# Do you dress formally



## Freddie von Rost (Dec 3, 2013)

when you go the opera? Is it always: yes suit/dinner jacket or do you feel more comfortable dressed less formally? The reason I ask is that there are so few people who make an effort for the evening. Cards on table: yes I am of the formal dress type as I believe it appropriate for the recital or opera, but how does everybody else feel or dress?


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## katdad (Jan 1, 2009)

Generally, opening night is more formal and the man will either wear a tux or a first rate business suit. The woman and man need to coordinate such that one person's formality is balanced with the other.

That being said, I generally never wear formal attire to the opera or other typical events unless I'm invited to some special event in connection, such as a cocktail party afterward.

Most often, attire that's always acceptable is what's known as "formal business" or "informal business".


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

No. I'm clean and tidy and respectable, and usually avoid strong perfume so I don't overwhelm my seat neighbour. But i go to listen and watch, and I want to be comfortable and at ease so I can concentrate, and it's dark, so who cares what I look like?


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## Cosmos (Jun 28, 2013)

I've never attended an opera, but whenever I go to a concert I always make sure to dress up. I don't want to sound pompous or rude, but whenever I see people in jeans, I feel that's not right


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## Couchie (Dec 9, 2010)

I find opera houses are invariably hot. I wear dress pants and a nice polo shirt. Would like to dress up more, but I'd be a sweaty mess by intermission in formal wear.


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## Garlic (May 3, 2013)

I wear my usual clothes - jeans, trainers, whatever. If it bothers anyone **** them. I have a suit but I only wear it if I'm forced to. Why should I dress up, I'm here to see the music/performance, not to impress other people.


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## rgz (Mar 6, 2010)

Suit on opening night at the Colorado opera houses, slacks + dress shirt + tie on other nights. 
If I were to go to a Met opening night I'd probably go with a tux. But, I like to dress up.


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## Ingélou (Feb 10, 2013)

We don't dress formally when the Opera comes to the Lowestoft Marina, because we'd look out of place. We usually put on our smarter clothes, but even then, we are among the minority. We have to dress fairly warmly if seated downstairs, as a howling gale blows out from the Victorian backstage area - the theatre began life as a roller skating rink in the 1880s. 

I'd add that everywhere we go, 'smart casual' now seems to be the order of the day. The only place 'formal attire' is worn is at our annual Ball for the local Scottish Country Dance Society. Taggart wears a formal 'Charlie' jacket & an evening shirt & bow tie with his best kilt, socks, flashes etc, and I wear a long skirt & sparkly top. But even among our 'older crowd', some don't put the full rigout on. 

I think maybe you are more formal & generally chic in America? When we went to the Baroque Opera at Snape, the crowd was 'posher', but even here, it was 'smart clothes' rather than formal evening attire.


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## PetrB (Feb 28, 2012)

Couchie said:


> I find opera houses are invariably hot. I wear dress pants and a nice polo shirt. Would like to dress up more, but I'd be a sweaty mess by intermission in formal wear.


LOL, what's "Nice" about a polo shirt, in or out of context of going to a concert or the opera?


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## PetrB (Feb 28, 2012)

Yes, I dress when I go out, and it is not just to comply with the local laws.

I am old-school formal in that even on the hottest summer day, in the city, I will not be found wearing short-sleeved tops or shorts. While I have 0 thought or discomfort about being unclothed at a nude beach, in town, I like myself, and others, to be 'clothed.'

I have no objections to jeans at a concert, the opera, wherever, but vehemently disagree with whichever fashion guru declared that he thought jeans should be pressed with a crease -- that is just taking things too far, and not knowing the history of denim pants to begin with.

I do like to dress to the occasion, but have never had that job where I had to wear a suit five days each week.

Clean and not looking like you slept in the clothes is about the limit of my general rule for self, and what I expect of others. If they were slept in but no one can tell by looking, that passes muster


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## Couac Addict (Oct 16, 2013)

I dress as Wotan in full battle armour, winged helmet and eye patch...then sit patiently, waiting for _La Gazza Ladra_ to commence.


