What do men wear to the Opera House? formal dress? jacket and tie? slacks and shirt?shorts and t-shirt? We don't plan to bring dress clothes, but will if necessary to avoid offending local sensibilities.

Some patrons turn up in a suit and tie, others go for "smart casual". Shorts and T-shirt may fall into the "dumb casual" category and make the wearer feel just a bit under-dressed. I'd definitely opt for footwear of some description, but not thongs (flip-flops) A neat jacket and slacks, with or without tie, is a good compromise.

I'm always terribly disappointed at how some people turn out for an event at the Opera House. But a suit and tie is NEVER out of place, while you would probably feel a bit overdressed in "black tie". An open necked shirt with a jacket would be fine if one is really against wearing a tie. But Shorts and T-shirt...Aaagh!

Thanks for the guidelines. Sounds like it will be slacks and jacket, maybe tie. We recently attended an event we expected to be quite dressy,only to find thongs(flip flops) on at least half the attendees. So, not wanting to be "overdressed", I wanted to check.

aren,

We were at the Opera House in mid April; Sydney had been experiencing rather warm weather . I had been out all day in a shirt, shorts and boots. For the ballet I zipped the legs onto my (convertible ) shorts and was dressed as most men in the audience. I was actually glad I had these convertible pant / shorts as the have a side zipper on the lower legs which I was able to open them while seated as it was quite warm in the Opera House.

This outfit also passed muster w/ the discriminating Margo Oz who was our pre -performance dinner companion that evening.

Australia is even more casual than the western US. Be comfortable and pack lightly!

AndrewDavid

Agree with all of the above. Neat and comfortable and you will be fine!

We've been to the Sydney Opera House twice in August (2002 and 2003) and my husband wore a pair of casual slacks with a sweater. He was comparably dressed to many men in the audience. He's in his late 50s. True, there are men in suits, but my impression was that they were in the minority. I, too find that Australians are every bit as casual as Southern Californians in their dress, which makes it a pleasure when packing to visit there.

To AndrewDavid's comment:

Well - it was a Friday - and everyone knows about casual Fridays!

Every other night of the week it is de rigeur to wear full dinner suit, and/or evening dresses to any performance at all in the Opera House. And polish your shoes...the door Nazis won't let you in if your shoes are at all scuffed. (and don't start me on finger nails!) )or coughing!)

We went both times on Sat. nights and it was CASUAL DRESS generally. See my message up above.

margo, you forgot to mention the bit about mobile phones being confiscated at the door, unless the owner can product a doctor's certificate, and the ban on wearing odd socks.

OK, I think I've got it. Tuxedo with thongs, matching socks, and no tie. Thanks for all your help!