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-   -   how dressed up for fancy restaurants (https://www.fodors.com/community/europe/how-dressed-up-for-fancy-restaurants-1735204/)

lauramsgarden Apr 9th, 2026 09:24 AM

how dressed up for fancy restaurants
 
We have several dinners booked in upscale fancy type restaurants for our trip to Dublin in May. I checked websites and they don't say anything about dress code. I always wear a dress and my husband always wears slacks, dress shirt - does he need a tie or dinner jacket as well or does "business casual" do? thanks

fourfortravel Apr 9th, 2026 10:56 AM

For whatever this might be worth, we had a dinner at The Bank on College Green and most of the attire was "smart casual." We also had afternoon tea at the College Green hotel, and saw a little bit of everything from smart casual to jacket and tie. The rest of our dinners were either at pubs or at the seafood place in Howth.

Seamus Apr 9th, 2026 07:55 PM

Same here as with fourfortravel - smart casual even in higher end white tablecloth places. DH is a blazer aficionado so he occasionally wore one, but never a tie.

ChallengerGrey Apr 12th, 2026 04:57 AM

We've booked an afternoon tea at the Shelbourne and because we're on a tour all day, I'm just wearing a light dress (from Amazon) and comfortable shoes. Depending on the weather, raincoat or sweater. We'll be traveling for a month, but nothing too formal. Footwear is my downfall. After retiring and putting the heels away, nothing is comfortable on my feet. So let's hope Sketchers meet the European standards.

hetismij2 Apr 12th, 2026 07:58 AM

Sketchers are very common in Europe ChallengerGrey. I wouldn't worry about what's on you feet too much as long as they are comfortable. They'll be under the table most of the time anyway, unless you take to dancing on it :).

As for what to wear to fancy places - have a look at their websites, at photos on google maps, on other review sites to get an idea.
But again wear what you are comfortable in.


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