Formal nights w/o jacket and tie?

[Boytjie]

Methinks most women do not realize how truly uncomfortable formal wear for men is. One has to be stiff and starched, tied up tight at the neck and with extra layers of corseting around the middle (vest or cummerbund).

While women can wear something sheer, gauzy, loose and flowing and be the height of fashion ! I have suffered the ridiculousness of this many times in the sweltering Uber-Formal atmosphere of the Bayreuth Festival.

 

Well, you looked rather spiffy in your penquin suit on the Eurodam. :)

[jmps]

An interesting guide on the subject of men's formal clothing and etiquette can be found HERE. The history section is particularly interesting.

 

The history is really interesting. It is pretty clear that the people doing the dressing up in the past didn't actually do any work. Their wealth was based on property income. Watching the PBS series about living in Victorian England and the class system was educational in how this all worked. The upper class had a collection of servants to prepare and maintain all the clothes and even dress them. The people selected to live as all but the highest class were all pretty unhappy. The upper class people hated to see the show end. :-)

[Opinions]

:

Sorry, gentlemen....comfort issues won't get you out of formal wear. And few men have experience with the high heels women are expected to wear with their formal attire! :eek:

 

No where in the HAL dress code does it suggest that ladies are expected to wear high heels with their formal attire...It is their own choice..However it does say men should wear a tie.