Dress code for teenagers

[Canugess]

My Daughter (age 15) wears 12-13 clothes or can get away with a size 6 Adult. We have found our best bet to be either Matalan's teenager range or New Looks 9-15 range.

 

DD wore a skater style dress for the formal night on our cruise in a lacy material. She looked lovely!

[brigittetom]

I know many passengers love their boys to wear evening dress but it shows the disparity in thinking because sadly, I just think most of them look faintly comical.)

 

 

I've seen many boys, young men, in tuxes on formal nights and thought they looked spectacular. You are right though, there is disparity in thinking. I think that teens in a white shirt and tie, without a jacket, look just plain awkward.....even though totally appropriate.

[Victoria2]

I've seen many boys, young men, in tuxes on formal nights and thought they looked spectacular. You are right though, there is disparity in thinking. I think that teens in a white shirt and tie, without a jacket, look just plain awkward.....even though totally appropriate.

 

I tried to discriminate between boys and teens and my reference to boys was in context to those not yet of teenage years. I find Evening Dress on young boys rather like a raid on a dressing up box. Faintly amusing and not age appropriate.

 

No disparity of thinking about teens in a white shirt though brigittetom. :) Again, my comment was aimed at the younger teens and it wasn't a personal viewpoint, just a guide for those who don't posses those articles of clothing in their wardrobes. My children complied with the dress code. Not all children are able to do so.

 

The children in the opening post will look wonderful which is what this thread was originally about. I hope the whole family has a marvellous holiday.

Edited July 12, 2015 by Victoria2

[HelloKittysMum]

The verdict seems to confirm what I was thinking - if we find something age appropriate and formal either before we go or while we are on holiday then I will get that for her but I am not going to stress myself and waste time in Montreal, Boston or New York dragging the whole family round shops trying to find something. Part of the problem is that while I agree things in the 9-15 age in shops would be suitable she thinks that "no self respecting nearly 15 year old would wear something a 9 year old would wear" (she thinks that these clothes are designed for tall / large 10 year olds and no amount of explanation will convince her otherwise).

 

It is a difficult age and I (like many on here) would prefer her to look age appropriate even if not so formal (but to compensate I am taking full length ball gowns for formal and what other people might think were quite dressy cocktail dresses or dressy maxi dresses for semi-formal - just struggling to decide which because my husband will not let me take more dresses for evening than days so I can chose on the boat!)

[brigittetom]

HelloKittymum, I mentioned in an earlier post that I thought the Skater dresses that your daughter favors would be perfect for her age and I agree, that there is absolutely no need to stress over this...and certainly not waste any holiday time shopping.

 

I just found the comment about boys in evening dress looking "faintly comical, a little odd. Boys in evening dress don't look like they are trying to look older, they simply look well dressed. In my opinion, girls look "fairly comical" when dressing way beyond their years. I have seen the "Grungy" look many times though...and I'll take the white shirt and tie anytime. I also agree, that as long as young teens are nicely dressed, there shouldn't be any major stress and shopping spree. :)

 

HelloKittyMum, you sound as if you already have it well in hand. Don't stress...and have a wonderful trip. :)

Edited July 12, 2015 by brigittetom

[epsomelf]

We just got back and there was a wide variety of interpretation for the teens on board - so there isn't a need to stress at all. For our teen boys one had a tux and the otherse had suits. For the informal nights they wore polos or a button down shirt. Our daughter wore a variety of dresses/skirts for dinner.

 

The only negative comment we got was about a fedora that my son had that went with his suit. The second time he wore it the maître d' approached me and quietly pulled me aside to say that some of the guests were complaining about the hat and could I ask my son to remove it. Rather than be offended we laughed about how silly they approached it.

[Lakesregion]

We just got back and there was a wide variety of interpretation for the teens on board - so there isn't a need to stress at all. For our teen boys one had a tux and the otherse had suits. For the informal nights they wore polos or a button down shirt. Our daughter wore a variety of dresses/skirts for dinner.

 

The only negative comment we got was about a fedora that my son had that went with his suit. The second time he wore it the maître d' approached me and quietly pulled me aside to say that some of the guests were complaining about the hat and could I ask my son to remove it. Rather than be offended we laughed about how silly they approached it.

 

I can't imagine why you would have been offended by anyone asking your son to remove any hat indoors. Other than a religious garment or for medical requirements, hats have long been considered rude at the least for indoor wear.

[keithm]

We will be doing TA on QM2 4/8 with our two teenage children (16 & 14 but look younger).

 

My son (16) has a black suit he wore for his prom so is sorted for formal evenings but doesn't have a jacket for informal. Will he be OK with chinos and a shirt without a jacket?

 

My daughter doesn't have cocktail style dresses but does have some nice dresses but they are not really formal. Two years ago we did a Royal Caribbean Med cruise and she wore black miniskirts with lacy tops for the formal evenings there but since then her dress sense has gone more casual. She's tiny (Uk size 4/6), looks quite young and it's quite hard to find something that fits, is formal but more importantly is age appropriate. (I really don't want her in bodycon dresses as they look too grown up but the dresses she has are skater style so less formal). Any thoughts?

A sport jacket with tie (chinos/khakis are fine,too)is fine for your son. As to your daughter..I'll let the other posters figure that out.

