Future of Formal Nights

[KLLund]

I generally love formal events, too, so I can completely understand the passionate responses. Most ladies very much enjoy dressing up, and most men really like seeing their ladies in evening attire. However, we attend at least a dozen events that require either black tie or even white tie per year, so I have plenty of opportunities. Sometimes it even feels like too many...

 

My husband is a diplomat currently assigned to Washington, D.C., and before that we were in Seattle and in Vienna, Austria, so I guess our lives are a bit different. I've never lived outside of a big city, and your frame of reference is always what you know and experience as daily life.

 

I do want cruise lines to keep formal evenings, and I don't think it will go away, as long as so many people still want it.

 

I think the reason that so many of us are passionate about Formal nights is that we don't have the kind of occasions to dress that you do. There may be a formal charity event or two during the year but other than that it is pretty much cruise or don't do formal.

 

I made reservations for a gala New Years eve function, it was cancelled for lack of interest. I believe the lack of interest had to do with the formal wear REQUIREMENT.. they made it quite clear .. no one admitted otherwise. I was, needless to say, very disappointed.

[sail7seas]

I was in a suburban Macy's yesterday and they had no formal shirts. Lord and Taylor CLOSED in that Mall.

 

But I see formal shirts in Syms (any of you have a Syms near you ? Name brands at lower prices...... They sell Pierre Cardin and Bill Blass formal shirts by the dozens.) There are a number of formal wear rental shops from which shirts (new) can be purchased. I doubt they're top quality and have never been in one of those shops.

 

I am a traditionalist and never accepted the 'too big a nuisance to bring it' argument until recently. I'm starting to see that a family of four may not wish to pay for one or even two more suitcases in order to lug along tuxedos, gowns, formal shoes, silk sandals/pumps, purses etc

 

Perhaps because we've been on so many cruises and have enjoyed dozens and dozens of formal nights, maybe we' re staring to think we night be willing to 'let it go'. I know that is selfish as our younger counterparts are just starting to enjoy the fun of formal nights on ships.

 

We'll be on Maasdam for two weeks and I'm really interested to see the percent of formal wear. I've packed DH a traditional tuxedo and white dinner jacket. We'll be on for two weeks. If I find the percentage or tuxedos falls under 30%, this could be the start of the end for us. We don't have to fly for this cruise but the next one we do. It's getting harder for us to handle lots of luggage and (on principle) I don't wish to give the airlines hunderds of dollars for extra suitcases brought only to accomodate formal clothes.

 

We'll see.........

 

We purchased DH a new tuxedo last year and this is his third dinner jacket. We purchased it this year. We do attend some formal weddings still. We dress formal at home from time to time but even those events have 'lightened up.

 

[CowPrincess]

Sail, one thing to think about -- mailing your formalwear home, after you disembark, before you get to the airport for your flight. That will save some $$$, as USPS flat-rate boxes are, I believe, cheaper than the "extra bag charge" from the airline. I know that doesn't apply this time, but something to consider for the future.

[sail7seas]

It isn't really a money thing......it's the principle of handing over more dollars to the airline. I don't care about the fee per se.

 

Your suggestion is good but would be a bit of a nuisance for us. We don't want to deal with those sorts of details and errands the last day(s) of our vacation.

 

I think we should simply leave a suitcase on Maasdam and have them store our things for us. They can open the bag the week before we return and have it dry cleaned/washed and hang it in our closet for us. We cruise there so often, it seems a reasonable request :D , doncha think??? :D :)

How fabulous would that be?? !!!

 

If we see at least a decent number are dressed formal, we will continue. If we are among a precious few, we will re-evaluate.

 

Canada/New England cruises are a high per diem and usually there are a fair number of people who 'dress'..... I don't know if paying the higher per diem has anything to do with it or not? It will be interesting to compare this year to last year. I think it was last year we did two sets of back-to-backs or maybe it was the year before. For sure, we did Boston to Montreal to Boston b-to-b last August and are doing the same this year. It will be comparing apples to apples.

