My BF and Formal Nights...

[twinkletoes204]

My bf and I are booked for a 7-night in May '06 on the Navigator. While this is quite a bit of time from now...I want to get an idea on what to drop hints for him to pick up when he is buying clothes for the formal nights. Is it appropriate for men to wear a crisp solid colored tailored shirt and tie to dinner as opposed to a suit? We are both in our early 20s and this is not an unusal dress code for our age. was just wondering if the same goes for cruise ships.

 

Any imput would really help. Thanks. :)

[mspink98]

I’d say steer him towards a suit. He’s obviously done growing by now, and will use a suit plenty of times in his adult life. Shirt and tie will be OK, but a suit would be far better.

My DH was about 21 when he bought his first one. He chose something in a high-quality, timeless style with a versatile mid-weight fabric, and hasn’t been sorry yet. He’s now 28 and wears it more times than he even thought he would.

[trish1c]

Is it appropriate for men to wear a crisp solid colored tailored shirt and tie to dinner as opposed to a suit? :)

 

Will he be able to "get away with it"? Maybe.

 

Is it formal? No & it never will be.

 

Grown men own suits & jackets. They wear them when the occasion warrants.

 

If you are truly interested in helping develop an investment wardrobe, get him to buy 1). a dark (blue or black) suit; 2) a blue blazer and 3). 2-3 crisp white dress shirts. Those are the basics. Everything else is a fashion statement.

 

Enjoy your shopping & your cruise.

[WeBeCruisin']

Is it appropriate for men to wear a crisp solid colored tailored shirt and tie to dinner as opposed to a suit? :)

 

No, it's not appropiate. Probably 98 per cent of the men will be wearing a tuxedo, a dark suit, or (at the least) a blazer or sports coat with a tie. A shirt and tie without a jacket will look very much out of place on formal nights. Every adult male needs to own a suit, even if it's just to wear to weddings and funerals.

 

Allen

[Jane110]

Will he be able to "get away with it"? Maybe.

 

Is it formal? No & it never will be.

 

Grown men own suits & jackets. They wear them when the occasion warrants.

 

If you are truly interested in helping develop an investment wardrobe, get him to buy 1). a dark (blue or black) suit; 2) a blue blazer and 3). 2-3 crisp white dress shirts. Those are the basics. Everything else is a fashion statement.

 

Enjoy your shopping & your cruise.

 

Trish,

 

Totally agree! Time for BF to join the adult world.

 

Jane

[caviargal]

I agree with the above posters. While you will not be turned away, you will not be appropriately attired. Shirt and tie do not comprise "formal" in any sense of the word.

[sk8teacher]

If he doesn't want to buy something, have him rent a tux for the trip. Very easy to do and runs about $95 with shoes. Don't have to worry about packing a suit/jacket, it will be hanging in your cabin when you arrive, and you leave it there when you go.

 

Cheers,

[lszu]

I'd tell him to get a suit. Every man should own at least one. It will end up coming in handy for "real life"too, not just cruising.

 

If he has one suit, he can change the look for formal nights with different shirts and ties.

 

Like sk8teacher said, if he doesn't want to buy a suit, have him rent a tux on the ship.

[LARGIN]

Tell him that it is a known fact that a man wearing a tux during dinner has way more fun after dinner.. :D :D

[twinkletoes204]

 

Time for BF to join the adult world.

 

 

While I take this with a bit of offense :( ...I appreciate the advice of those who approached this question with a more gentle honesty. Because this is my first cruise, I had no idea what the dress code was and was looking for some guidance on the subject. I will, no doubt, take this all into account.

 

I am, though, looking forward to the 2 formal nights and getting good use out of a gorgeous prom dress that I still fit into! :) 1 night just wasn't enough for me!

[Jane110]

TwinkleToes,

 

My comment was not meant to offend nor did I think I wasn't being gentle enough with my honesty. I assure you, it was not my intention to sound mean.

 

In your post, you said that you and BF were in your early 20's and wearing a shirt & tie with no jacket is appropriate for your age group. I'm sure it is and don't doubt your words.

 

But now you're both going to be in an environment that is more adult than proms, college mixers and parties where most people are under 25. Everyone gets to a point in life where they have to start adapting a more grown-up life and going through certain rites of passage. For a man, owning a suit and wearing it to an adult festive occasion, is one of them.

 

Have a wonderful cruise!

 

Jane

[twinkletoes204]

Jane...

 

I will admit that falling victim to the unfortunate "misinterpretation of the tone of online text" is far too common for so many people. :rolleyes: I appreciate the time you took in posting your most recent response. I totally understand and will no doubt take into consideration that this is a different league of style than what he and I have been use to and the simple shirt and tie will be left for the more less formal dinners. :)

 

 

Tell him that it is a known fact that a man wearing a tux during dinner has way more fun after dinner..

 

...and I'll be sure to drop this line inserting "suit" instead of "tux"! :D

[Jane110]

Jane...

