Formal night dress for kids?

[rjan67]

Hi all! Just wondering what those of you with young boys (mine are 7 &9) dressed your boys in for formal nights. Is a nice dress shirt and khakis sufficient? What about shoes? Would leather sandals work or do they need to have dress shoes? Or a brand new pair of sneakers? I'm not worried about my daughter as she has a variety of dresses to choose from.

Thanks!

[dkb363]

When my son was that age, I would put him in khaki's, a button down shirt, and a tie. I went to Kohl's and bought two inexpensive shirts and ties for this. I probably could have let him wear just button down shirts without ties, but I wanted him to have the experience of dressing for dinner. He would change into shorts right after dinner so nothing really got dirty - he never spilled on himself. I also got him an inexpensive pair of hard shoes to wear - you would have thought he would die. But clean sneakers won't hurt. At this age it's hard to balance the cost of wearing things only a few times before they outgrow them. You'll see some kids dressed in suits; they look so cute, but I could never justify the expense for only a few times.

[Sea Born]

At your boys age, a pair of khakis w/nice shirt will be fine. As far as shoes, I would advise a nice pair of tennis shoes or dress shoes, no sandals. Hope this helps. Have a great time!

[Cruisin'Trooper]

Compared to the others in the dinning room, your boys will be fine. Remember, it is Carnival and they don't enforce the rules.

 

On our last cruise, our table mates were in jean shorts, tank tops, and flip flops on Cruise Elegant night in the MDR and nobody said a word to them.

[momof4boys]

We went all out our first cruise with the 4 guys. We rented tuxes for everyone and took the most awesome pictures. The 2 little (and 2 teen) guys went along with it because we had the attitude that it was special event times.

 

The other cruises and our upcoming cruise, we have had everyone in suits. It is a great opportunity to teach young men how to dress and act at an important formal event. (We can't splurge on tuxes as we are paying for 4 rooms--one for us, one for married son and his wife, one for 3 other boys, and one for finance of one son and serious girlfriend of the other son.)

 

We ate on the lido deck casually for breakfast and lunch--so everyone was satisfied

 

Have fun!

[MrPete]

Compared to the others in the dinning room' date=' your boys will be fine. Remember, it is Carnival and they don't enforce the rules.

 

On our last cruise, our table mates were in jean shorts, tank tops, and flip flops on Cruise Elegant night in the MDR and nobody said a word to them.[/quote']

 

LOL. What a great lesson for kids. :rolleyes:

 

To the OP....

 

Just remember the more stylish the boys are dressed, the more attention they will get, from all. It's a GREAT ego booster.

[MamaParrotHead]

I scored a suit (jacket and pants) at the kids' resale shop for under $20. Bought nice dress shoes at Kohls for under $20. And hit Target for 2 dress shirts (under $10 a piece). Found some boys' ties on eBay for cheap and he was set (and he did get a lot of compliments on our way to and from dinner :)).

 

Although I do think khakis, dress shirts and dress shoes with ties would be fine.

 

For me, for formal nights for ALL of us, eBay is a great resource.

[LemurCat]

Don't forget the dress socks. Nothing funnier than seeing a kid in a suit with a pair of ankle socks ...