While visiting the websites of various opera theatres to check how they have been organsing to face COVID-19 I discovered a very interesting page, under the title “Etiquette”. The opera theatre that decided to devote one link to this theme, under a word that, I suspect, many in the younger generations would not understand, is the Bolshoi. Not suprisingly I would say, as Russians seem to value traditions highly.
I click on the link and the page shows another captivating title: “Dress Code”. This is, indeed, a fascinating and important question: how do you dress at the opera? I grew up with the idea that opera was a show for the few, not easily accessible, which is staged in magnificent old theatres with a clear flair of nobilty. Hence, you needed to be dressed appropriately, with elegance and style. An opera theatre is a serious place, unlike, for example, cabaret or underground theatres, so it would not be the venue where you dress in your most provocative outfit, as stylish and trendy as it might be.
When I started to go to opera theatres I quickly realised things were much less formal than I had imagined while watching opera on the sofa of the living room of my grandmother. It is not uncommon to see people in jeans. Still, the rate of elegance seems to be much higher than at the cinema for example. So is there still a dress code to attend an opera?
The Bolshoi obviously has one, although it is clear from the very first lines that they give suggestions, do not impose any obligation. Already the fact that they have a page devoted to the issue, unlike most other theatres, indicates that they have something to say. They start by referring to how it was in the past – women in their best outfit and men with black tie – and then recognise that this could be close to impossible with the hectic life we all have nowadays, and the very practical consideration that more often than not we go to the theatre at the end of a long working day. Here comes the statement: “you will get away with a quite democratic dress form”. With some caveats: men in shorts are definetely not allowed in the theatre, and for women, Bolshoi kindly expresses the view that “women should keep to a decent dress style”. After that, they add a sentence that I find simply spectacular: “bearing in mind that they may well be sitting next to people in full evening dress”. I will attempt a short summary of all this: dress as you like (no beachwear though), but mind you, people do dress up at the opera, and a sloppy outfit might make you feel out of place. Bolshoi’s preference is definitely for evening gowns and black ties.
My personal point of view is that opera is one of the only two occasions when you can still dress up, the other being weddings. That special dress with a long gown in taffeta that you surely cannot wear at the yearly office party, the glamorous outfit you bought because you could not resist when you saw it in the shop and then you never dared wear because you would attract weird looks, the chic blouse with a touch of extravaganza that would make you feel embarassed if you were to wear it at the pub – just go for it, at the opera you can wear it wih full confidence. Nothing is too much at the opera.
I copy below the link to the page on etiquette from the website of the Bolshoi theatre. I absolutely loved it. The topic deserves some more posts I think, much as another, related topic – good and bad behaviour at the opera.
