The Associated Press

LOUISVILLE - The developer of a new downtown entertainment district is imposing a dress code for patrons four nights a week.

The policy has forced some last-minute fashion adjustments.

Mike Grabowski was allowed to enter Fourth Street Live for a free country music concert this week only after security escorted him to buy a T-shirt. Grabowski, of Radcliff, initially was among several men turned away when he showed up wearing a sleeveless shirt.

"What's the difference?" asked Grabowski's wife, Kathy, pointing to the tank top she wore. "I have less shirt on than he does, and I'm OK."

The dress code requires men to wear a shirt with sleeves. Jersey-style shirts, including ones with sleeves, are forbidden except on "game days," such as on Sunday for pro football games or when University of Louisville and University of Kentucky games are being televised. Also, baseball-style caps must be worn with the bill forward.

The only standard for women "is no indecent exposure. You can't come naked," said Kimber Goodwin, spokeswoman for the Cordish Co., which heads the group that built and owns Fourth Street Live.

All patrons also must have footwear, she said.

Exactly how many people have been turned away over the matter is unknown. But Goodwin said the dress code has been "a negligible issue."

The same standards are in place at Cordish's other urban projects, including in Baltimore and Houston, she said.

The dress code applies only when the portion of Fourth Street that runs through the complex is shut down and visitors are required to pass through entry points.

Fourth Street is blocked at the north and south ends of the project on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays from 6 p.m. to 4 a.m. and Fridays from 5 p.m. to 4 a.m.