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## Oreb (Aug 8, 2013)

I generally go 'Commando' to operas.


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## SiegendesLicht (Mar 4, 2012)

Couchie said:


> I find opera houses are invariably hot. I wear dress pants and a nice polo shirt. Would like to dress up more, but I'd be a sweaty mess by intermission in formal wear.


At the local opera house in my town it is the other way around: it can get cold, and I would really not enjoy shivering in an evening gown instead of concentrating on the music. Plus, I usually go to concerts straight from my workplace, and a day in the evening gown would not be a pleasant thing either. So, I put on jeans, my nicest sweater, and have a good time.


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## Aramis (Mar 1, 2009)

I wear heavy, black combat boots, black, tight leather pants with ammo belt, spiked bracers and black t-shirt with Mario del Monaco as Otello with tough face and caption "Mario del Monaco (above) / OTELLO (below)" written with gothic letters. Usually I go with my long, black hair dissolved so I can headbang to high C's.


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## Couac Addict (Oct 16, 2013)

The art is to not overdress. One must not detract from the glamour of the performers.










If anyone's wondering...that's Papageno.


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## deggial (Jan 20, 2013)

I don't normally. For me it's more important that neither I or those sat nearby cough, rustle or have mobiles ring out in the middle of the show. I always bring water and lozenges, just in case.


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## Ebab (Mar 9, 2013)

Freddie von Rost said:


> when you go the opera? Is it always: yes suit/dinner jacket or do you feel more comfortable dressed less formally? The reason I ask is that there are so few people who make an effort for the evening. Cards on table: yes I am of the formal dress type as I believe it appropriate for the recital or opera, but how does everybody else feel or dress?


I usually wear a black suit. For me, a little trouble seems appropriate to the occasion. It's part of the ritual and helps me switching from the business of the day to "opera mode". (But I've gone in Jeans and black shirt, too, according to circumstance, and felt comfortable just the same.) When it's really hot, I'll dispense with a tie, especially when we have cheap seats up just below the ceiling, where the heat accumulates.

For the Munich opera, people do tend to dress up a little (the local expression is: _sich aufbrezeln_ ("to pretzel-up oneself") ). But you see every kind of attire, and nobody minds. And yes, on premieres or during the _Opernfestspiele_ (the summer festival), you'll notice more dinner jackets and fine robes; but it's a somewhat different crowd to begin with.


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## MAuer (Feb 6, 2011)

I do dress formally (what would probably be described as evening attire) for the opening performance of our local opera season, but otherwise, I'll wear something a little less dressy. When I traveled to attend operas or concerts, I would wear business attire (skirted suit, in my case), especially since I always walked from my hotel to the performance venue.


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## katdad (Jan 1, 2009)

Well, for those who may not realize it, wearing a Tux somehow creates a bit of special feeling to the event.

The honest truth... my college roommate and I wore tuxes and tails, top hats too, to the 1968 Jimi Hendrix concert. What a blast.


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## Couchie (Dec 9, 2010)

PetrB said:


> LOL, what's "Nice" about a polo shirt, in or out of context of going to a concert or the opera?


You know nothing of fashion.

People in the ads wear them to country clubs, on yachts, etc.

You know, _fancy *****. _

And you can buy polo shirts that cost far more than a reasonable suit if they say Versace or some bullsh*t on them.

You know nothing of fashion.

You know nothing of fashion.

What's nice about_ you?_


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## Don Fatale (Aug 31, 2009)

I'll assume the above is banter. 

This can be a tough one. At Covent Garden the slips (_gods_) tend to occupied by the opera die-hards, like me when I lived in London. It would not have been the same had I felt the need to get dressed up for my £5 ticket, particular when going several times a week. The good old days of the separate entrance to the amphitheatre at least gave the casual dresser the reassurance that they wouldn't be mingling and detracting from the fancy dressers below them.

However a night out is a night out, and getting spruced up and putting on some nice clothes is a good thing to do. Your partner and friends will appreciate it and you will feel like you are part of the event and contributing to it.

That being said, I find formal/black-tie abhorrent and perfectly ridiculous at the opera, but there's an easy solution for that - do go to them.


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## senza sordino (Oct 20, 2013)

I think we should go dressed to the opera as one of our favourite characters (a la Rocky Horror Picture Show)


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## deggial (Jan 20, 2013)

^ I think some people do. I've seen some dresses that put what the singers wore to shame (not so hard when it's a regie production) and sometimes some audience members' attire matches the colour scheme of the costumes on stage.


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

Smart casual & comfortable & don't wear perfume. If I think I might cough, I suck a couple of cough sweets _before_ the orchestra strikes up.

I don't care what other people wear. I'd rather sit next to a guy in scruffy jeans & Tshirt who didn't smell than the guy in a fancy suit who sat next to me once in Munich & who farted through the whole of the first act of _L'elisir d'amore_.


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## Bellinilover (Jul 24, 2013)

I wore a dress to my last opera, and to the one before that I wore dress pants, pumps, and a lace-trimmed top. So I guess my usual opera-going attire could be characterized as "professional women's office wear." 

I always think it looks a bit strange to see people wearing "full evening dress" to matinee performances. Last summer at Wolf Trap Opera (Wolf Trap is a "park for the performing arts" in Virginia, USA) I saw a woman wearing what can only be described as an evening gown. It would have looked fine at night, but in broad daylight it looked almost garish. It was funny, too, when you consider that the opera house at Wolf Trap used to be a barn (and still sort of looks like one, especially the lobby)!


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## Couchie (Dec 9, 2010)

senza sordino said:


> I think we should go dressed to the opera as one of our favourite characters (a la Rocky Horror Picture Show)


There were a number of people in feathered/Viking helmets at the the Ring I attended in Seattle in August.


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## MAuer (Feb 6, 2011)

Bellinilover said:


> I wore a dress to my last opera, and to the one before that I wore dress pants, pumps, and a lace-trimmed top. So I guess my usual opera-going attire could be characterized as "professional women's office wear."
> 
> I always think it looks a bit strange to see people wearing "full evening dress" to matinee performances. Last summer at Wolf Trap Opera (Wolf Trap is a "park for the performing arts" in Virginia, USA) I saw a woman wearing what can only be described as an evening gown. It would have looked fine at night, but in broad daylight it looked almost garish. It was funny, too, when you consider that the opera house at Wolf Trap used to be a barn (and still sort of looks like one, especially the lobby)!


Evening attire during the day does seem strange -- yet when I visited Bayreuth almost 30 years ago, I saw women attending one of the Festival operas decked out in long gowns and jewelry during the early afternoon. (No, I wasn't attending the Festspiele myself! I was vacationing in Germany with family at the time, and out of curiosity, visited the city.)


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## ptr (Jan 22, 2013)

Never, it is within the job description of my footman to dress me!








/ptr


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## Dongiovanni (Jul 30, 2012)

I'll admit, I like to dress up. Mostly I wear a dark suit and tie. On special occasions I wear my black tie suit. It adds a little to the special event glamour. But, as soon as the music starts I forget all about that.


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## Aramis (Mar 1, 2009)

Dongiovanni said:


> But, as soon as the music starts I forget all about that.


I envy you - when the music plays, I only think "that's a beautiful music... but not as beautiful as me!" while splitting my attention between stage and little mirror I always bring with myself to the performance.


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## Flamme (Dec 30, 2012)

Go like this
http://english3avocab.wikispaces.com/file/view/******.jpg/227333960/******.jpg


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## deggial (Jan 20, 2013)

^ next time I see you in the foyer I'll say hi  or should that be "yo, blood"?


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## sabrina (Apr 26, 2011)

I always use a knee length cocktail dress, never a long one. In my mind, opera goes with some elegant formal clothes, for both men and women. I love jeans, but not at whatever theatre or opera. In my case the dresses I have, make me fell comfortable, as long as they look nice... Ah, and I add high heels, easy to wear since I don't have to run a marathon.


