THE JOURNAL
Opera houses can be intimidating places for first-timers: the palatial interiors, the customs around when and when not to applaud, the epic storylines that are tricky to follow even if they’ve been translated. No wonder people who weren’t raised on the works of Mr Richard Strauss and Mr Giuseppe Verdi stay away. Mindful of its stuffy image, opera has been working hard to appeal to a broader audience. It has been engaging with social media (the English National Opera’s Instagram page is effectively a meme account), spotlighting performers of colour and, most notably of all, doing away with dress codes.
It is great not to have to worry about whether your jacket has the right type of lapel, but it always helps to have a little guidance. You won’t be turned away for rocking up in your jeans and sneakers – and you won’t be the only one – but there are still plenty of opera-goers who embrace the opportunity to dress up and there is certainly no harm in making an occasion of it. Here are three outfit you could wear to the opera, depending on how informal or formal you are feeling.
01.
Not-quite suiting
You live in sneakers. All power to you. A predilection for comfort is no longer a barrier to high-brow cultural institutions. And nor should it be – operas are not known for their brevity. To make heading out to the opera feel like a step up from the everyday, why not trade your well-trodden kicks for something more luxurious, such as Maison Margiela’s leather and suede Replicas? Likewise, if stiff eveningwear isn’t your bag but jeans don’t feel quite right, Mr P.’s garment-dyed blazer and matching tapered trousers are about as low-fi and slouchy as tailoring gets. Dial things all the way down with a cotton and linen-blend T-shirt by De Bonne Facture. Inject some personality with a hoop earring or two, such as this gold-plated pair by the Norwegian jeweller Tom Wood.
02.
Smart but jazzy
Consider this combination of unstructured Richard James suit, vibrant Valentino silk-satin shirt and G. H. Bass & Co. penny loafers to be a failsafe option not only for the opera, but any occasion where the dress code hasn’t been spelled out in black and white. If the audience is more casual than you expected, whip off the jacket, undo a few shirt buttons and you’re sorted. Feel underdressed? The printed shirt oozes so much self-confidence you will simply be the guy who could have opted for a strait-laced suit like everyone else, but decided to jazz things up. Jewellery is an underrated element of eveningwear and it doesn’t hurt to wear more than just your watch every so often. Try Jil Sander’s silver-tone chain necklace to give a jolly outfit some edge.
03.
Tux with a twist
Black tie was once the only thing you wore to the opera, but nowadays you can get away with less formal attire. However, you will almost always find a crowd of regulars who still dress up to the nines, especially at the festivals and in continental Europe. If your fellow attendees have booked the best seats in the house and are going full throttle but you’re not the sort to sport a tux on the regular, the key to looking at home is to break the rules and make it your own. Keep the foundations classic – TOM FORD’s mohair-blend trousers and Brioni’s crisp cotton-poplin shirts are timeless – but go for Derby shoes rather than Oxfords. Keep everyone on their toes with an unexpected choice of jacket. Etro’s new-age take in a metallic print adds depth and texture and knocks the whole look back a smidge. Finally, round out your opera outfit with a dusting of punkish jewellery. However trussed up you might feel, you will always look badass with a stack of silver Bleue Burnham rings across your knuckles.