We have tickets to a few shows, as well as to Swan Lake at Royal Albert Hall. Do men wear sports jackets and ties? Do women wear dresses? Just packing now and am not sure how dressy these events are. Thank you in advance for your advice.

Wear what you want. Honestly you will see every sort of clothing, from jeans/t-shirts to pretty dressy.

Yup just as janisj says - eclectic attire - grungy jeans or whatever - tennies - what you want no one bats an eyelash.

jeans, jeans, and more jeans.

the only exception would be opera at the ROH and even then you'll see people in jeans.

we just got back and saw several shows - what I noticed was that women dressed up more than the men, at all ages. en in jeans and polos, women in casual dresses.

Attire is eclectic, esp if you are a student. If you are an adult who wants to make an evening of it with dinner or supper at an upscale restaurant you may want to dress as described - otherwise business casual is plenty.

Note: If this is some sort of official First Night you may need to be ready for a gala.

Wear the same clothes you would wear to such an event at home, it's no different.

I've never worn a dress to anything at the Royal Albert Hall. Except when the temperature hit 28ºC with high humidity. From what I've observed over the years, I would say that the people who dress up more are those who live outside London and come into the city to go to a show, the theatre or a concert. Ties certainly aren't necessary, except for a few particularly snobby restaurants.

>>Wear the same clothes you would wear to such an event at home, it's no different.<<

That may depend where you live - but IME the theatre is much more casual in London than in my neck of the woods in the States. Folks here tend to dress up for the theater/classical concerts/opera/ballet. Here most men wear sport coats or in the heat of summer dress shirts w/o the jackets, and women mostly dresses/tailored outfits.

Maybe because theater is more of a dress up "event" in parts of the US than in London.

We were at a concert several years ago.....anything goes.

You will see everything from jeans, t shirts and sneakers, to suits and fancy dresses...where whatever you comfortable in

I agree with janisj. If anything, based on our limited experience, it seems a more casual affair in London than what we are used to in the States.

Have a wash, put clean clothes on, don't "mace" everyone around you with perfume and leave the shopping at your hotel.

Oh - no texting

That may depend where you live - but IME the theatre is much more casual in London than in my neck of the woods in the States. Folks here tend to dress up for the theater/classical concerts/opera/balle>>

Well, I've been to theater and ballet in many major US cities and many major European cities and have never seen much of a difference. I live in Wash DC and have been to numerous productions in NY and Paris, in particular, and everyone doesn't dress up to go to the theatre or ballet in any of them. Some people do, sure, but many do not, so I stick by my advice that whatever is their natural inclination would work. I have a feeling if they were the kind to dress up to go to the ballet or theatre, they wouldn't be asking this question as to whether it was okay to not wear a dress or sports jacket.

I really don't know any place in the US where the theatre, in particular, is a "dress up" event nowadays. If anywhere, I would think you'd expect that to be NY, but that is completely false.

Now opera is a bit more dressy in most places, but the question wasn't about that.

Bear in mind also that not all London theatres have air-conditioning, or not to the degree of temperature reduction in high summer (should we ever have one) that would require a jacket and tie. The Albert Hall in particular can get very hot if full (that's the best part of 6000 people generating some degree of heat).

Christina: maybe you need to travel around the States a bit more

I wasn't talking about NYC or about Paris. I was specifically comparing smaller/regional US cities to London. IME (and I was involved in regional theater for ages) in many mid sized US cities, theater is an 'event', whereas in London it is more a part of the fabric of the city.

No - in NYC neither theater, opera or ballet are dress up events - unless you are going to a gala first night - and then it's really dressed up.

Perhaps people dress up more in much smaller towns since it's more of an event - but not here - or In London.

I agree with nytraveler that if you are going out before or after, you should dress for that.

I disagree with her somewhat on people not dressing up in NYC. In my experience, they do dress up quite a bit for the opera. I don't do Broadway so can't comment on that. Dressing up doesn't necessarily mean a suit or even a tie for men, but it does mean dressing differently from what you would wear to go to the grocery.

OK - business casual is NOT what most people wear to the grocery - which is likely shorts or jeans, sneakers and an old tee shirt.

There is a whole lot between that and a suit/tie (perhaps khakis with a button-down or collar shirt and shoes and nice pants/skirt and top. IMHO many people wear to the theater what they have worn to work - not to clean out the garage - but not dressier unless they are going to a nice dinner/supper before or after. Also see this very often at the ballet and yes, even at the opera - although we don;t o the latter that often.

I attended a ballet performance at the Opera Bastille in May ( Saturday night )
I was surprised to see how few people were dressed up.