 

 

[kidznp]

We have no formal opportunities in our "normal" life in central Texas--at most, DH will wear a jacket and tie or suit and I will wear a cocktail dress if we go have a nice dinner for our anniversary or birthday or a work related holiday party. Most places we go are very casual--outdoor restaurants, bars to hear our musician friends play, etc.

 

Formal nights on a cruise are special to us--our first cruise in 2003 was the first time I had worn a long gown and he had worn a tux since our wedding day in 1984. I love them and sure hope they don't go away.

[JCDeck]

We live in Orlando, The Macy's here have great formal wear for men. Wonderful. Also , very nice formal wear (accessories) for men inn Steinmart, Nordstom's and Neiman Marcus! We absolutely love formal night.

[momofmeg]

Philip if you go over to the fashion board I am sure Jane110 can tell you where to buy your shirts. shelives in NY. Is NY the home port for your ship?

 

I find them at JC Penney here at my home in Atlanta. I am sure though if Macys carried them they would be better quality. Penneys are okay for my hubby's once a year wear. You probally need better. Have you tired online? Does the cruiseline have your mail delivered to the ship for you or do you have to get a post office box?

 

I see this has been moved over here. Jane110 help this poor fellow out.

 

Philip what ship are you on now?

[cruisemom42]

I think we should simply leave a suitcase on Maasdam and have them store our things for us. They can open the bag the week before we return and have it dry cleaned/washed and hang it in our closet for us. We cruise there so often, it seems a reasonable request :D , doncha think??? :D :)

How fabulous would that be?? !!!

 

 

 

That's a great idea! I'm surprised the cruiselines haven't looked into it as another way to make money. My parents are also frequent HAL cruisers and I bet they'd love something like this....

[Persephone]

I think the reason that so many of us are passionate about Formal nights is that we don't have the kind of occasions to dress that you do. There may be a formal charity event or two during the year but other than that it is pretty much cruise or don't do formal.

 

I made reservations for a gala New Years eve function, it was cancelled for lack of interest. I believe the lack of interest had to do with the formal wear REQUIREMENT.. they made it quite clear .. no one admitted otherwise. I was, needless to say, very disappointed.

 

I can really understand that. For me, it's sometimes hard to fathom that not everybody has the opportunity to enjoy a formal evening.

 

I am very sorry about the cancelled New Year's Eve Gala. It's a sign of the decline of 21st century society. I see that you live in Portland. I know it's a three-hour drive to Seattle, but considering that New Year's Eve is on a Wednesday this year, perhaps you would be willing to consider the drive to attend the New Year's Eve Gala at Benaroya Hall with a Seattle Symphony Concert, followed by a dessert/sparkling wine reception, dancing to live music and a countdown with the maestro. Tickets start at $50. Just a suggestion....

[luckye]

Perhaps, if you went a little more upscale you would have found these stores

 

Barney's New York

Bloomingdales

Bergdoff Goodman

Saks Fifth Avenue

 

It my guess they would have had some formal wear.

[Lois R]

quote by Persephone

 

"For me, it's sometimes hard to fathom that not everybody has the opportunity to enjoy a formal evening."

 

"My husband is a diplomat currently assigned to Washington, D.C., and before that we were in Seattle and in Vienna, Austria, so I guess our lives are a bit different. I've never lived outside of a big city, and your frame of reference is always what you know and experience as daily life."

 

Hi:) sounds like your life is MUCH MUCH different than mine.

Not a critisizm, just an observation.

 

I have no opportunity to dress formally here at home.

I work in a regular office which has a very casual environment.

Personal life is very casual, although I always try to look

nice.

