# Opera Dress code



## BBSVK (10 mo ago)

What an evening ! I saw a terrible modern opera full of unpleasant sounds and with a weird plot. On the top of that, my compagnion was making a big deal of the fact, that I am not wearing a handbag, but a miniature backpack instead. She said she was raised that way - not complying with the dress code is offending other people. If she knew me better, she would have known I was dressed much better that is my everyday standard. Only, I stopped wearing handbags years ago, since I had a bad episode of backpain and realized how uncomfortable they are. Would you be offended, if you met me in the opera with a small backpack ?


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## Kreisler jr (Apr 21, 2021)

Probably not although it would depend on the overall impression.  That is, if you looked like you had just come from a hike, I'd be at least a bit puzzled... 
I have been to the Dresden opera with rather casual clothes as a student because travelling and not having counted on being able to attend the opera. This was around 1994 and I do not remember stares (I would not have cared anyway).


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## MAS (Apr 15, 2015)

You should to like Cher in *Moonstruck*, get a makeover, get a fabulous velvet gown and invite Nicholas Cage to be your date! 😂😂

Seriously, people today have no dress code. Time was when I wouldn’t be allowed to go downtown unless dressed properly… no jeans, no t-shirt, no flip-flops. 

Today anything goes, lamentably. When I first came to this country, LOLs (in those days, an acronym for “little old ladies”) wore short gloves when taking the bus! That was San Francisco in the 1960s.


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## Becca (Feb 5, 2015)

BBSVK said:


> What an evening ! I saw a terrible modern opera full of unpleasant sounds and with a weird plot. On the top of that, my compagnion was making a big deal of the fact, that I am not wearing a handbag, but a miniature backpack instead. She said she was raised that way - not complying with the dress code is offending other people. If she knew me better, she would have known I was dressed much better that is my everyday standard. Only, I stopped wearing handbags years ago, since I had a bad episode of backpain and realized how uncomfortable they are. _Would you be offended, if you met me in the opera with a small backpack ?_


Not a big deal. Now if you will just stand over against that wall while I summon the firing squad.


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## ALT (Mar 1, 2021)

I am ashamed to report that a young me once wore jeans and a polo to a Vienna Philharmonic concert at the Musikverein. Everyone around me was impeccably and elegantly dressed to the nines. Never felt more out of place in my life and promised to never ever do such a thing ever again. And never did ever again.


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## Monsalvat (11 mo ago)

I once saw a gentleman sit through a performance of _Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg_ wearing an orange hoodie. It's not my business what other people wear and I don't mind. It's their tickets they bought, and they should enjoy it as they please, as long as they are not wearing something distracting or obviously inappropriate. I'm just glad these people have the initiative to enjoy the performing arts. As long as that backpack isn't taking up my precious legroom, it isn't my place to worry about your attire, and I'll also dress as _I_ please. At least that's my view.


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## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

It's not a wedding or a funeral, it's theater or movies or concerts and people dress however pleases them. Some like to be opera-style peacocks and stand out down front -- good for them. They are fun to watch. Others like to come more casually without wearing a tie or jacket or long dresses. Some are the jeans and tee shirt crowd, and as long as they are clean and the pants are not torn up at the knees, what is the harm? To each his/her own.
Get to my age. You'll change your stricter minds.


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

I think different countries might have different expectations. Here in Seattle it is a mixed bag. My favorite was a flamboyant 5' Filipino gay dressed like Liberace with a purple sequin vest, an enormous rhinestone brooch and a floor length black opera cape with shiny purple lining which he made sure was always seen. He walked back and forth in the lounge section. Then he went down front, faced the audience , and displayed himself for all to see.


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## BBSVK (10 mo ago)

Seattleoperafan said:


> I think different countries might have different expectations.


I don't think the expectations in my country are strict anymore and I see all kinds of dress in my local opera house. The truth is, yesterday was more upscale than usual, because it was a special event and attracted a different kind of the audience. There is a Slovak composer, whom, for obscure reasons, people liked so much at a certain German festival, that the _commissioned_ a new opera from her. It was predictable that I would not like the music, but curiosity killed the cat... I also usually avoid premieres, but I feared it might be a one time event. (Since I bought the tickets, reprises have been scheduled, so my worry was baseless).


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## BBSVK (10 mo ago)

The girl who was with me doesn't know opera too much anyway, when we met she had things quite confused - opera, ballet, spoken theater, it is all the same thing to her. But her curiosity and open mind impressed me.
The irony is that before she noticed the backpack, she was complaining to me how much accent on appearances is there in her work


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

I always wear my best at classical events. I'm sure some people think it's my worst. We are both correct.


