an old colleague Etiquetteer saw at an event last week. “Nametags are worn on the right because when you shake hands the eye travels up the arm!” Etiquetteer had barely had a chance to get out “It’s nice to see you, too!” But perhaps by then it wasn’t . . . and perhaps it would not be Perfectly Proper to note that Former Colleague’s nametag hung from a lanyard at navel level, so that the eye traveled to . . . to the Human Resources Office if you specify where.
What brought this on? Etiquetteer’s lifelong habit of clipping a nametag on the left, something that Americans have only started to question in this century*. Perhaps the left side was once favored because that’s the side on which military medals are worn, or a gentleman’s lapel pin. Please note that now, on the left side of the Atlantic, the right side is more fashionable** for nametags. But if you see someone wearing it differently, don’t correct them. People have reasons. One Facebook reader chooses the left side for nametags because she is left-handed. Another wears hers in the center because her hairstyle would obscure it anywhere else, and a nametag is worn first to be seen.
If you’re hosting a function and providing nametags, provide the best kind: sleeves with clips and not pins, and absolutely not adhesive labels. Pins leave permanent holes in some fabrics, and adhesive labels either leave glue residue on your clothes or curl up and fall off. Lanyards are popular now because they are so easy to put on and remove. But as noted, they draw the eye away from the face. If you are going to wear one, try to find a way to arrange it so that the badge is closer to your face.
What should be printed on a nametag, besides first and last names? As little as possible, really. In academia Etiquetteer heard requests for class years, degrees, hometowns, company names or departments, titles, and even yearbook photos — everything possible, in short, to keep people from actually having a conversation! Personal pronouns, or space for attendees to add them, are often included now. Otherwise, first and last names, and the host’s company/event logo are more than sufficient.
It’s tempting to go without a nametag if you don’t like them***. One reader said he wears his inside a coat pocket. But if everyone else is wearing them you’re less likely to look like a Person of Mystery and more Standoffish and Stuck Up — not a good look.
Etiquetteer wishes you many Legible and Correctly Spelled Clip-Backed Nametags, which you may leave behind on the registration table at the end of the event to encourage recycling.
*Across the pond in Great Britain, nametags are still worn on the left.
**Speaking of fashion, Etiquetteer could not help remembering a story from Madame Campan’s memoirs (because of course). During a court presentation at Versailles, the Comtesse de Noailles caught her eye and tried frantically to communicate with gestures that something was wrong with Madame Campan. “The Queen [Marie Antoinette], who perceived all this, looked at me with a smile; [she] said to me in a whisper, ‘Let down your lappets, or the Countess will expire.’ All this bustle arose from two unlucky pins which fastened up my lappets, whilst the etiquette of costume said ‘Lappets hanging down.’” So even a pin, like a nametag, can create controversy. — from Memoirs of Marie Antoinette, by Henriette Campan.
***Etiquetteer does not, but it’s practically heresy to admit this.