But as for the formal occasions? There are none and that

is why I LOVE to dress up on my cruises:D ...THAT is MY

opportunity and it feels great to dress to the 9s:)

 

When you mentioned you cannot fathom people not having

the opportunity to wear formal clothing at home? I believe

your life and the "typical family" are at the opposite ends

of the spectrum. Again, not a negative, just a personal

observation;)

 

We do have 1 thing in common......we chat on Cruise Critic,

specifically in the fashion forum!:)

[Sirdar]

I no longer comfortably fit into my tux or white dinner jacket (let alone my old Army dress blues!!). When we first started cruising I dutifully packed thewhole kit and wore them. Even on ships that carried no more than 600 or so passangers, no more than 60% of the men wore tux or white dinner jacket. Over the past decade as ships have become floating hotels, my perception is that fewer and fewr go this route and more men opt for suit and tie on formal nights. Just sailed the too big and crowded Carribean Princess which had about 3,400 passengers aboard and saw no more than 20% of men in tuxes. There seems to be a relationship between the size of the ship, and perforce the # of passengers and the # of men in tuxes. I suspect that formal nights will disappear over the next decade except on the luxury lines.

[CowPrincess]

My DH just wears a dark suit, white shirt, tie for "formal" evenings. He has no need for a tux in our regular lives. I figure the "accessory" on his arm (me :D) dresses him up just that little bit extra.

 

Quite honestly, in the 15 or so years I've been cruising, I don't think there's been a huge change in the percentage of men who do and don't wear a tux on formal evenings.

 

PS -- Lois R, what a lovely post!

[sunshinestyles]

I agree, I love formal nights, even though my husband complains about it, the photos always come out great and I'm glad we went to the trouble of getting all dressed up.

 

I've bought beautiful formal shirts for my husband (and to sell on ebay!) at Ralph Lauren outlets. Sometimes they're $39 or under, even though they retail for hundreds. Polo.com has them too, if you want to pay full price.

[Persephone]

quote by Persephone

 

"For me, it's sometimes hard to fathom that not everybody has the opportunity to enjoy a formal evening."

 

"My husband is a diplomat currently assigned to Washington, D.C., and before that we were in Seattle and in Vienna, Austria, so I guess our lives are a bit different. I've never lived outside of a big city, and your frame of reference is always what you know and experience as daily life."

 

Hi:) sounds like your life is MUCH MUCH different than mine.

Not a critisizm, just an observation.

 

Hello Lois.

 

Thank you for that thoughtful response. I am not taking it as criticism :). I do know that my life is different, but for us (husband and me) special events are so much a part of our daily lives that we sometimes don't recognise that it is special. If you eat smoked salmon and caviar every day and drink French champagne (not that we do that; I don't even like caviar), these things lose their special aura.

I have no opportunity to dress formally here at home.

I work in a regular office which has a very casual environment.

Personal life is very casual, although I always try to look

nice.

But as for the formal occasions? There are none and that

is why I LOVE to dress up on my cruises ...THAT is MY

opportunity and it feels great to dress to the 9s:)

 

I can very much understand that.

 

When you mentioned you cannot fathom people not having

the opportunity to wear formal clothing at home? I believe

your life and the "typical family" are at the opposite ends

of the spectrum. Again, not a negative, just a personal

observation

 

I don't see it as negative. You are probably right, but I also do many completely "ordinary" things, such as dishes, laundry, cooking, ironing, grocery shopping and so on. I am not Paris Hilton who, if the media portrayals are even remotely accurate, does not even know how to dust, plus I've never spent time in prison.:D I shop at Target, drive a small car, buy chips at McDonald's when my cravings overwhelm me, get mad at my husband for not replacing the tooth paste cover, leaving his cup on my dresser, etc., and love spending a lazy autumn afternoon on the sofa with a cup of tea, some biscuits, lots of tissues and "Steel Magnolias."

 

We do have 1 thing in common......we chat on Cruise Critic,

specifically in the fashion forum!:)

 

Yes, we do :). And probably a lot more than just one thing....

