Face control refers to the policy of upscale
nightclub
A nightclub or dance club is a club that is open at night, usually for drinking, dancing and other entertainment. Nightclubs often have a Bar (establishment), bar and discotheque (usually simply known as disco) with a dance floor, laser lighti ...
s, casinos, restaurants and similar establishments to strictly restrict entry based on a
bouncer's snap judgment of the suitability of a person's looks/attractiveness, money, style or attitude/personality, especially in
Greece
Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...
,
Russia
Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...
and other former
Soviet
The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
countries such as
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...
. The term "face control" comes from the fact that establishments are attempting to use exclusivity to preserve their public "face".
Although a similar "velvet rope" policy exists in other countries, aiming to admit the right mix of "beautiful people" and keep out boring or unattractive would-be patrons, the Russian version is considered particularly harsh and unforgiving by Western standards.
The rare occasional use of this term in English can be considered a linguistic
reborrowing
Reborrowing is the process where a word travels from one language to another and then back to the originating language in a different form or with a different meaning. A reborrowed word is sometimes called a ''Rückwanderer'' (German, a 'returner') ...
via the Russian
pseudo-anglicism
A pseudo-anglicism is a word in another language that is formed from English elements and may appear to be English, but that does not exist as an English word with the same meaning.
For example, English speakers traveling in France may be struck ...
фейсконтроль (''feiskontrol'').
Admission standards
Some establishments only practice face control on Fridays and Saturdays, so customers unable to meet the bouncer's standards can come at other times. In Moscow, stricter face control tends to be implemented as the evening progresses, so people can also avoid it by coming early for dinner, before the bouncers are posted. As foreigners are sometimes preferred, speaking English has also been noted as helpful in getting through face control. Author of Lonely Planet Russia, Simon Richmond advises to "arrive in a small group, preferably with more men than women" and to smile to "show the bouncer that you are going to enhance the atmosphere inside".
See also
*
Dress code
References
External links
Clubbing and face control in Moscow* {{cite web , url=https://abcnews.go.com/Travel/BusinessTravel/story?id=4658291&page=1 , work=ABC News , title=How to Blow Through $40,000 In One Night , date=April 29, 2008 , access-date=August 12, 2012
Nightlife
Entertainment in Russia