TheColonel

What kind of attire do gentlemen typically wear for dinner at such higher-end London establishments as J. Sheekey, The Square and La Trompette? Would the same dress code apply at dinner on a Saturday as at lunch on a Sunday? Also, if there a difference in formality of dress between London restaurants and dining rooms in smaller centres (such as Le Champignon Sauvage in Cheltenham)?

flanneruk

I wear whatever I feel comfortable in in these places. As does everyone else.

Dress codes are exceptionally rare in Britain and the rest of Europe - and impertinent anywhere. I cannot, offhand, think of any restaurant with a reputation for decent food that has one. I've never been aware of one in any of the restaurants listed here.

The sillier tourist tea joints, and one or two of the more pretentious restaurants, do require a tie. Codes are sometimes found outside London. They are an almost infallible guide to bad cooking.

John71cove

flanneruk:

Touche'. Couldn't have said it better myself.

John

ira

I must respectfully disagree with the previous posters.

I have found that people who believe that they can wear whatever they want wherever they want also seem to believe tht they can behave any way they want whenever they want. (Present company excepted, I'm sure.)

Although I am not an advocate of neckties, except for funerals, I do believe that a blazer-type jacket is rquired at higher-end establishments. One should not look as if one were going to the beach.

Jumbo

Last night, the guy on Queer Eye for the Straight Guy said that one can wear jeans to most restaurants. While that seems extreme, I believe a gentleman in a pressed, long sleeved collared shirt, neat trousers and well shined shoes fits in just about anywhere. At a funeral, a man should ALWAYS be in a suit. The vile "sport jacket" should be reserved for suburban country clubs serving mediocre food and filled with insufferable poseurs.

ira

Hi Jumbo,

It's not what one can do, but what one should do.

As for the "vile sport jacket" much depends upon one's choice of color and pattern, does it not?

dln

Jumbo, the British may have set standards years ago for proper dressing, but things have gone sadly downhill in the last few decades. The entire world is a much less formal place, and Britain has not escaped that trend by any means. When we buried my mother-in-law in England two winters ago, my husband was the only one in a suit, and I was the only one in "black weeds." We were very surprised, to tell you the truth.

At good restaurants such as TheColonel mentions, I would want my own husband to dress as he does for work: a well-pressed pair of trousers and a button down shirt. An attractive blazer would not be out of place, and the pockets are useful. I don't think there's anything wrong with being well presented. It shows you care about yourself, and the establishment you are visiting.

Jumbo

Hee hee hee, I suppose you are right ira! Unfortunately, a sports jacket always brings to mind the once a week trips I had to make as a teenager to the restaurant at my parents' bland country club to "use up" the monthly minimum. It was filled with men who were wearing jackets only because they had to, and hadn't purchased a new one in years. More often than not they wore a short sleeved golf shirt underneath, and wouldn't have been able to button it over their belly if they tried. IMO, a man in a neat shirt and stylish trousers is much more appealing than a rogue dressed in a jacket, only because his wife made him put it on.

ira

Hear, hear, dln.

I think that shoes and socks would also be nice.

Intrepid

I suppose clothes, like actions, often speak a lot louder than words. It is also interesting to see how some unfortunate childhood "traumas" which probably should have been left behind a long time ago continue to haunt some adult lives.

Jumbo

Intrepid -
You must be my therapist. See you tomrrow.