Dress Sharp For The Theatre - Male Style Tips For Young Man On Tight Budget
Hi!
I'm Antonio Centeno, the founder of Real Men Real Style.
Today, I'm going to be talking about how to dress when going out to the theater on a budget.
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This is the question that came in, "Antonio, I have a question and I'd like you to answer
it directly."
Well, I'll do that.
"My girlfriend and I are going to celebrate our birthdays together in April and we're
going to a nice restaurant.
We're going to be seeing a show at the theater and then staying at a nice hotel afterwards."
"I need a suit to feel dressed appropriately.
The only suit I own though is a black Houndstooth fabric, which I don't think is appropriate
for the occasion.
I'd like something that's not too formal, nor too business-oriented.
She's going to be wearing a really nice dress, so I want to look good.
At the same time, I don't want to look really young as that we're in college and we've got
a really strict budget.
I have black hair, a pretty good body type.
Can you help me?"
Okay, so we've got two questions here, really what to wear when you're going to the theater
and how this gentleman can dress so he's feeling really good and matching the level of attire
that his girlfriend is going to be wearing and do it on a budget, so let me break these
down.
When you're going to the theater, the best thing to do is to call.
Now, this gentleman mentioned he was in Atlanta and I think it was the Fox Theater.
I don't know the dress code for the Fox Theater.
I don't even know what kind of a theater it is, so you're going to want to call and simply
ask.
The theater is going to appreciate it.
Worst case, you do show up in a suit and you're going to be outdressing a lot of the people,
although I can tell you most oftentimes -- assuming it's not a movie theater -- if it's a performance
theater, then you're going to find at least the people working there oftentimes outdress
the people in attendance, but this is down in Atlanta, a town that is laid back but at
the same time, it's got some pretty shard dressers.
So I'm going to think that wearing a dark suit is going to work well, but again, call
and ask the theater and they should be able to give you a bit of guidance.
Now, you don't want to wear a black tie unless it's going to be something like a really high-end
performance at maybe Carnegie Hall in New York City or something.
That's when you would be wanting to pull out your black tie and looking to be wearing your
dinner jacket, but no.
A dark suit, also I think a dark-colored sports jacket with dark colored trousers would be
fine as it is going to probably be an evening event.
You're going to be going to dinner, I assume, and other things.
You're going to want to go for darker colors in general because darker colors are more
for after -- in the evening, lighter colors, they just don't look great because they don't
match the environment.
They don't match the overall scenery.
Another great thing with wearing a dark colored is when you put it up next to the white, like
here, I've got olive green and I've got a patterned stripe shirt, there is some contrast,
but there's not a whole lot when compared with a dark black or a charcoal grey or a
navy with a white.
That instantly has a popping contrast.
And that pop, it sends a signal of formality because all of that formality goes back to
black tie, and black tie is where you have a very stark contrast between the black and
the white.
So again, call, check in.
Now, let's talk about your current needs and what your budget is.
I'm going to say with your budget, you want to try -- I haven't seen this suit on you,
but just because it's a Herringbone pattern, to me, I wouldn't necessarily say that you
can't wear this.
Now, I would want to see the fit.
I would want to look at the quality of the fabric, and I'd want to make sure that the
style is right for you, but it sounds like -- I mean, with you on a college budget and
this being one night, it would almost maybe make sense to take what you have and to go
get it tailored.
But let's say you've decided that you don't want to wear this.
Well, you're on a strict budget and I would either advice thrifting or going and looking
at some of the box stores, depending on what your body type is like, and seeing if there's
anything on sale or anything you can find.
Again, right now, you've probably got more time than you do have money, so you can spend
some time looking around, understand what your measurements are, know what sizes you're
going to be looking around.
Let your fingers do the walking for you and call around, find out who has your size and
be very clear that, "Hey, I can afford the best."
But at your age, and I'm assuming with a good body build, fit is going to be the most important
thing.
Fabric is important a little bit later on maybe when you have some money.
The style, you don't want it looking like it came out of the '70s, but being a younger
man, you can make a few style mistakes and no one's really going to hold it against you.
Again, focus on the fit and you'll look great with the woman you're going out with even
though she's dressing in a great dress.
You're going to feel just as good and you're going to be there to compliment her and to
have a great night.
I hope that helps.
I didn’t really touch on footwear and other things like that.
I'm going to actually link to an article that I've got over at Real Men Real Style which
talks about dressing to the theater.
It's a little bit more higher level, but wear the normal shoes that you would with the suit,
or if you wear a sports jacket and a pair of dark trousers, then you can actually wear
a little bit more casual of a dress shoe like a slip-on boot or maybe some type of loafers,
something like that.
I like the idea that you're paying attention to this.
Again, call the theater.
I'd like to hear from you guys though next on the comments because I actually don't go
to theaters a lot out here in Wisconsin.
My wife and I are pretty much homebodies, but I would love to hear from you guys in
the comments.
In addition, when you go to Real Men Real Style, check out my new e-book.
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I've been building on this thing for like four years, but it's over 600 pages, 14 hours
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Take care.