What to wear to London theater?

[margeecruiser]

Hi. I posted this on my roll call, but I'll ask here too.

 

We are going to London for several days before our British Isles cruise in August. We are going to see Phantom of the Opera n the West End. I'm planning to wear a tailored royal blue knee lengths dress and heels; hubby will wear dress slacks, sport coat and sweater (no tie). Is this OK? I want to be appropriately dressed.

 

Margee

[lozzer58]

As a Brit I would say that is fine. Enjoy

[lovemylab]

When I visited London I saw a variety of different styles being worn to the theatre. Much like Broadway shows in NYC, some people will dress up and others will be dressed more casually. Your outfit sounds very nice and you'll be fine :)

[S1drfl]

Experience has shown, especially during the summer tourist season, you will be very well dressed indeed.

 

DH may want to rethink the sweater. Even in August, London can prove warmish. And while possibly well air-conditioned to begin with, many theaters will not continue run the system during the show, resulting in increasing temperatures as the evening wears on.

 

Enjoy the show.

[margeecruiser]

Thanks, Everyone. I'm feeling better. Hubby's sweater is very fine silk knit, not warm at all, crew neck, not turtle neck (kwim?)

 

Margee

[KitKatK]

DH may want to rethink the sweater. Even in August, London can prove warmish. And while possibly well air-conditioned to begin with, many theaters will not continue run the system during the show, resulting in increasing temperatures as the evening wears on.

 

Enjoy the show.

 

This is good advice. My mom and I saw Wicked on the West End last August and were surprised how increasingly warm the theater got during the show.

 

KK

[jean s]

We love going to the theater in London. There is nothing like it. In the summer it can get a little warm. We have seen every type of outfit so don't worry about you are wearing; you will be just fine.

[Sweetpea711423]

These days I think you rarely see anyone dressing up to go to the theater in London (just like on Broadway these days). To me that's too bad, but so be it. So pretty much anything you want to wear will be fine.

 

I agree re: being prepared for hot weather. I don't know what theater you are going to, but many of the theaters in London are not air conditioned at all. That is also true of many of the restaurants. My husband and I will be in London in June and have booked tickets for 3 shows, but I made sure that each of the theaters we are going to is actually air conditioned. One summer when we were there we left a show early because we were so uncomfortable. And I think that theater was supposed to be "air cooled" (which is something some theaters and restaurants have instead of air conditioning, but doesn't really work well at all).

[margeecruiser]

Thanks for all the answers. We will be going to the theater on August 21st. Does the summer weather cool down in late August or is it much later in the fall?

 

Thanks

 

Margee

[the english lady]

Thanks for all the answers. We will be going to the theater on August 21st. Does the summer weather cool down in late August or is it much later in the fall?

 

Thanks

 

Margee

Good grief as a Brit myself our weather can be anything at any time. Hopefully

it will be warm /hot in August, but you cannot bank on it. If we are really really lucky the weather stays ok into September and beyond, but then again it can decide to rain, and rain and rain.

Certainly what you are wearing sound towards the smart end. Layer as much as possible so if the get too warm, you can start peeling off.

Enjoy your cruise .We have done one of these and even though its our home country, we were going to places we wouldn't do normally.

[margeecruiser]

Hi. The dress I'm wearing is a jersey knit, very light weight and no wrinkles! Hubby's sport coat is a silk/wool blend that we have traveled with before. No wrinkles, light weight and breathable. We will have umbrellas and shoes that can get wet. I'm not concerned with the temps, but very high humidity is the pits!

 

I would be happier being thought of as "why is she so dressed up? Rather than why is she so casually dressed". I'm just that way. My friends and family know me -- I'm just not a jeans, sweats, sneakers gal.

 

After you get to know me, whatever I wear doesn't matter!!

 

Margee

[cruise kitty]

Just back from London, for the OP, your dress plans for you & DH at the theatre sound perfect. I saw a wide variety, from tailored suits & cocktail dresses to sports coats & even woman in dark denim & boots.

 

Have fun, London is a terrific city! :)

Edited May 21, 2014 by cruise kitty

[the english lady]

Hi. The dress I'm wearing is a jersey knit, very light weight and no wrinkles! Hubby's sport coat is a silk/wool blend that we have traveled with before. No wrinkles, light weight and breathable. We will have umbrellas and shoes that can get wet. I'm not concerned with the temps, but very high humidity is the pits!

 

I would be happier being thought of as "why is she so dressed up? Rather than why is she so casually dressed". I'm just that way. My friends and family know me -- I'm just not a jeans, sweats, sneakers gal.

 

After you get to know me, whatever I wear doesn't matter!!

 

Margee

 

I think that the problem with our heat. If it does get really hot-25 and above, the humidity tends to get bad as well. I think that is why I don't like hot weather these days, because of the humidity.

Having visited places with a dry climate, you can take higher temps ,because it doesn't

Feel so hot..if you get my drift.

[margeecruiser]

Thanks, Englishlady

 

I'm sure whatever the weather, rain or shine, I'll have a great time.

 

Margee

[Mouikey]

As others have said, people don't often dress for the theatre these days, so you find people wearing jeans through to work suits and some who do still dress up. It also depends on the show, I imagine Phantom would be more dressy rather than Charlie or Wicked that May have children watching (so maybe more informal).

 

What you are planning sounds perfect.

[Lyndaharve]

As a Londoner who goes to theatre and ballet this will be fine

 

 

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[poshtotty]

Hi. The dress I'm wearing is a jersey knit, very light weight and no wrinkles! Hubby's sport coat is a silk/wool blend that we have traveled with before. No wrinkles, light weight and breathable. We will have umbrellas and shoes that can get wet. I'm not concerned with the temps, but very high humidity is the pits!

 

I would be happier being thought of as "why is she so dressed up? Rather than why is she so casually dressed". I'm just that way. My friends and family know me -- I'm just not a jeans, sweats, sneakers gal.

 

After you get to know me, whatever I wear doesn't matter!!

 

Margee

Your choice of outfit sounds perfect to me !!! Sounds like you're a girl after my own heart....

[Lyndaharve]

Sounds perfect to me especially shoes as London does have rain !!! Saw a young lady at the London coliseum wearing gold sequins while others were in jeans but she stood out and looked fab so anything goes ! Brolly good idea.

[vickykay]

We are currently in London with students from the US. My husband and I saw Miss Saigon last night. If you have time, it was amazing. We went to the box office a week or two,before and got tickets. Enjoy your time in London.

 

Ps Phantom is also a wonderful show. And, yes people were wearing all ranges of clothing.