# Observations Upon Attending the Metropolitan Opera



## Joe Frances (Sep 1, 2004)

I attended a performance of "Don Giovanni" at the Met in New York last week and a few things struck me as far as the audience was concerned: (1) while the general decline in good taste in clothing is keeping apace with the decline of civilization in general, many were well dressed: more than half of the men wore suits or blazers; and a larger percentage of the women were appropriately attired in attractive evening dresses, including a few who wore evening gowns. Very few men were in evening formal dress. Since I unfortunately cannot currently fit comfortably into my tux, I wore a dark grey chalk stripe three-piece suit with a pearl grey dressy tie. (2) the house was full, of course, but not entirely with older people (as one normally encounters in symphony concerts). There was a very mixed audience as far as age was concerned. Some of the youngest were among the best dressed, which surprised and delighted me. (3) As diverse as the crowd was age wise, it was demographically mostly Caucasian and Asian, although there were more Blacks there than I expected. I don't often see more than a handful of African-Americans (I assume they are American, from what I can gather from their speech) at other classical concerts, but there were definitely more at the opera than I see at other events. I felt some sense of hope for the future of the high musical arts from this experience, both for the quality of the performance, and the large and diverse audience. It was jammed to the rafters, and of course, the decorum on descending the crowded grand staircase was calm and pleasantly hushed, and we all emerged cheerfully in good time, with no pushing, fuss or bother. All in all it was a fine evening, both musically and otherwise.


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## upthewazzu (Nov 3, 2011)

It may have been discussed before, but I wonder when/why the decline in dress took place. I blame the baby-boomers, but I have no real basis for that beside anecdotal evidence. Perhaps it was really the Silent generations fault for not passing down the rules of dress to the Boomers. But I sure as heck didn't learn a damn thing from my father in those regards and that's 100% true for everyone I know in my generation. My grandfather dresses exceptionally well and he's 91 years old, and a lot of the younger folks dress nicer than I did at their age. So I think there is a gap between the Silents and the Millennials (or whatever they're called) where bad habits were founded. I'd be interested to hear others' opinions on the matter. FWIW, I'm 29.

I'm glad you had a good time at the opera. I attended my first Symphony about a month ago and it was extraodinary.


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## Joe Frances (Sep 1, 2004)

I think you've got something here Upthewazzu (what a name!). In NYC I definitely see some younger guys in their mid-late 20s dressing better than guys in their 40s. I am older than both groups, but I definitely notice that some younger guys are rebelling against (or distinguishing themselves from) the mediocre looks of those guys who are ten-to-twenty years older than they are. Even guys who don't wear suits and ties (the majority don't, but many do) wear much better shoes and higher quality watches to distinguish themselves from their "lesser" dressed contemporaries.


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## MikeDT (Aug 22, 2009)

Proves one thing, opera is for everyone. So many probably think it's elitist, high-brow and one must wear black-tie.


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