Dress for the Met (Since They Don't Have a Dress Code)

Inspired by positive responses to an earlier post on this topic in which I lamented the lack of a dress code at the Met, I thought I would offer my tips on how to dress for a visit to the Metropolitan Opera. Most of these tips are addressed to men.

You don’t have to wear white tie, or black tie, or any tie at all, so long as you are neat and well dressed. I do think that if you are not going to do the business-suit look, you should wear at the very minimum a well tended sports jacket or blazer, pressed trousers, and a clean dress shirt. Having said all of that, I would definitely go for the tie. These days, with the tie-less look an office cliché, the right tie shows flair, not conformity.

If there is one thing to remember, it’s this: the Met is not a rodeo. So that means leather, jeans, sneakers, work boots, and so on, are out. And I mean it about the leather. Leather jackets are great if you want to look like an Eastern-European gangster. Leather pants, let’s face it, just don’t look good on anybody. So unless you are a recognizable rock star, leather should be left for your next “80s Night”-themed benefit.

Another thing to bear in mind: the 70s are dead, over, finished, done. So attend to your grooming. The bushy look just isn’t doing it any more. (This applies to the world outside the Met, too. Or it should.)

Try to keep in mind that it should be a special occasion. It is an excuse to get gussied up. So much of the world today has made accomodations to casual dress. Can’t there be some places, some occasions, for which some kind of formality is required?

The Met: Can They Institute a Dress Code?

I was at the Met last night (Tuesday, December 18) to see the powerful, grimly effective production of War and Peace. I can't add to what the reviews have recorded. But I do want to channel my inner curmudgeon and say something about the dress of some people in the house. At my earlier two visits to the Met this season, I saw a lot of well dressed people--capped off last week not only by Netrebko, but by a beautiful woman with a seat in the orchestra level who was wearing a stunning black strapless gown. She looked absolutely radiant.

Now I do not expect that people wear black- or white tie (though they might want to think about it), but I do think it is important to dress for the opera, at least for the Met. An evening at the Met is a festive occasion, a special event, and should be celebrated as such.

Last night I saw several people in jeans and sneakers. A young woman in what I am sure was a very expensive hoodie. And one fellow who was wearing some kind of Klingon-style vest.

Can the Met institute a dress code? Not let people in who are wearing jeans or sneakers? Can't we have one place where the relentless casualness of dress is prohibited?