[Lois R]

Hi, thanks:).....

 

You know I leave in 5 weeks for Alaska:)

I have been going through my clothing trying to decide

which formal clothes to bring;)

I just got a beautiful new black skirt and have tried on

at least 6 tops....I think I finally picked the one I liked

best:D ...but of course I have time to change my mind LOL

[CowPrincess]

Lois R

 

You know I leave in 5 weeks for Alaska

 

Yes, I'm so excited for you (and just a touch jealous!!!). I cna't wait till we go back. I'm cruising all the online sites looking for a deal too good to pass up for 2009 Alaska.

 

Black skirts (and pants) are just the BEST -- lots of options, always classic. I love 'em....

 

I think I finally picked the one I liked

best ...but of course I have time to change my mind

 

Hey, you've got 5 weeks -- you could easily buy an entire new wardrobe in that time, and not have to pick one of your already-owned tops :D :D :D

[Moostang]

I just went through something similar trying to find a suit for work, I don't know how many stores I hit just looking for something with pants and jacket. I foudn a couple shorts (I guess for teens?) and some jackets. I couldn't imagine trying to post for a dress shirt for a guy.

[cookingchick]

I had always been of the opinion that Manhattan was one of the dressier cities in America. I bought the last formal shirt in Manhattan.

 

If you can no longer find a formal shirt in New York, is the demise of Formal Night far away?

 

You can't swing a dead cat down here in Mobile, AL without hitting a store that sells formalwear. But perhaps that's because we are the birthplace of Mardi Gras. :) Almost every man here owns his own white tie and tails...I know I have at least 10 ballgowns in my closet right now.

[Jane110]

My company flew me through New York this week enroute to a ship. Since I had one night there, I decided to go shopping in Manhattan.

 

I needed some new formal shirts, so decided to visit Macys.

Macys Flagship store on 34th street bills itself as "the largest department store in the world".

I visited the Formal Wear section and asked to see formal shirts.

They told me that they didn't have any.

I asked if they were out of stock. They replied that they don't carry them anymore. The reason? No demand.

I was astounded, and asked if they might suggest another place to purchase one.

They recommended several other stores, including Lord & Taylor, Macy's upscale sister outlet.

I walked up to 39th street and searched the 10 floors of Lord & Taylor for about an hour. I asked several employees, but none could tell me where formal shirts were located.

I finally located a small counter that had ONE formal shirt. It wasn't very nice, but amazingly, it was my size.

The clerk told me that they were discontinuing the sale of formal wear due to lack of demand. She sold me the last formal shirt they had.

I tried several other Manhattan department stores, but found nothing.

 

I had always been of the opinion that Manhattan was one of the dressier cities in America. I bought the last formal shirt in Manhattan.

 

If you can no longer find a formal shirt in New York, is the demise of Formal Night far away?

 

Philip,

 

As the song says, You're looking for love in all the wrong places! :)

 

As you say in your post, Macy's boasts being the largest dept store in the world, not the best. Right in keeping with Americas desire to make quantity more desirable than quality.

 

If you had gone to Sak's, Bergdorf's, Bloomingdales, Brooks Brothers, Paul Stuart, Pink, or Brioni, you would have found plenty.

Also, bear in mind that formal shirts are more popular in the fall and winter than in summer, so my guess is that Lord & Taylor will have more in come September. But Macy's, not likely. If you took a look around the store and sized up the caliber of customer, you'd see that there were few there who'd wear a formal shirt.

 

Yes, many men here in NYC wear formalwear. They just don't shop at Macy's. ;)

[Jane110]

 

But I see formal shirts in Syms (any of you have a Syms near you ? Name brands at lower prices...... They sell Pierre Cardin and Bill Blass formal shirts by the dozens.)

 

These ARE lower priced/lower quality shirts. They're shirts made especially for the discount stores like Syms. These are not sold in Dept. stores.

