Overdressing

[ednria]

Here's a new take on the dressing for dinner fashion police (I can't stand not having one of these clothing discussions going on!:D) to comment on: Would it be considered gauche to wear a tuxedo on semi-formal nights, or just overdressing? I doubt anyone would speak to me about it, or even snicker behind their hands, but would I stand out that much?

 

While I am still under the maximum weight allowance for my mode of transportation, my case is still heavier than I want to lug around Europe for 5-6 weeks. Was thinking of just leaving the suit behind and wearing the tux 5 nights and jacket sans tie the remaining 2 nights.

[Underwatr]

Not overdressing.

 

A tux jacket on elegant casual - it depends: Velvet collar? :D

[Barnacle Betty]

Wow you are brave with a clothing question but I think its a safe question!!

For me living in a city where it is almost impossible to overdress, seeing someone at the grocery store in a suit or even tux wouldn't get a second look but if you arrived at the actual event being the only one in a tux you would definitely get strange looks. I think the same would apply on the ship on the semi formal night or perhaps not quite as bad. Worse is I think if you wore just the tux jacket with no tie on the other 2 nights you'd have that look that you never made it back to your cabin the night before...then again depending on how much fun you want to have you could mess your hair up and roll with it. :D

I would pack the suit.

[ToadOfToadHall]

I wouldn't, I'd feel out of place and uncomfortable. For myself, I'd feel worse being over-dressed than under-dressed.

 

Also, people will think you have mis-read the daily programme.

[Host Sharon]

I don't see why you can't wear a tux on semi-formal nights - you could have everyone guessing what event you had just been to...and they had missed :D

[doncarlos]

does OP mean jacket as in blazer/sportcoat or jacket as in the top 1/2 of his tux ?................responses so far interpret the later while my 1st reaction was he meant the former .

 

i , for one , might go blazer gray flannel slacks with white shirt / conservative tie on the 2 semi nights and use blazer with pale blue button down the 2 casual eves . wearing the blazer to embark /debark would solve the gents weight of case concern :)

[pepperrn]

I have seen many passengers wear formal on a semi-formal night, as has been suggested above, I thought they'd come from a private party on board.

Some may think you've got the dress code wrong, but not many.

 

(When I see people on land out and about in formal wear I think, "I bet they're going/been somewhere really special").

 

Go for it. For the elegant casual nights, why not take a light-weight jacket that will blend in with trousers you're taking anyway, that way you can still leave your suit at home. Hope this helps,

 

Bon Voyage! :) .

[3rdGenCunarder]

Here's a new take on the dressing for dinner fashion police (I can't stand not having one of these clothing discussions going on!:D) to comment on: Would it be considered gauche to wear a tuxedo on semi-formal nights, or just overdressing? I doubt anyone would speak to me about it, or even snicker behind their hands, but would I stand out that much?

 

While I am still under the maximum weight allowance for my mode of transportation, my case is still heavier than I want to lug around Europe for 5-6 weeks. Was thinking of just leaving the suit behind and wearing the tux 5 nights and jacket sans tie the remaining 2 nights.

 

I think a tux for semi-formal nights would be OK. He probably wouldn't be the only one. I know a couple in their 30s who like to "overdress" on semiformal nights. He loves to wear his tux and said he was not the only one wearing a tux.

 

Question about the other two nights. By jacket sans tie, do you mean the tux jacket or a sportcoat? Tux jacket sans tie seems odd.

 

For our TA, DH will take a suit and a tux. The difference between semiformal and elegant casual is just a tie. He will wear the suit (most likely with a tie) for both of those and tux for formal. But we won't be lugging it all around Europe for 5-6 weeks.

 

Have you thought about shipping luggage ahead to Cunard? It isn't cheap, but it's a way to avoid carrying clothes you won't need before the sailing.

[BlueRiband]

On semi-formal nights on a WB TA last September, I noticed many men in black tie but women in short evening dresses. No long dresses.

[Q-step]

I wore a tux on one of the semi-formal nights last time. But I did not wear a bow-tie. Instead I wore a regular collar dress shirt and a normal tie. Unless you were standing next to me it just looked like I was wearing a black suit.

