Fodor's Travel Talk Forums - Dinner Dress Code

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Dinner Dress Code

What is the dress code for restaurants in Paris? We prefer the smaller, "local" type of restaurants versus the big, flashy, touristy ones. Are jeans with nice shoes and a nice sweater acceptable? Or should we wear nice slacks? We are leaving next week and I anticipate the weather will be too cold for a dress! Thanks, Cynthia

It could well be that a man (such as I am) should not ever dare to offer fashion advice to any woman on this board, or any other venue, for that matter. But here is my two cents. I think that I understand your distinction in your preference of restaurants. But big, flashy and touristy are not necessarily adjectives that go together. And none of those adjectives necessarily correlate with expectations in dress. Jules Verne, for example, the upper-crust restaurant of the Tour Eiffel - - is "medium" in size, but "big" in prestige and class. And because it takes months to get a reservation there, it draws many more French customers (not necessarily Parisians) than foreigners, I think. I would not call it flashy, but I would certainly call it classy. And many French women will wear a dress there, regardless of the season. But I don't think that you will be refused a table in jeans (clean, unripped) with "dressier" accompaniments - - sweater, shoes, general "look". Many smaller "local" types of restaurants can get to be heavily laden with tourists for two reasons: they make it into popular guidebooks, and they are very accommodating to non-English speakers - - perhaps because of subtle adjustments in the cuisine or menus with English help, etc. Since winter (well, almost) is much less tourist season than the other three, you will likely see far fewer Americans (and other tourists - - remember, two-thirds of all foreigners in France are NOT from North America). I have never actually been to Paris in December; I wouldn't be surprised if you get treated very well - - they are always happy to see tourist's dollars the full 12 months of the year. Whether it is cold or not (it is actually forecast to be rather mild next week on www.weather.com), you are surely going to find a wide spectrum of dress in any "medium" (or lower) "prestige" restaurant. Two last points: experienced four-season travelers swear by silk (or other very lightweight) long underwear as a great way to add warmth to more medium weight clothes of every kind. And most overseas travelers agree that jeans are a poor choice for an extended trip. They take up too much room in your suitcase and they're impossible to launder (and dry) quickly. There are plenty of other choices that look good in both casual and dressy settings. Whatever you decide, enjoy, and don't worry about it too much. Best wishes, Rex

Neither Julie nor I would probably wear jeans to dinner in a major city (unless doing McDonalds!). Nonetheless I shouldn't think you'd be uncomfortable at all at dinner in the 'neighborhood' restaurants you describe. In most, and even in some reasonably well-known brasseries, I doubt most folks would take a bit of notice at what you're wearing. You may find www.twenj.com/tipsclothes.htm helpful when you're considering the wardrobe you'll pack. Ed

I agree. Skip the denim. For men, a good pair of dark-colored Dockers or similar will go a long way. I've never really figured out exactly what "slacks" are (my mother uses the term a lot), but I'd guess that wool pants would be in order for women in Paris in Dec. Have a great time. Be ready for the smoke in those smaller restaurants.

Depends where you go - the no demin theme of other messages is correct anywhere, but a jacket and tie is only necessary in the best reataurants. In the very best, if you are going on to the theatre/opera, black tie is fine. If you are there in the summer, shorts and T-shirts are ok only in very ordinary places. The food in Paris is great, but expect slow service and enjoy it!

I think you will be much more comfortable all around Paris if you avoid jeans, and if possible, bright sporty coats. You will blend in more and I think you'll feel more comfortable overall.

A word to the wise: a Parisian friend said to me that the only people still wearing denim seem to be Americans and Russians.

Nice slacks are better than jeans. Black, of course. I, too, highly recommend silk underwear.

The only Parisians I saw in jeans were either workmen or teenagers. Black or dark navy pants (did see dark brown suede) were de riguer. Having grown up in New England, I wore wool skirts with tights and was no warmer than when I wore pants, so I still wear dresses and skirts with tights in cold weather in Paris (not NEARLY as cold as New England, I might add). And layer layer layer...if the restaurant is chilly you can take your coat off and leave the blazer on...if it's hot, you can remove both. Pashminas are the big fashion item now, and are terrific for wearing over your coat like a scarf, then throwing over your shoulders indoors.

Elvira, m'dear: love you to bits, but here's an example of how language changes -- "pashmina" is just the name for the material, a fancied-up kind of cashmire, but apparently it's being used generically to refer to the wide bit of wrap that's a cross between a scarf and a shawl. It -- the wrap, not the material -- has gone in and out of fashion like... (finish the simile, it might get bawdy....). And it's an excellent way to deal with layer-dressing in cold places. My big square of paisley wool was invaluable in Chicago over the not-quite-warm-enough overcoat and in the chilly-so-they'll-eat-more restaurants -- this almost 20 yrs. ago. Glad the fashion's back.

