Personal thoughts on what to wear for a gig (at least what I wore):

It depends a lot on the gig. The first few actual paid gigs I had were for organizations such as the Overlake Friends of the Library. This particular one was at their annual fund-raising banquet. Since I sat at the head table with the VIPs and partook of the dinner, I dressed appropriately for the occasion:   dark suit, white dress shirt, and tie (uh—and shoes and socks).

On the first television series I did ("Ballads and Books," 1959, educational channel, now PBS affiliate) I wore a yellow cotton turtleneck and a pair of slacks (I also wore shoes, but the camera usually didn't get down that far). It was black-and-white TV, so the turtleneck looked like it was white. Patti McLaughlin, my lovely singing partner on the show (and probably the real reason a lot of people were watching the show), wore a light colored turtleneck and skirt (we were going for a "Bobbsey Twins" effect).

For concerts with Bob Nelson (Deckman), we tended to coordinate what we wore (usually shirt and slacks), but rarely exact matches like the Kingston Trio (button-down shirts with vertical stripes, etc.). In my solo concerts I sometimes wore a black silk shirt and black slacks. The idea here was for singing in theaters or auditoriums (auditoria?) with someone at work up in the lighting booth. For dramatic effect on some songs, the stage would be darkened and the spotlight narrowed so that all you could see from the audience were my face, my hands, and my guitar, sort of floating in space. Other times, I wore a navy blue blazer, white shirt with plaid tie, and grey flannel slacks (my Canadian brother-in-law suggested this—cuts across social lines and is generally acceptable both where formal wear is expected and where casual wear is the norm—but watch the tie-tack; it can gouge up the back of your guitar).

In my coffeehouse and club gigs, I usually wore a cotton turtleneck and a pair of slacks. I had a whole drawer full of cotton turtlenecks in various colors, mostly darkish. Sometimes I wore a sport shirt instead.

The point is to dress appropriately for the occasion and always look neat, even when informally dressed. I feel that this shows respect for the audience. Of course, if you are trying to project an image, that's another matter. Renaissance Faires probably call for a period costume. But I personally take a dim view of the folk singer who, wanting to project an image of being a member of "the folk" (even though urban-born and raise, and terrified of cows and barnyard fowl), appears on stage wearing bib overalls while the audience is in formal evening wear—although the New Lost City Ramblers could bring this off. But they were not just singing folk songs, they were performing a particular style of music and in a sense, they were putting on a show. That's a bit different.

Leadbelly, once he got away from the Lomaxes who wanted him to perform in prison stripes, was always nattily dressed in a nice looking suit, white dress shirt, and bow tie. Quite elegant. There's a photo of Leadbelly and Richard Dyer-Bennet (who usually performed in a tux or white tie and tails) singing a duet. Man, would I like to have heard that!!

If you want to walk out in front of an audience wearing your pajamas, make sure that the audience quickly catches on to why you're dressed this way (a program of lullabies, perhaps?).

Just a few ruminations, all subject to modification depending on circumstances.

Don Firth