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## rgz (Mar 6, 2010)

senza sordino said:


> I think we should go dressed to the opera as one of our favourite characters (a la Rocky Horror Picture Show)


What if Lucia is my favorite character? I have enough trouble finding jeans that look good on me, let alone a wedding dress.


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## rgz (Mar 6, 2010)

Though it's probably better than liking Fafner, where my choice would be stilts or wings.


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## MAuer (Feb 6, 2011)

If I dressed as Leonore, my concealed pistol would likely be confiscated and I'd be arrested.


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## deggial (Jan 20, 2013)

rgz said:


> What if Lucia is my favorite character? I have enough trouble finding jeans that look good on me, let alone a wedding dress.


go as you like and say it's a regie production.


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

I could go as Don Giovanni and every time someone upset me with a cellphone I'd wave my plumed hat in front of them until they stopped (and if they didn't I'd still have my rapier with me).


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

senza sordino said:


> I think we should go dressed to the opera as one of our favourite characters (a la Rocky Horror Picture Show)


Now there's an idea ...


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## MAuer (Feb 6, 2011)

Which opera is he from? _Il Pirata_? _Il Corsaro_?:lol:


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

MAuer said:


> Which opera is he from? _Il Pirata_? _Il Corsaro_?:lol:


Simon the corsaire who became doge


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## alan davis (Oct 16, 2013)

I've had a premium reserve subscription at our State Opera for many years. For the price it costs I'm entitled to where my jim jams if it suits me. Though I usually prefer jeans and a jacket.


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## Couac Addict (Oct 16, 2013)

senza sordino said:


> I think we should go dressed to the opera as one of our favourite characters (a la Rocky Horror Picture Show)


Be careful. Any home-made _Cunning Little Vixen_ costume can make you look like the _Runners-up Regional Finalist_ in a _Mr. Mistoffelees_ look-alike contest.


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## huntsman (Jan 28, 2013)

Freddie von Rost said:


> when you go the opera? Is it always: yes suit/dinner jacket or do you feel more comfortable dressed less formally? The reason I ask is that there are so few people who make an effort for the evening. Cards on table: yes I am of the formal dress type as I believe it appropriate for the recital or opera, but how does everybody else feel or dress?


Elegant cocktail dress, sensible shoes and a purse suits the opera over here just fine. Possibly 5% of the audience still wear evening dress, but bear in mind it's hot as Hades here for the most part...


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## Annied (Apr 27, 2017)

Don Fatale said:


> I'll assume the above is banter.
> 
> This can be a tough one. At Covent Garden the slips (_gods_) tend to occupied by the opera die-hards, like me when I lived in London. It would not have been the same had I felt the need to get dressed up for my £5 ticket, particular when going several times a week. The good old days of the separate entrance to the amphitheatre at least gave the casual dresser the reassurance that they wouldn't be mingling and detracting from the fancy dressers below them.
> 
> ...


I spent a lot of time in the amphitheatre of the ROH years ago too. I do remember once seeing a couple arrive wearing full formal evening wear and looking completely overdressed. I wasn't sure if it was their first time and they hadn't realised it wasn't necessary up there in oxygen mask territory, or if it was a touch of the Hyacinth Buckets and they'd made sure all of their neighbours saw them leave for the opera that evening.


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

Annied said:


> I spent a lot of time in the amphitheatre of the ROH years ago too. I do remember once seeing a couple arrive wearing full formal evening wear and looking completely overdressed. I wasn't sure if it was their first time and they hadn't realised it wasn't necessary up there in oxygen mask territory, or if it was a touch of the Hyacinth Buckets and they'd made sure all of their neighbours saw them leave for the opera that evening.


Oh dear, how did they react seeing as they seem to be posh?


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## Annied (Apr 27, 2017)

I don't remember them reacting at all, they were just dressed so differently from everyone else up there that it was impossible not to notice them.

