The number one question I get asked on my blog is what to wear to an opera. Since I receive so many questions, I wanted to further refine that query to what to wear to a Friday night opera.
When thinking about opera-going attire, remember that weeknights are the most casual and weekends are the most formal (the most formal being Saturday night performances). Friday night is kind of the best of both worlds. You can wear cocktail attire, professional workwear (like how I did above), or even something a bit more casual.
When I’m attending a Friday night opera and struggling to decide what to wear, I keep two things in mind:
- Theaters are cold.
- Most people will be coming from work.
And if I’m still coming up short, I remember #3:
- You’ll never be under-dressed for a Friday night opera if you wear cocktail attire.
What I’m Wearing:
Dress: Trina Turk / Jacket: Burberry / Heels: Cole Haan / Purse: Vince Camuto, old (similar) / Earrings: The Pearl Monkey, c/o
Pearl Bracelet: Kiel James Patrick / Dallas Cuff: Simplestamp, c/o (use code Glitter20 for 20% off!) / Ring: LC Lauren Conrad
During last week’s trip to NYC, I saw Othello (Otello) on Friday night. I’ve read Shakespeare and seen plenty of operas so I had a rough idea of the story:
- It starts with a husband and wife in love.
- At some point, the husband gets jealous for truly no apparent reason.
- As in many operas, the husband then kills the wife.
- The husband finds out wife was innocent and realizes he has made a HORRIBLE mistake.
- Husband commits suicide.
- Curtain falls.
Overall, Otello is pretty easy to follow. But it left me with one lingering question: why does the chick always die in these things? Rude.