 

I am a traditionalist and never accepted the 'too big a nuisance to bring it' argument until recently. I'm starting to see that a family of four may not wish to pay for one or even two more suitcases in order to lug along tuxedos, gowns, formal shoes, silk sandals/pumps, purses etc.

 

Perhaps because we've been on so many cruises and have enjoyed dozens and dozens of formal nights, maybe we' re staring to think we night be willing to 'let it go'. I know that is selfish as our younger counterparts are just starting to enjoy the fun of formal nights on ships.

 

I hear ya'.

 

For us personally, we could live without the formal nights. But then, we're the type who are always nicely dressed. But when I see some of the awful things people will show up to the dining room in when there is a supposed dress code, then I shudder to think about what some of the slobs will show up in if there's no dress code or formal night.

 

We've been on Oceania where there are no formal nights, and we love it. But they also attract a crowd who "knows better". Typical attire on the women are silk pant outfits or fashionable dresses, and the men are in crisp button down shirts or new looking polo shirts and tailored pants. No one has to tell them that casual doesn't mean flip flops, cut-offs, ripped jeans, overalls or ill fitting tee's advertising the name of their favorite bar.

 

Considering that the above mentioned items have been spotted on people on the big ships on formal night, can you imagine what you'd see if the cruiseline announced every night was casual? :eek:

[Jane110]

 

I think we should simply leave a suitcase on Maasdam and have them store our things for us. They can open the bag the week before we return and have it dry cleaned/washed and hang it in our closet for us. We cruise there so often, it seems a reasonable request :D , doncha think??? :D :)

How fabulous would that be?? !!!

 

 

I seriously think it's a fabulous idea, especially for men who wear the same tux and shoes (which are heavy) over and over.

 

Cruiselines are always looking for ways to make more profits and this is perfect. I bet people who cruise on the same ship a few times a year would go for it!

[momofmeg]

Philip I received an ad from an online agency that advertizes here at CC for a Norweigen med cruise in Nov. It was a great price that included airfare. I WISH I could go but it is not in our finances this year.

 

The ad said no formal nights and that you could save on packing and would not need as many suitcases.

 

Personally, I would rather NCL went "elegant night" like CCL instead of do away with formal nights. I have several poly dresses that are faux silk and do not wrinkle that can be balled up in the suitcase and take up very little room. My hubby could leave his tux at home and simply take his sportcoat, tie, his charcoal gray pants and a dress shirt which he could have laundered on ship. We could still keep our packing down.

 

I was wondering if NCL has done away with formal night completly on all their crusies? What is their policy? I sincerely hope the other lines do not completely. I have no problem with crusielines doing away with the ball gowns and tuxes but I still enjoy dressing up somewhat.

[WOWJr1]

The ad said no formal nights and that you could save on packing and would not need as many suitcases.

 

Personally, I would rather NCL went "elegant night" like CCL instead of doing away with formal nights.

 

I was wondering if NCL has done away with formal night completly on all their crusies? What is their policy?

 

NCL has not had MANDATORY formal nights for years on any of its ships. They now have one or two "dress up or not" nights per week. According to reports, up to 1/2 of the passengers dress comparable to other lines' formal codes on those nights, the rest stay with smart casual, which is perfectly fine on any NCL ship any night, at any place on the ship.

[momofmeg]

NCL has not had MANDATORY formal nights for years on any of its ships. They now have one or two "dress up or not" nights per week. According to reports, up to 1/2 of the passengers dress comparable to other lines' formal codes on those nights, the rest stay with smart casual, which is perfectly fine on any NCL ship any night, at any place on the ship.

 

The wording of the ad did not indicate that. BTW, it came from cruisecritic so for those of you who are on CC's e-mail list, I am sure you received it too.

 

$2200 per person for a 14 nigth cruise for a balcony plus air (air from NY) I thought was great.

 

Philip I would still like to hear your thoughts since you work for NCL.