What do teens where on formal night?

[MikeDMess]

We are going on the Zuiderdam and have a 13 year old boy. Can he get away with a dress shirt and slacks on formal night?

[RuthC]

"Get away with"? I wouldn't want to give a 13-year old boy the message that it's all right to try and "get away with" anything. You might live to regret it!

 

As far as his dress, he should at least have a sport coat and tie with those slacks and shirt. It isn't too early for him to start learning about the dress-up world of proper clothing and manners.

Let him have an opportunity to rise to the occasion.

[Time2sail]

What Ruth said:)

 

Hope you and your family have a great cruise.

[dippy]

Ditto.

[midgecruiser]

Yes, he could probably get away with a tie and slacks but it would be more appropriate to fit him with a sport coat as well. As he is still growing and I can understand not wanting to invest in something pricey I'm sure you can find something that is fashionable for him but appropriate for the dining room and will not brake the bank. Try Gap, J Crew, Men's Wearhouse, Macy's or even a second hand store. Girls are easier to dress and of course like to dress up but my 14 year old step child and her friend stated that the best part of the cruise was dressing up for dinner in the dining room every night. We were surprised. Maybe you will be too. Have a great cruise and above all have fun. Wendy

[HAL92]

What Ruth said is correct!

Enjoy your cruise.

[trubey]

Why not buy or rent him a tux? He'd roll his eyes some, but I bet he'd secretly love it.

 

I think they're VERY inexpensive for younger people.

 

lane

[blackbird71]

We are going on the Zuiderdam and have a 13 year old boy. Can he get away with a dress shirt and slacks on formal night?

 

You can get him a nice blazer for $29.99 here http://www.haband.com/jump.jsp?itemID=16&itemType=CATEGORY&iMainCat=5&iSubCat=16

 

And for colors IMHO the light blue would fit a 13 yo

 

[blackbird71]

Why not buy or rent him a tux? He'd roll his eyes some, but I bet he'd secretly love it.

 

I think they're VERY inexpensive for younger people.

 

lane

 

And they come in colors that he may like more than Black :)

[gizmo]

I think the shirt and tie would be just find. A 13 year old is still growing and the jacket may never be used again. I have seen plenty of teens on board that wore a shirt and tie on formal nights.

[bonibelle]

We sail this Saturday on the Z and I also had been concerned about the dress code and how my 12 and 14 year old boys should be dressed. I was lucky to have the formal wear, but I was more concerned about the evenings that weren't formal but still required tasteful dress( not jeans). After talking to several cruisers on here, we purchased lots of new things and after our family fashion show, the kids said they would probably wear the nice slacks and polo tops to school this fall! That was a shock from my jeans-:rolleyes: only kids! Have a great time, we'll be dodging Emily!

[heartofamerica]

Why not buy or rent him a tux? He'd roll his eyes some, but I bet he'd secretly love it.

 

I think they're VERY inexpensive for younger people.

 

lane

I'll second that - rent a tux. On my Zuiderdam cruise, I rented a tux - about $90 including shoes. He might complain at first, but when he sees heads turning his way, he'll feel pretty good before the main course is served.

[gwilli]

Just think of the nice family pictures you can have with everyone dressed up! Try to rent a jacket, suit, or tux for the young man!

 

Happy sailing ..........

[finest14]

We're sailing this Saturday on the Zuiderdam, and my 14-year-old asked if he could wear a tux. I bought one on Ebay for about $40. It looks just fine, and fits well too. Sure he'll only wear it twice, but well worth the $40.

 

We bought our three -year-old one as well on Ebay for $20, too cute...

[jhannah]

Young men look so dashing in their finery. And the ladies will give them lots of extra attention. Don't forget online auction sites for such clothing. When outgrown, you can re-sell them and your net expenditure will be very little.

[KFH]

Young men look so dashing in their finery. And the ladies will give them lots of extra attention.

 

Just what all teenage boys want, old ladies telling them that they look nice!

[heartofamerica]

Just what all teenage boys want, old ladies telling them that they look nice!

Maybe not....On my Zuiderdam cruise, I took note of the teen boys in tuxes (there were a few). I also took note of the lovely YOUNG ladies who took a second look at the well dressed "man". I think any teenage girl who is halfway respectable would think a teenage boy in a tux looks way better than a teenage boy in shorts where the crotch dang near drags the ground.

[babyher]

Maybe not....On my Zuiderdam cruise, I took note of the teen boys in tuxes (there were a few). I also took note of the lovely YOUNG ladies who took a second look at the well dressed "man". I think any teenage girl who is halfway respectable would think a teenage boy in a tux looks way better than a teenage boy in shorts where the crotch dang near drags the ground.

 

 

I happen to agree with you:

 

However I see my 16 year old nephew and his buddies, all nice kids, but they dress like they just got out of bed, hair a mess, pants around their butts, you name it. They all have girlfriends and these girls are beautiful. Not a hair out of place, make up and nails just so. Even hanging around in jeans and a top. They are just so. And these girls are just crazy about these guys. I see this a lot especially at the malls.

 

I don't know in my day, maybe we didn't wear a suit and tie to go out with a girl, but we shaved, and showered, and combed our hair and at least wore clean unwrinkled clothes .

[jhannah]

I don't know in my day, maybe we didn't wear a suit and tie to go out with a girl, but we shaved, and showered, and combed our hair and at least wore clean unwrinkled clothes .

I think that went away shortly after men in loin cloths stopped dragging their ladies around by the hair! :D

[babyher]

I still have my loin cloth, ya never know when they will come back in style *LOL*

[doone]

I agree with the ones who said to rent a tux for your teen boy. I did this a few years back for my nephews from ages 5 upto 17. At first I got alot of flack from them, but told them they had no choice, either they wear the tux or stay home. Well, of course, they didn't stay home, but had long faces on until they put the tux on. If you could have seen their faces, they all looked so handsome and they knew it. They asked me if they could wear their tux all week long to dinner.

 

We are planning another family cruise for next Feb. on the Volendam, and the first thing out of the boys mouths was, are we going to get tux's again Auntie? Of course they will and that's all they talk about is the tux and dinner.

 

They are never too young to learn to dress for dinner. I also find that their self-esteem went up a notch or two or three with the tux's.

[babyher]

My 16 year old nephew just walked by and I asked him how he would feel about wearing a suit or a tux. I even showed him the Jacket ad that Blackbird posted.

 

I won't risk having this thread shut down by posting what he said *LOL*

 

The kid is just not formal night material *LOL*

 

Thats okay I cruise to get away from him not to dress him :) :) :) :)

[cactuslady]

I wonder what this 16 year old will decide to wear next year, as he steps out of the stretch limo (don't they all rent them these days) into the senior prom with his decked-out girlfriend?

[babyher]

I wonder what this 16 year old will decide to wear next year, as he steps out of the stretch limo (don't they all rent them these days) into the senior prom with his decked-out girlfriend?

 

 

I shudder to think what he will wear *LOL*

 

Actually that would be different because all his buddies will be doing it, so that will be "cool" :)

 

ut God forbid he should dress that way just to be with his family God Forbid *LOL*

[Landlubber54]

Because we are going on a land tour before our cruise, we considered skipping the formal nights. It was our 13 year-old DD who said she was looking forward to the formal nights, and insisted that we take appropriate clothing!:cool: