MSS

I already know that fine dress is required in the better restaurants in NOLA, but how about a night on the town? Walking, in and out of clubs, etc. Once dinner is over, would like to looses the fancy stuff and would like to dress comfortably and was wondering what was acceptable.

J_Correa

For most clubs and bars in the FQ, pretty much anything goes. It's a party town. I saw plenty of people in shorts and t-shirts in every bar or club we went into. There may be some upscale bars which require something more, but those probably were in other areas of the city.

ccolor

Whoa honey! - I can assume you're a NOLA novice or you would know that ANYTHING goes. You can dress up, down, drag, anything except nothing.....have a great time and the last thing to worry about in N'Awlins is what to wear while learning all the wonderful parts of the city.

SusanCS

Dress is getting more and more casual in NO. In the past few months Commander's Palace has dropped its requirement that men wear coats for dinner. Galatoire's still requires coats (maybe ties, too,) and I think Arnaud's requires coats in one of its rooms. A woman can wear nice pants in any restaurant in New Orleans.

Other than that, I'm hard-pressed to think of any other dress requirements...certainly nothing that I'd consider "fine."

Diana

While you will receive all kinds of input on what you will see, what you should wear is what YOU are comfortable in.

If you like to get dressed up (as we do) to sightsee or travel, you should wear what you would like to wear to dinner and then to walk around after.

The problems with this are:

If you dress up, you will possibly be a target for pickpockets or worse. Take a cab to and from your hotel.

If you are wearing expensive shoes and clothing, realize that there will be smokers/drinkers who have no idea where they are - let alone that your clothing is expensive.

There is likely to be urine/beer/vomit on the streets during busy times, and it is not particularly good for delicate fabrics.

My uniform for NOLA after dinner to go to the clubs is dark designer jeans, black top (always correct) and heels that I will not pass out if they get ruined.

Hey, if you are the fanny pack and shorts and tee shirts type, go for it.

You will see everything from Daisy Dukes and bras, to windsuits, to designer duds. The best thing about NOLA is DO YO' THANG!

JeanH

The problem with shorts and t-shirts in some of the nicer bars, is that the air conditioning is on high, and you will freeze. Jean

bob_brown

In my experience you can wear anything that will not get you arrested.
And those rules seem to vary with the hour and the occasion. During Mardi Gras, even flashers seem to be tolerated. I am not sure about Full Monte dress clothes; someone else will have to report on that lack of attire.

nytraveler

MSS -I'm not sure where this fine dress idea came from. I'm not aware of any NOLA restaurants that still even require coat and tie - never mind any sort of "fine dress" - althouhg I'm not really sure what that is - black tie?. For the better places you can go with sophisticated casual. For the bars - anything goes - even as I believe someone said - Daisy Dukes - the get ups - or lack of - that I have seen in FQ bars are incredible.