[ednria]

Even when trying hard to be clear, I was still murky. As pointed out by many, I meant a sports jacket/blazer (good call DONCARLOS), rather than the top 1/2 of the tux.:eek:

 

Am still wrestling with the decision. Mostly because after 5+ years, I can now get back into the suit. Its a pride thing!:D

[Thaxted]

Sharon and pepperrn's replies reminded me of this ad that After Six ran in the 1960s under the title "What to do with your After Six tuxedo between weddings":

 

Wear it to a testimonial dinner.

Everyone will think that you were on the dais.

 

Wear it to your next convention.

Everyone will think your product is more impressive than the competition.

 

Wear it when the invitation says "Dress Optional."

Everyone will think you're handsome.

 

Wear it to an Automat late Saturday night.

Everyone will think you've come from somewhere important and exciting.

 

Wear it your next club party and look preoccupied,

Everyone will think you're going somewhere important and exciting later.

 

Wear it on vacation. Just sit there in the nightclub and smile mysteriously.

Everyone will think you're a superb dancer, tennis champ and golf pro all in one.

 

Wear it to take a hansom cab ride with a girl.

Everyone will think you're a liquor ad.

 

Wear it to Philharmonic Hall.

Everyone will think you're a guest conductor.

 

Wear it to the office Monday morning. To hell with what everyone thinks.

[Cruachan]

Sharon and pepperrn's replies reminded me of this ad that After Six ran in the 1960s encouraging men to wear tuxedos at unusual times and in unusual places.

 

 

Wow, looks like epic image fail. Either that or we could use Alan Turing with a Colossus machine :D:D:D

 

J

[Thaxted]

Wow, looks like epic image fail. Either that or we could use Alan Turing with a Colossus machine :D:D:D

 

J

 

Cruachan,

 

A hearty mea culpa!

 

I certainly could have used Turing's help! As you can see, I made the necessary corrections, but you chanced upon the original with its gloriously incomprehensible code intact!

 

What I was trying to do was send the ad as it appeared in the New Yorker. The link is here archives.newyorker.com/?iid=19126&startpage=page0000047

[Host Sharon]

[3rdGenCunarder]

Even when trying hard to be clear, I was still murky. As pointed out by many, I meant a sports jacket/blazer (good call DONCARLOS), rather than the top 1/2 of the tux.:eek:

 

Am still wrestling with the decision. Mostly because after 5+ years, I can now get back into the suit. Its a pride thing!:D

 

I think the tux for formal and semi-formal nights, plus the blazer for informal is a good way to go. The blazer might come in handy for some places you might go in Europe. Or go to the Opera somewhere and wear the tux.

[Barnacle Betty]

I wore a tux on one of the semi-formal nights last time. But I did not wear a bow-tie. Instead I wore a regular collar dress shirt and a normal tie. Unless you were standing next to me it just looked like I was wearing a black suit.

 

Unless it was a very plain tux that might work but most are embellished with satin lapels and satin side stripes on the pants, so for most it would be hard to disguise as just a black suit. You could wear a standard white dress shirt but not a typical contrasting business style tie, there's only so far you could dress down a tux without it looking odd. I would use a black long tie instead of the bow tie but stick with black, it worked well for George Clooney :D

 

[Barnacle Betty]

Even when trying hard to be clear, I was still murky. As pointed out by many, I meant a sports jacket/blazer (good call DONCARLOS), rather than the top 1/2 of the tux.:eek:

 

Phwww....and I had a whole batch of good excuses for not making it back to your cabin the night before, other than the usual :D

 

 

Am still wrestling with the decision. Mostly because after 5+ years, I can now get back into the suit. Its a pride thing!:D

 

Congrats! Try it with the black long tie like pictured above, that may work ok for semi formal night.

[Jim Avery]

Unless it was a very plain tux that might work but most are embellished with satin lapels and satin side stripes on the pants, so for most it would be hard to disguise as just a black suit. You could wear a standard white dress shirt but not a typical contrasting business style tie, there's only so far you could dress down a tux without it looking odd. I would use a black long tie instead of the bow tie but stick with black, it worked well for George Clooney :D

 

 

Oh, right. George Clooney was in that picture.:eek:

[Barnacle Betty]

Oh, right. George Clooney was in that picture.:eek:

 

George Clooney was all I noticed, he looks single :D

[Sweetpea711423]

My husband and I just came off the QM2 yesterday after a 7 night transatlantic crossing. He wore a tux on the 3 formal nights (wore 2 different bow ties and 1 long black tie); blue blazer with nice tan pants and 2 different ties for the 2 semi-formal nights; and blue blazer with more casual tan pants for the 2 elegant casual nights. He was perfectly attired for all (and quite handsome)!