[keithm]

We just got back and there was a wide variety of interpretation for the teens on board - so there isn't a need to stress at all. For our teen boys one had a tux and the otherse had suits. For the informal nights they wore polos or a button down shirt. Our daughter wore a variety of dresses/skirts for dinner.

 

The only negative comment we got was about a fedora that my son had that went with his suit. The second time he wore it the maître d' approached me and quietly pulled me aside to say that some of the guests were complaining about the hat and could I ask my son to remove it. Rather than be offended we laughed about how silly they approached it.

I frequently wore either a fedora or bowler on formal night. I'd take it off when reaching the table.

[navybankerteacher]

I can't imagine why you would have been offended by anyone asking your son to remove any hat indoors. Other than a religious garment or for medical requirements, hats have long been considered rude at the least for indoor wear.

 

Perhaps published dress codes should be enhanced to suggest no hats indoors, possibly also mentioning that bare feet in MDR are not permitted.

[TheMillerBoys]

We are making our first crossing (first time on a ship, period) on August 4, EB. I'm amazed at the attitudes some people have about how a teenager should dress. I suppose those people would be happier if parents left the kids home, LOL. Not everyone has formal wear for growing younguns. I guess I was just lucky and had a mom who could sew, heh heh.

 

[HelloKittysMum]

I can't imagine why you would have been offended by anyone asking your son to remove any hat indoors. Other than a religious garment or for medical requirements, hats have long been considered rude at the least for indoor wear.

 

So it is rude unless it is for religious or medical reasons? But how would anyone know that it was being worn for these reasons until those asking for it to be removed had been rude themselves. A friend had a teenage son with alopecia who was very self consists and wore hats to cover it. Being asked to explain why he hadn't removed his hat made him feel even worse. I would assume it was being worn for good reasons not that the wearer was rude.

[HelloKittysMum]

We are making our first crossing (first time on a ship, period) on August 4, EB. I'm amazed at the attitudes some people have about how a teenager should dress. I suppose those people would be happier if parents left the kids home, LOL. Not everyone has formal wear for growing younguns. I guess I was just lucky and had a mom who could sew, heh heh.

 

 

It's not just that we don't have it but that especially for small teenage girls it is almost impossible (in UK in the summer - winter is fine because of Christmas) age appropriate formal wear - either it is too babyish (and even if the right size in inches wouldn't fit a teenage body) or it is too grown up and I really don't want my 14 year old looking like an adult. Having seen recent photos of sixth form proms (18 year olds) in local papers most girls have a penchant for the type of dress aspiring actresses wear to get press coverage (backless, cleavage spilling out, skirts slashed to waist etc) and that is not a look I want my daughter to adopt at 14 (and I don't think most other passengers would want that either).

 

If we find something elegant and age appropriate we'll buy it but otherwise shell stick with what she has.

[AKO1971]

My son wore a suit as he got older and shirt and tie, I am not sure if he was female I would have wanted him in too grown up clothes. I think cute skater dresses with ballet shoes etc are fine.

I think she would find it fun dressing up. My son enjoyed it as thought he looked like james bond with his tux but as he got older his taste changed and a smart suit was suitable. Good luck with getting some thing fashionable that your daughter will wear. . So glad I had a son now 😃

[HelloKittysMum]

We did buy a dress for my daughter while we were in the states but she didn't wear it in the end. She only did 2 formal nights (she loves ordering room service and as there was nothing she wanted on the second formal night - she is a very fussy eater unlike her older brother - we let her do that).

 

The dresses she had taken were fine and were age appropriate. She looked sufficiently dressed up with a black jacket over them, heels and make up but did not look too old. Some of the slightly older girls looked too old.

 

My son was fine - he did his prom suit and tie (several different ones) for formals and dark trousers and suit jacket with no tie on informals.

 

I have to say that a lot of adults' ideas of informal was what I would call casual or even scruffy. I took cocktail dresses for informal (and evening dresses - either long or ballet length ball gowns for formals) and at times felt over dressed. And in the day time dress was very casual (and many were scruffy (football shirts and tracksuit bottoms)) - I took some (what my mum would call) nice day dresses but didn't wear them as they would have looked much too dressy compared to other people so I wore maxi dresses with shrugs or cardigans on the cooler days. I would put a dress code on afternoon tea in the QR - I tried to get my husband to put a jacket and chinos on and he looked at me as if I were mad and pointed out no one else was dressed like that. Just glad I didn't take a hat for afternoon tea (yes I really did contemplate that!).

 

I absolutely loved the ship and am counting down the days until I retire (but if I have to wait until state pension it will be nearly 18 years) and can do a RTW. Husband and children enjoyed it but want a break from the US after 4 trips in 5 years so we probably won't do it again next year. I wish Cunard sailed more in the Far East.

Edited August 13, 2015 by HelloKittysMum
typo

[Sauer-kraut]

We did buy a dress for my daughter while we were in the states but she didn't wear it in the end.

I absolutely loved the ship and am counting down the days until I retire (but if I have to wait until state pension it will be nearly 18 years) and can do a RTW. Husband and children enjoyed it but want a break from the US after 4 trips in 5 years so we probably won't do it again next year. I wish Cunard sailed more in the Far East.

 

Welcome home! :D

[Host Hattie]

Thanks for reporting back, it's good to hear how things turn out.