I did make a now very longstanding friend because I saw her on the railway station platform one evening when I was going to the ROH. She was dressed up and I noticed her because when you're waiting for a train, random thoughts go through your head and I was idly speculating on where she could be going. I lost sight of her once the train came, but on the bus coming back from the ROH to the station, I saw her again and noticed that she was carrying a ROH programme. We struck up a conversation, went the rest of the way back together and have been friends ever since.


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## Meyerbeer Smith (Mar 25, 2016)

I wear a bow tie, a dress shirt, a waistcoat, a suit, and trousers - all tailor-made. And I look damn fine.


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## EddieRUKiddingVarese (Jan 8, 2013)

With or without undergarments


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

SimonTemplar said:


> I wear a bow tie, a dress shirt, a waistcoat, a suit, and trousers - all tailor-made. And I look damn fine.





EddieRUKiddingVarese said:


> With or without undergarments


Simon is from down under, what do you think.


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

Where I live, it's shorts and a tee shirt all year round.

I do treat myself to 18k gold thimbles for the fingertips of my posting fingers. A touch of class!


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

A lot of folks dressed formally for the opera when I used to attend the Met.. I didn't see the point. I went there to listen, not to be gawked at. Same deal with dressing up for church. Why?


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## EddieRUKiddingVarese (Jan 8, 2013)

Pugg said:


> Simon is from down under, what do you think.


Yep we all dress like Outback Jack with a slouch hat


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

EddieRUKiddingVarese said:


> Yep we all dress like Outback Jack with a slouch hat


No bow tie in sight though.


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## EddieRUKiddingVarese (Jan 8, 2013)

Pugg said:


> No bow tie in sight though.


No tie or ties at all


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## DavidA (Dec 14, 2012)

As I usually attend broadcasts at my local cinema then absolutely not. I have an acquaintance who went to a broadcast (I think it was Parsifal) and dressed up to the nines as one would for the opera house. She was one of two people there! She said the other person was dressed very causally.


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

DavidA said:


> As I usually attend broadcasts at my local cinema then absolutely not. I have an acquaintance who went to a broadcast (I think it was Parsifal) and dressed up to the nines as one would for the opera house. She was one of two people there! She said the other person was dressed very causally.


That's how it goes DavidA, always blaming others.


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## mountmccabe (May 1, 2013)

Annied said:


> I did make a now very longstanding friend because I saw her on the railway station platform one evening when I was going to the ROH. She was dressed up and I noticed her because when you're waiting for a train, random thoughts go through your head and I was idly speculating on where she could be going. I lost sight of her once the train came, but on the bus coming back from the ROH to the station, I saw her again and noticed that she was carrying a ROH programme. We struck up a conversation, went the rest of the way back together and have been friends ever since.


That's wonderful!

It can be fun trying to predict who is going to the same place while I ride BART to the opera house. The symphony hall is right next door, so difficulty depends some on if there is a concert the same night. Riding back after I often see a good amount of people with programs get off at my stop, but almost everyone else using the same station exit I do is heading to a car in the parking lot.


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## Annied (Apr 27, 2017)

Funnily enough, as I was typing that post, she was actually typing an email to me.


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## Pat Fairlea (Dec 9, 2015)

For concerts etc, I try to be relatively clean and tidy as a courtesy to others.

However, as a friend remarked, I don't 'get dressed': I just put clothes on.


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## mountmccabe (May 1, 2013)

As for the original question, I rarely dress in what could pass for formal attire, but I do dress up somewhat. Dress pants, dress shirt, usually a jacket, sometimes a tie.

The San Francisco Bay Area is more casual in general than NYC, and here I rarely have reason to dress up at all (without standing out significantly), other than going to the opera, symphony, etc. In NYC I had friends that regularly wore jackets to go out, and we were not going to fine dining establishments or anything fancy. They also did not wear jackets to work, though of course many people in Manhattan did. So that might have been part of what made it more common, in general.

People do typically dress up for the opera and symphony here, but there is a range, from formal to jeans and t-shirts. I am glad that there is no actual dress code, so that people can do what feels right to them. For some dressing up can make it more of an occasion and help the performance feel special, but there are also people where dressing up/going out is the main purpose, rather than paying attention to what you're seeing (and being respectful of other attendees).


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## jegreenwood (Dec 25, 2015)

I attended Glyndebourne for the first time last summer. Formal wear (tux or equivalent) is still the norm there. I own one, and I thought it would be fun. The only problem was England had a heat wave that week. The temperature reached 90F. Outside was brutal, and even inside - Glyndebourne's air conditioning was not designed for it.

Then the train going home was 90 minutes delayed . . .

"Figaro" was great though.


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## Becca (Feb 5, 2015)

San Diego is a very casual city with a couple of rather dressy, upscale areas (e.g. La Jolla) so you will see the entire gamut of styles at any given concert.

Last September I went to Chicago to visit my closest friend and we had planned an evening out at the Chicago Symphony. That morning she said "Get dressed, we are going out to buy you a new dress for tonight!" which we did. Fortunately I had a pair of dressy heels with me which conveniently matched the new dress. We certainly weren't the dressiest women at the concert, but definitely much more so than many.


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## bman40 (Mar 13, 2017)

Most of our opera forays are met live in HD so that is casual dress. I was fortune to attend a performance of Eugin Onegin at the Met in NYC and we dressed up - shirt and tie for me, dress for my wife. It seemed 'respectful' of the place and the performance (if that makes sense...)


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## Granate (Jun 25, 2016)

All the times I went to the concert house were with suit and bowtie. There is rarely any other occasion I can wear it, and I've got two suits and seven bowties (easy to wear, no vest required, more chest). In case it was really hot, I would wear a dark or black shirt. I don't follow etiquette or tux. My black full suit is from TopMan and my dark-blue one is my graduation suit from Cortefiel. My shirts are both from Primark, skinny and cheap.
I'm quite socially awkward and I rarely bring any friend to watch Opera or concerts, so I prefer to please the sight of the musicians by being invisible. Thus, wearing dark is a must for me, whether it is a suit or a Slenderman costume.


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

Granate said:


> All the times I went to the concert house were with suit and bowtie. There is rarely any other occasion I can wear it, and I've got two suits and seven bowties (easy to wear, no vest required, more chest). In case it was really hot, I would wear a dark or black shirt. I don't follow etiquette or tux. My black full suit is from TopMan and my dark-blue one is my graduation suit from Cortefiel. My shirts are both from Primark, skinny and cheap.
> I'm quite socially awkward and I rarely bring any friend to watch Opera or concerts, so I prefer to please the sight of the musicians by being invisible. Thus, wearing dark is a must for me, whether it is a suit or a Slenderman costume.


Your southern people are always so stylish, I am not joking, bloody serious.


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

Granate said:


> All the times I went to the concert house were with suit and bowtie. There is rarely any other occasion I can wear it, and I've got two suits and seven bowties (easy to wear, no vest required, more chest). In case it was really hot, I would wear a dark or black shirt. I don't follow etiquette or tux. My black full suit is from TopMan and my dark-blue one is my graduation suit from Cortefiel. My shirts are both from Primark, skinny and cheap.
> I'm quite socially awkward and I rarely bring any friend to watch Opera or concerts, so I prefer to please the sight of the musicians by being invisible. Thus, wearing dark is a must for me, whether it is a suit or a Slenderman costume.


You should be easy to spot. I'll be lookin'.


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## Ingélou (Feb 10, 2013)

We went to a baroque opera, Rameau's Dardanus, at Snape last night. We knew it would be a modern-dress production, with singers dressed in black or in combat fatigues. I decided to wear black trousers and long-line cardigan with a long red scarf and red earrings - then my posh-looking grey belted coat with (fake)-fur collar, in reality a free gift from my big sister.

It seemed to fit in well enough with the audience, very few of whom were wearing evening dress.

But it struck me as I got dressed that maybe I ought to *respect* the English Touring Opera's company and wear a battered old blue cardi with red-ribbon epaulettes (added by me) along with my oldest jeans...


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## DavidA (Dec 14, 2012)

Not at opera broadcasts.


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