"Cashmere." I knew that looked wrong.

And cashmere comes from the area of the world where it originated: Kashmir. And that's my final answer. (Ref. for Europeans: a repeated line in American version of big-money game show.)

Dah-lings, Pashminas is soooo last year!! Woollen Poncho(in black, grey or check wool) is in!!! Just got back from Paris last night, so I know what I am talking about. Definitely no jeans, 'that black dress' goes a long way.

Just returned from 10 days in France, both in Paris and country side. I find it funny that all of these people are so biased against jeans, as if no one but Americans wear them. During our time in the country side, visiting Normandy, Brittany, the Loire valley, etc, there were more people in jeans than not. And, please note, few of them were Americans. When touring by car, and at this time of year, during the day jeans were a good choice. Now, we never wore jeans in the evenings when going out to dinner, even in the small towns we stayed in. We would always change to dark pants, with either a sweater or a long sleeve knit shirt/top. We were never under dressed anywhere we ate. In Paris we did not wear jeans day or night, choosing instead dark pants and again sweaters or knits. Many people were in jeans however, and again few of them were Americans. Bottom line, I would say dress as you see appropriate to the situation. I think you will feel more comfortable in dark pants and matching shirts/tops when out to dinner, but I doubt if any except the fanciest places would deny your money if you have jeans on.

Since the question was about "local" restaurants as opposed to those more frequented by tourist I will say that cities like Paris are cosmopolitan places full of chic grown-ups. Perhaps not everyone there is fashion-conscious, but it sure looks that way sometimes. Yes, while traveling I have seen many tourists of all ages and nationalities (Australian senior citizens, German teens, for example) dressed in jeans. But those are mostly the visitors, not the locals. But in my opinion jeans can be easily and inexpensively replaced by a couple of pairs of dark pants and/or comfortable skirts that can be worn anywhere. I live in New York City, and of course we wear jeans here, but generally not when going to moderately-nice local restaurants in the city.

I am a very seasoned overseas traveler and don't agree with the advice that you can't wear jeans in Europe or you shouldn't take them, I always do. They are easier to pack than other pants of the same weight (altho I usually wear them on the plane, anyway) because they are wrinkle resistant. You don't need to wash them on a short trip, anyway, few people get that dirty in a short time--you won't be washing wool slacks, either. Having said that, I would never wear blue jeans to dinner in a Parisian restaurant except a very casual corner tabac/cafe. I certainly do wear nice black jeans, though, with a nice silk or linen shirt or silk/fine merino wool nice pullover sweather (not a bulky sporty-looking sweater) or maybe stretch top (spandex with cotton, silke, rayon or wool is very popular in tops right now), etc., to stylish cafes in Paris and no one looks askance at me. But I would not wear jeans to a nicer restaurant, and I don't wear jeans that look like a just washed the car. I don't quite understand the terminology of "local" restaurants to apparently mean cheap, casual restaurants, and I think I may not know what a flashy restaurant is, either. I might call La Coupole a large, flashy restaurant in Paris (although it's really more a brasserie), but it's definitely local and tourists go there, but that's not the main clientele (ditto Le Dome or Les Closerie des Lilas)--but I would not wear jeans there even though it is large and flashy. There are small, NONflashy places that do have more tourists though, where jeans would be fine (ie, Leon de Bruxelles). Oh, one other suggestion if you want to wear jeans and sweaters, go to the streets near the Seine just off place St-Michel or in St-Germain; there are plenty of small un-flashy restaurants there, but they are touristy and very casual and you could wear jeans; they are locally-run (prob. various ethnicity immigrants) as far as I can tell, for the most part, although the food is pretty terrible; the cheaper restaurants in St-Germain where they wave to tourists with menus on the streets are better than rue de la Huchette (ie, all the side streets off bd St-Germain around the Odeon metro) . If you have a decent coat, the weather should not be a problem, but maybe you don't have the right kind of dressier clothes as you shouldn't feel forced to wear jeans because of the temperature--you just need to wear longer skirts, maybe, with opaque tights, that's plenty warm enough for me (there are very stylish thick cotton/lycra blend tights). I really think this question depends on a matter of age and personal style and appearance, to be honest, and it's hard to make judgments without knowing those, as they affect the overall look. I also think it's a matter of definition of what a "restaurant" is -- I would never wear jeans to a restaurant in any large cosmopolitan U.S. city, either, for example; Europe isn't really Mars, I don't think things are that different from what good taste would have you do in the US. Last year I stayed in a regular local, nontouristy quartier of Paris (15th)and ate in local, modestly-priced restaurants there where I was usually the only American, and I would see jeans at the corner cafe at night, but not on people in those neighborhood restaurants, even though people were not that dressed up. My bottom line is forget the jeans in restaurants anywhere, but feel free to wear them and take them on your trip for other purposes.