OK lets back-pedal to the original post.
1) Cantoresq talking about increasing his learning on Shabbos for the sake of the community
2) A neighbor put him down, not for his wardrobe per se, but because he was giving a shiur in his wardrobe. The way I read it, the person had come across Cantoresq’s wardrobe before and hadn’t minded, but was appalled at the thought of someone who wasn’t dressed in “black and white” was going to teach over Torah. That is a terrible attitude.
3) Then Cantoresq got chastised for desacrating Shabbos by spending time with his children! All the people I spoke to about the OTD crisis, have said one of the best deflectors of OTD is to have involved parents. Building a relationship with children is NOT an overnight thing – it starts when they are young and slowly builds a strong foundation of love, trust, understanding etc. So, I applaud Cantoresq for taking the time to build this relationship. There is a lot more to chinuch than just making sure they can read a blatt of gemara. His kids are also still young (I think he mentioned that none are in HS yet), so obviously the activities are tailored around more juvenile pursuits. Shabbos comes before sunday and as such, if his kids haven’t seen him much during the week, they will want to spend time with their father (and mother). My son loves Shabbos because he gets to spend all day with us, and he is only 17 months old! I would imagine that an older child appreciates it even more.
4) As for “dressing down” for Shabbos afternoon – when I was working and had to wear formal attire for work, on Shabbos, I wore different clothing. It was generally a little more casual than my weekday wardrobe at that point, but when I wore the clothing I wore to work, I didn’t feel like it was Shabbos. When I switched to a casual position, I changed back to my fancier clothing for Shabbos. Ironically, I think black and white is totally wrong for Shabbos because I was a waitress for 7 years – our uniform was black skirt and white shirt. To me, its working clothes. My husband however wears white shirts only on Shabbos, so to him its special for the day. I think clothing is so overemphasized in the Orthodox communities. I honestly don’t take anyone too seriously if they invest that much emphasis on what you are wearing, so long as the clothing is tzanua and generally appropriate (meaning, not walking into shul in a bathing suit). I prefer to see a poorly dressed person who is very sincere to someone who is the opposite.
Kilo, while those people may have gone OTD, did you ever ask them if it was because of the kefira they learnt at Columbia? They may have been silently rebellious and just waiting for an opportunity to find others like them. And by others, I mean OJ who also wanted to leave the fold.