 

I will admit that falling victim to the unfortunate "misinterpretation of the tone of online text" is far too common for so many people. :rolleyes: I appreciate the time you took in posting your most recent response. I totally understand and will no doubt take into consideration that this is a different league of style than what he and I have been use to and the simple shirt and tie will be left for the more less formal dinners. :)

 

 

Yes, you're right. Words on a page can be said in a variety of tones and when I said the line in my head before I posted, I was smiling and felt it to encourage your BF towards a positive next step in adult life. But I guess if the same words came from a drill sargent, they could sound rough, but trust me, I'm a marshmallow! :)

 

Jane

[trish1c]

Twinkletoes --

 

Upon re-reading my post I could see how it may have been misinterpreted as not being gentle. I didn't mean to be harsh but rather to educate.

 

I dated a guy who lived & worked in sweats & t-shirts when I met him. He owned 1 suit to wear to weddings & funerals. When our relationship ended he owned more than 2 dozen suits, several sports coats, 2 tuxedos, a white dinner jacket & countless ties. I was hardpressed to get hoim out of the house in jeans after a while. All he really need was someone to show him what was expected. I bought him subscriptions to GQ & Men's Health. On some levels I created a monster :eek: :D but even his mother was thrilled with his wardrobe upgrade.

I hope you & your man have a fabulous cruise. And as Largin explained sometimes it's all in the marketing. I once got the same guy referenced above to an art museum because I explained that there would be lots of paintings of well endowed naked women.

[Cruise Arizona]

I can totally relate to what you are going through at your age.

 

DH and I went on a cruise for our Honeymoon, I was 26 and he was 29, little bit older, but he still had the wardrobe problems. I had plenty of fancy clothes to wear from my college formal days, but DH was an engineer with a tech firm, that was pretty casual. Dressed up for him in his twenties was a starched shirt and a tie. I remember thining the dress code for the simi formal nights on HAL were odd in that it said Jacket required but no tie. I was like "who wears a jacket without a tie, wouldn't the guys look better with a tie and no jacket than some leasuire suit." But I have learned that it is just a more polished finishe look for a man to come to dinner in a jacket.

 

So, DH needed a suit for rehersal dinner and for the cruise. We found a wondrful men's outlet store in Dallas and were able to purchase two suits and a Tux with ties, shirts and all the trimmings for less than $400 total. It was so nice for him to have the tux and the suits.

 

In the years since he has gained and lost 50 lbs. So we got rid of the small suits, bought new suits, then got rid of the big suits and bought smaller suits again.

 

Shop around and see if you could find him a basic black suit. You could have him dress it up or down, you can even have him wear the jacket as a blazer with slacks. He will appreciate having the suit when the occasion demands a suit - like a nice wedding or a funeral.

 

DH and I had just gone shopping for his big suit about three years ago, and then two weeks later his boss died suddenly of a heart attack. He was very relieved that he had an appropriate suite to wear to the services.

 

As for the misinterpretation of comments on the board, I know it happens all the the time. People are sometimes what seems a little too honest about their opinions when sheilded by the anominity (spelling) of the boards, but I have learned to really appreciate the honesty.

 

Have a great time on your cruise.

[Jane110]

 

I dated a guy who lived & worked in sweats & t-shirts when I met him. He owned 1 suit to wear to weddings & funerals.

When our relationship ended he owned more than 2 dozen suits, several sports coats, 2 tuxedos, a white dinner jacket & countless ties.

 

Trish,

 

Wow! Considering you only dated him 2 weeks, you're amazing!!!

 

Jane

[Andee]

I think its a good idea for any adult male to own at least one dark suit for weddings and funerals. We bought my son his first one in college, and he got a lot of wear out of it.

[Susa]

My DH left his suits and tux in the hotel room our wedding night and discovered he had NONE for the cruise! They ended up lending him one of the staff's cobalt blue blazers...yes, the ones with the brass buttons!!:p

Oh but he sure didn't forget his Stetson:cool:

[Jane110]

My DH left his suits and tux in the hotel room our wedding night and discovered he had NONE for the cruise! They ended up lending him one of the staff's cobalt blue blazers...yes, the ones with the brass buttons!!:p

Oh but he sure didn't forget his Stetson:cool:

 

 

 

Wedding: 15,000 dollars

 

Suits and Tux left in hotel room: 2000. dollars

 

New husband wearing cobalt blue ship's uniform blazer with stetson.

 

Priceless!

[Cruise Arizona]

You know Susa,

 

It would be pretting boring on the cruise and pretty boring on the boards if we didn't have guys like your DH, who keep us all entertained with thier wardrobe. :D

[twinkletoes204]

Thanks everyone! This board is great! :)

 

You can count on two of us spending a Sat. afternoon at Burlington Coat Factory or something of the such looking for a brank-spankin' new suit now. I'm thinking dark grey, that way he would have to try pretty hard to clash with me.

 

10 months (exactally :D ) to shop around...but who's counting!!

[Sassy Chassis]

Thanks everyone! This board is great! :)

 

You can count on two of us spending a Sat. afternoon at Burlington Coat Factory or something of the such looking for a brank-spankin' new suit now. I'm thinking dark grey, that way he would have to try pretty hard to clash with me.

 

10 months (exactally :D ) to shop around...but who's counting!!

 

We found a couple of really nice suits for my hubby at Burlington Coat Factory. We took them to a good tailor and now they fit perfectly.