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## prlj (10 mo ago)

Wear whatever you want. The only thing that matters is that you go. To hell with those who expect others to “dress up.”


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## BBSVK (10 mo ago)

Yeah, it's kind of pointless, there's no way I will start wearing handbags again. Yesterday evening just got me out of balance. Having somebody comment in such an intrusive way on what I should or shouldn't wear hasn't happened to me for years now.


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## ColdGenius (9 mo ago)

Opera is a feast, so it demands something more than everyday outfit. I go to my job in discreet casual (though some colleagues consider me footwear addict). To the theater I put on a suit and a tie, as time goes by I dissolve it a little, but avoid non-classic boots and jeans. I don't have a black tie or the more so a white tie, and I extremely rare see them in the audience. Those are mostly the cases like described by Seattle Opera Fan. 
Of course, there were some exceptions. Once we walked around Avignon and entered a local opera house just to watch an interior. The was a free matinee by local conservatoire graduates. It was the only time I went to the opera in shorts and a T-shirt. I even asked if I would be admitted without full pants, but those ladies were very nice. 
I wouldn't conceal it, looking on the audiences is a part of the show, a kind of entertaining anthropology. The common trend is softening of restrictions. Salzburg and La Scala are almost only places where the most of the audience follows a dress-code. Opera Bastille and Swedish opera show its full absence. In others, including Mariinsky and more expensive Bolshói, there are different degrees of something average. Everywhere old ladies and those who are closing to them are most trustworthy.
P. S. Backpacks are not the worst thing in an opera house.


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## Shaughnessy (Dec 31, 2020)

MAS said:


> *Seriously, people today have no dress code. Time was when I wouldn’t be allowed to go downtown unless dressed properly… no jeans, no t-shirt, no flip-flops.
> 
> Today anything goes, lamentably. *


MAS... Were you kind of hoping that we completely forgot that you wore a powder blue tuxedo jacket with a ruffled white shirt and black pants to meet Maria Callas? - Well, guess what - we didn't -


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## hammeredklavier (Feb 18, 2018)

Enthusiast said:


> Do you wear a monocle?


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## ColdGenius (9 mo ago)

I thought about a lornet.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

hammeredklavier said:


>


Those are duocles.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

ColdGenius said:


> Backpacks are not the worst thing in an opera house.


Do we dare ask what the worst thing is? Klaus Florian Vogt and Anna Netrebko as Tristan and Isolde, perhaps?


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## MAS (Apr 15, 2015)

Shaughnessy said:


> MAS... Were you kind of hoping that we completely forgot that you wore a powder blue tuxedo jacket with a ruffled white shirt and black pants to meet Maria Callas? - Well, guess what - we didn't -


Well, thanks! I suppose that “dressing up” doesn’t exclude bad taste (or trends)! 😂 😂


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## ColdGenius (9 mo ago)

Woodduck said:


> Do we dare ask what the worst thing is? Klaus Florian Vogt and Anna Netrebko as Tristan and Isolde, perhaps?


1. Mobile phones!!!!!!!!
2. Candies and cough medicines, taken and unwrapped during the show.
3. Talks, whispers, less conscious sounds after an orchestra begins playing.
4. I think I must repeat about phones.
5. People who leave before the show ends.
6. Sounds of falling phones, bags, bottles etc.
After that I could tolerate gymwear and sandals, even put on socks.
By a curious coincidence, Annushka isn't a leading nightmare of the world opera. As Isolde she could pose hazard only if occasionally changes another singer, when you have tickets already. In Wagner to the date it's possible only in Lohengrin.


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## Hoffmann (Jun 10, 2013)

And, here I am worried about not wearing a necktie to the Ring at the Staatsoper!


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## Shaughnessy (Dec 31, 2020)

I'm kind of a traditionalist - "No shoes, no shirt, no service" - and, when in Europe, I greatly appreciate the addition of "and no speedos".


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## ColdGenius (9 mo ago)

Shaughnessy said:


> I'm kind of a traditionalist - "No shoes, no shirt, no service" - and, when in Europe, I greatly appreciate the addition of "and no speedos".


No jacket is as good as no trousers.


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## hammeredklavier (Feb 18, 2018)

ColdGenius said:


> Mobile phones!!!!!!!!






If this happens in opera, I think the singers could sing along with the ring tone; "don't answer; let it ring~🎵"


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## Shaughnessy (Dec 31, 2020)

Nothing says "class" when attending the opera quite like this authentic "Shaughnessy Certified - Destructive When Provoked" T-Shirt - Now only 29.99! - Makes great Christmas gift! - Order now!


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