[suzyed]

Sharon and pepperrn's replies reminded me of this ad that After Six ran in the 1960s under the title "What to do with your After Six tuxedo between weddings":

 

Wear it to a testimonial dinner.

Everyone will think that you were on the dais.

 

Wear it to your next convention.

Everyone will think your product is more impressive than the competition.

 

Wear it when the invitation says "Dress Optional."

Everyone will think you're handsome.

 

Wear it to an Automat late Saturday night.

Everyone will think you've come from somewhere important and exciting.

 

Wear it your next club party and look preoccupied,

Everyone will think you're going somewhere important and exciting later.

 

Wear it on vacation. Just sit there in the nightclub and smile mysteriously.

Everyone will think you're a superb dancer, tennis champ and golf pro all in one.

 

Wear it to take a hansom cab ride with a girl.

Everyone will think you're a liquor ad.

 

Wear it to Philharmonic Hall.

Everyone will think you're a guest conductor.

 

Wear it to the office Monday morning. To hell with what everyone thinks.

 

That's great!

[david,Mississauga]

I have occasionally seen a gent in DJ on semi-formal night. No-one made any comment. On one occasion aboard QM2 a table-mate in QG had indeed mis-read the daily programme and he changed after dinner. The over-dressing that I always participate in is the wearing of a tie on the "tie not required" nights. On the QE2, at least on the transatlantic run, they never had this casual business and like a lot of us traditionalists I will not go to an elegant restaurant without jacket and tie. It seemed to me there were fewer men in ties on the first and last night of my recent crossing compared to the last several years, but still there was a sizeable minority of us. Two of the three men at our table in PG wore ties on the casual nights.

 

I know I mentioned this before two years ago, but I will repeat it for the benefit of newer members of the forum. On our May 2010 crossing the National Symphony Orchestra was on board and one of their programmes was two performances of the "Last Night of the Cunard Proms" on the last night at sea. Despite the dress code of elegant casual, Maestro Anthony Inglis had requested that his two passenger choirs (about 180 in total) be dressed in long dresses and DJs. I never heard anyone comment on the apparently over-dressed 180 people. Three of the formally dressed choir members - one man and two women - were at our table. The man commented: "People seeing us in formal wear might think that this is our version of elegant casual." We had a good laugh over that.

[3rdGenCunarder]

I have occasionally seen a gent in DJ on semi-formal night. No-one made any comment. On one occasion aboard QM2 a table-mate in QG had indeed mis-read the daily programme and he changed after dinner. The over-dressing that I always participate in is the wearing of a tie on the "tie not required" nights. On the QE2, at least on the transatlantic run, they never had this casual business and like a lot of us traditionalists I will not go to an elegant restaurant without jacket and tie. It seemed to me there were fewer men in ties on the first and last night of my recent crossing compared to the last several years, but still there was a sizeable minority of us. Two of the three men at our table in PG wore ties on the casual nights.

 

I know I mentioned this before two years ago, but I will repeat it for the benefit of newer members of the forum. On our May 2010 crossing the National Symphony Orchestra was on board and one of their programmes was two performances of the "Last Night of the Cunard Proms" on the last night at sea. Despite the dress code of elegant casual, Maestro Anthony Inglis had requested that his two passenger choirs (about 180 in total) be dressed in long dresses and DJs. I never heard anyone comment on the apparently over-dressed 180 people. Three of the formally dressed choir members - one man and two women - were at our table. The man commented: "People seeing us in formal wear might think that this is our version of elegant casual." We had a good laugh over that.

 

DH does, too. On our recent cruise, the other gentleman at the table felt the same way, so it was ties nearly every night.

[ToadOfToadHall]

I think the elegant casual/semi-formal distinction is a bit of a waste of time really. The only difference is a tie for men, other than that, it's the same.