What should 16 yr old DS wear for cruise elegant night?

[katmu]

How dressy do most teens get on cruise elegant night on Carnival? I am debating about trying to find a suit or jacket that will be small enough for my 16 year old. If I can't find something in time would he be ok with dress pants, dress shirt and a tie? He competes in debate, so he would wear the suit/sportcoat again. The smallest size I'm seeing locally is a 38S. He doesn't want to shop in the boys department anymore.

[Curt Jerome Wild]

Check my thread here on Young Men's Suits:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=773735

And see if any of my sources are in your area, or give you ideas...

 

I'll answer any specific questions for you over there, if you want to try looking for suits or jackets/blazers.

 

I think that personally if he will wear it in the future, it's definitely worth wearing and packing.

 

But, just to answer everything - there will be other teens in just shirts and ties (no jacket). It just depends on the time of year and the cruise port.

 

Los Angeles/New York seem to dress up a bit more, but also in general Easter Time and around Thanksgiving to New Year's you will see a lot more teens dressed up for Elegant night for family pictures and such.

 

So check out my other thread, and see if that helps!

:D

 

[cb at sea]

Carnival has a more "relaxed" interpretation for the formal evenings---they don't even call it "formal" anymore---now, it's simply "elegant" (not really a "manly" term!)

If that's what you have, pack it. There's no real need to spend extra money to buy something that he'll outgrow before he can wear it a 2nd time!

[Guest TropicOne]

He will be within the dress code with dress pants,dress shirt and a tie.Do not worry about finding a suit or jacket in time just for this cruise.

[katmu]

Carnival has a more "relaxed" interpretation for the formal evenings---they don't even call it "formal" anymore---now, it's simply "elegant" (not really a "manly" term!)

If that's what you have, pack it. There's no real need to spend extra money to buy something that he'll outgrow before he can wear it a 2nd time!

 

He would wear it again. And don't tell him I said this but I'm worried that he might not grow anymore. He'll be 17 next month and if genetics are any indication his older brother, dad and uncle were all done growing by the time they were 15. If we find something in time, I would still like to get him a jacket. If not, he has plenty of dress shirts and ties he could wear. Thanks.

[Happy ks]

Have him wear clothing that will compliment the whole group together. It really looks nice in photos if everyone is dressed in the same level of formality (or casualness). Just make sure the clothing isn't what his father would wear, make it suitable for his age.

 

I bought my son a black sports coat and slacks when he was 13. He'd already grown almost as tall as he is now (6'4"). He wore that jacket out it was used so much. School dances, a couple of cruises, French club dinner and finally he was chosen to do the school news at his high school, probably because he was the only student with a sports coat ;)

 

He has an assortment of shirts and ties plus slacks that he wore with the jacket. When he got to his junior year in high school, I bought him a tuxedo and it's been a big savings over rentals for proms, cruises and even this past Academy Awards, he wore it to a friends party. He's now 20, the tux still fits, the sports coat was worth every dime!