Why It’s Still Cool to Dress Up for the Theater
You may have heard that it is no longer the rule to dress up for a theater performance. This is something some people lament as a lowering of standards, but others welcome as a way of making theater more accessible to people. However, if you are someone who views the night’s entertainment as something you want to dress up for, there are plenty of people who still feel the same.
Why Don’t People Dress Up for The Theater as Standard These Days?
A lot of people question why the theater has become more casual in recent times, and why you see people in jeans and other casual clothing attending extremely well made performances that may feel like they deserve to be treated as more of an occasion. One reason is that it is far easier to pick up bargain theater tickets on a whim thanks to ticket sales sites like ticketsales.com, and if you are out enjoying your day in a new city like London or New York you may want to simply head to your show and enjoy it in your day clothes.
This flexibility is pretty great and means you have a lot more options for how you want to move from your daytime exploring to the evening, without feeling bad for not going back to your hotel and getting dressed up. But it also means that theater audiences are a bit more casual than one often imagines.
It Is Still Cool to Dress Up
However, if you have had your tickets for a while and planned your theater experience in advance, it is still cool to dress up if you want to. In the city, people are often between one engagement and another and so nobody is considered overdressed at a theater show whatever they are wearing. If you want to feel special and make it a highlight of your trip, then there is no reason not to dress for the theater as you would for an important party or other more formal occasion. If you want to go straight there in the clothes you were wearing to sightsee, that is also fine.
No Real Theater Dress Code
A few decades ago the theater was certainly something people wore their best clothes for and made into a special event. However, now we are a lot more casual about going to shows, partly because it means life is easier and more people actually get to see these great performances. Now that there is no dress code, you can dress up for the meal and drinks afterwards or head straight there from a busy day. However, for those who lament the loss of the more glamorous times, there is no reason at all not to treat the theater as a formal event and wear your favorite evening wear!
When you last went to the theater, did you notice differences in how people dress? Let us know what you think about theater attire in the comments.
