What's The Deal With Lobster Bibs, Anyway?

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The lobster bib is a sartorial oddity ... as much as anything made from plastic can be considered "sartorial." The vast majority of the time, infants are the only people in polite society who can get away with wearing bibs in public. And, yet, when folks tuck into lobster, they sometimes sport a disposable lobster bib emblazoned with a bright red cartoon of the crustacean in question. We don't typically wear bibs when we eat any of the many types of crab, and we use aprons to cover our clothes in the kitchen. Why does eating lobster merit its own accessory?

The obvious answer is that eating whole lobster is a messy affair. You have flying splatters of butter, shell fragments, and that mysterious green stuff inside the lobster (which is called tomalley and is perfectly edible). Unless you are lucky enough to live in or visit New England and can catch them yourself, lobster is a luxury ingredient. Ordering it in a restaurant tends to be expensive, so, naturally, you might be wearing nicer clothes than usual when you are eating lobster. This means it makes even more sense to want to shield yourself from shellfish detritus. 

Allow us, however, to introduce what might be a hot take into the discourse: if you are enough of an adult to learn how to grill a lobster tail or afford to order one in a restaurant, you should have sufficiently sophisticated table manners and finesse to eat one without a bib.

Lest you think that we're unreasonable in our disdain for lobster bibs, know that the internet agrees. "Most adults can eat [...] without making a mess," one Redditor scoffed, while, in a subsequent comment, it was remarked that lobster bibs make folks look like babies. On the Straight Dope forums, a Maine resident scorned the corps of bib wearers: "[L]obster bibs are for tourists. There is no function to them whatsoever, except that it makes it easier for non-tourists (and other normal people who don't make it a habit of dribbling all over themselves when they eat) to make fun of said tourists behind their backs."

Over on StyleForum, a poster declared that "bibs are almost completely unnecessary, provided [...] you dont [sic] eat like a 4 year old." Further down, someone else suggested that the more adult choice would be to wear something washable and just eat carefully. Even the ultimate etiquette authority, Miss Manners, has disavowed the wearing of lobster bibs. 

At the end of the day, however, lobster bibs are ubiquitous at seafood restaurants because they get used. You will most likely never be alone in donning one at the type of establishment where it is offered. Consider, however, the impression it makes. Dining with family and close friends? Enjoy that goofy plastic shield. Trying to impress your new in-laws or foster a corporate relationship? Skip the bib or, maybe, order something else.