Attending an opera for the first time...

[Ddz]

My boyfriend is taking me to see La Boheme on Saturday. I'm really excited as it'll be my first opera experience. Can you gals (and guys, what did your dates wear?) recommend what to wear? Traditionally, do people still wear long gowns and get their hair all did and whatnot? I love to dress up, but I don't want to be the only tool dressed to the nines. Advice much appreciated.

[Salodin]

This was maybe 4 years ago, but yea dress to impress. Really depends where it is tbh, but if its a legit opera where people take it seriously then expect people to be showing up in their best.

[Ddz]

It's at McCaw Hall in Seattle (the opera hall), so it's legit afaik.

[Souj]

You must buy your boyfriend a top hat and monocle as those are requirements for any opera.

[BaneTheBrawler]

I went to The Nutcracker (Technically a ballet, but I can't imagine the protocol is any different) with my parents a year or two ago, and my mom wore a nice dress, the sort she would wear to a wedding or something. My dad and I wore our suits. I dropped my tie-chain in the toilet, and had to fish it out. Fortunately, it landed toward the front, in the shallow area with minimal poop.

anyway, you can't really over-dress for something like that, unless you deliberately try. Even a tux, I think, would not be over-dressed, and that's as dressed up as guys ever get. For ladies, like I said, I think you'd have to try. Big poofy dresses would be over-doing it, imo, but an elegant gown would be perfect. Elegance is, I think, the point of the entire exercise.

Edit: Also, if you enjoy dressing up, I think you'll have a lot of fun. I did. I always enjoy wearing my suit. It was also fun to watch these kids work hard to pull off their parts (The ballerina playing the main girl took off her shoe mid-dance to hit the Rat King over the head while he was fighting the Nutcracker, which I thought was a nice touch), and see which parts of the score I could recognize from Fantasia. I've seen a few plays, which had about the same dress expectations as a movie theater (At least where we were sitting- as a class of 9th graders) and those were fun, too, but I think they would have been more fun as an adult in formal-wear.

[Salodin]

Your life is one giant poop joke lmao.

[tech.kyle]

People dress up, yes, but it's not exactly a grandiose affair. I usually went in a button up and vaguely nice jeans. La Boheme is decently good, if I recall.

[Skjie]

People dress up, yes, but it's not exactly a grandiose affair. I usually went in a button up and vaguely nice jeans. La Boheme is decently good, if I recall.

Basically this. Wear a nice dress that isn't too flashy and some decent jewelery.

[Kipling]

I wore my suit when we went, girlfriend was in this gorgeous black dress that was pretty fancy. We were making it a special night out in general though, so we were going to dress up anyway. We fit in though for the majority of the crowd.

[Ddz]

Thank you all for your recommendations based on experience. We're doing a nice dinner and the opera, so making it a fancy night out. Scheduled to get my hair and nails done, and it'll give me an excuse to buy new shoes too, lol.

[detlef]

Oh man I love La Boheme. Regardless of how you dress I hope you have a great time.

[Aksannyi]

(The ballerina playing the main girl took off her shoe mid-dance to hit the Rat King over the head while he was fighting the Nutcracker, which I thought was a nice touch)

Clara hitting the rat king with her shoe to save the Nutcracker is part of the original plot of The Nutcracker, so this isn't all that unusual. Not sure if you knew that already, but in case not, well, consider yourself educated. I used to be a dancer.

I have no tips for the opera because I've never been, but enjoy.

[BaneTheBrawler]

Your life is one giant poop joke lmao.

It really is.

Also, I didn't know that was part of the original. I thought it was something the girl and the organizer came up with. Anyway, she did a good job of it. The whole thing was well done, imo.

[Manako]

I've been to the orchestra and I've found that there are all different types, you can certainly go as fancy as you like, but fear not the people who are dressed to the nines.

Definitely a good excuse to pamper yourself and certainly a good excuse to buy new shoes! Hope you have fun!

[Byrthnoth]

I've been to the upper deck of an Opera wearing pretty casual clothes (black collared shirt, very dark blue jeans, dark brown dress shoes, no coat) and I didn't feel out of place at all, but it a matinee. When I've had much better seats and worn pretty much all I had (mid-tier suit, no cufflinks or shit), I still was a little underdressed.

Still, remember that the experience of going to the Opera is meant to be entertainment, not a fashion competition with strangers. Have fun with it and don't waste time feeling out of place or blow the rent on accessories. Specifically, don't eviscerate your date if you dress to the 9s and he shows up in khakis/a blazer. Has fun, hokay?

[Ddz]

It's definitely not a fashion competition with strangers at all, but I see what you are getting at. I think part of enjoying entertainment to its fullest is participating with the other attendees as well. Besides, there's something to be said about the way you feel when you're all gussied up, yes?

[Kaisha]

If it's anything like the 4hr opera I went to once, don't drink much before going. Intermission wait can be brutal.

[Callisto]

Wear a nice dress. I love the opera because there's lots of pretty ladies in nice dresses.

[BorkBorkBork]

Dress nice. Aside from you'll feel out of place if you don't, it's fun to go all out sometimes. Also some places have a screen at the top with subtitles so you can keep up with the story. I've taken my wife to see Carmen and Don Pasquale and we had a blast both times.

[Ohemgee]

Ask him to wear a mask like this:

http://cheap-london-theatre-tickets....he_Opera_3.jpg