London Travel Forum

Please help me with how to pack for a short trip to London..Early May...Please help with shoes: are ladies still wearing boots?? Do I need gloves? Hat..

What is the proper dress for afternoon tea??
What is proper for dinner in the evening??

Are Jeans acceptable?

THanks!

As you know, the weather in London is very changeable. It was 72F on Saturday but this week is in the 50's with lots of showers. I doubt you'll need gloves or a hat this time of year. I put mine away!

What you wear to dinner depends on where you're eating the meal. I don't think most people get very dressed up nowadays, and you can't go wrong with nice trousers and top no matter where you go. Jeans are fine for pub dining and places like Chinatown and lots of others, too. Tea at places like hotels tend to be a bit more dressy than jeans.. but not overly fussy.

Of course, these are just my observations and how I dress... everyone has different taste.

I'd guess it depends on how much you feel the cold. I still carry my gloves with me, just in case, and I always carry an umbrella. There are still hats around, but I suspect that's more a fashion statement than a necessity. Boots are always acceptable in London any time of year (you won't need wellingtons, but leather boots are useful) As June says, the weather is very changeable at the moment...one minute it's glorious sunshine and the next it's hammering down with rain, but it isn't really that cold.

Re: dressing for dinner, I am happy to wear smart jeans to most places, but with heels, not trainers. "Smart casual" seems to be a way of life in London.

If in doubt though it's better to avoid them...if anything is likely to offend an establishment with ideas above it's station it's jeans/trainers/shorts/combats/flip-flops, and unfortunately some places fail to distinguish between smart jeans and casual jeans.

Yesterday where I am, 20 miles from the centre of London, it was gorgeous. I wore linen trousers sandals and a knit jacket. Today it is raining and is altogether cooler. You just never know.

You will find a light rain jacket and umbrella useful at all times here plus changes of footwear in case they get wet. Boots are probably finished now and smart shoes & sandals for evening plus comfort shoes & sandals for day will be best.

The key to UK travel in Spring is thin layers then if it's hot you are fine and if its cold you can wear the lot.

Afternoon tea is a varied thing, a smart Hotel deserves something pretty. I like something plain for dinner and I take a variety of scarves and jewelery to ring the changes.

Jeans are fine, probably best kept for casual occasions and take ages to dry once wet.

Hope you are lucky sometimes our best weather can be found in May.

What you wear for 'afternoon tea' will depend on where you go. Ordinary Brtits do not have such a custom: anywhere in London which offers it is largely catering for visitors. Some may require more formal dress, most will not be bothered. Exactly the same thing goes for dinner. Most places have no dress code at all, although the more up-market restaurants may.

Whenever you come to the UK you should pack clothes you can layer, and water proof outer clothing (or umbrella). Not only is the weather unpredicatble throughout the year, it can change several times durring a 24-hour period. It may be warm and sunny (as last Saturday) or you may find it very wet and chilly.

Check the weather forecast on:

http://www.metcheck.com/V40/UK/FREE/today.asp?zipcode=london

a couple of days before you come:it's a reliable site (we;ll, as far as any UKweather forecast can be said to be 'reliable').

Please don't think London is full of people who dress smartly. It is not:those you may see will probably be on their way to or from work (as anywhere else). Really, honestly, no-one will care two hoots what you wear (apart from those places which operate a dress code of some sort) so just be comfortable.

I have made travelogues to try and reassure people about 'appropriate' dress for London. One is last October (warmish day) the other from this February (just a bit chillier):

http://members.virtualtourist.com/m/tt/9c13e/#TL

http://members.virtualtourist.com/m/tt/98087/#TL

I'm of an age when people used to dress well to go out in public just to go to the grocery store, and wore their VERY best (complete w/gloves) to travel, esp. on an airliner. Nowadays, IMHO, many in the traveling class dress like they slept last nite in the local garbage dump. Even Hollywood millionaires make public appearances dressed and groomed worse than bums and homeless people. (If I ruled: require every male celeb to buy a comb; learn how to use it, and become friends with a neighborhood barber. Females: dress to your status, not the lowest common denominator).

But I digress! Afternoon tea is a tradition. Dress accordingly. Don't think of going to Brown's, Fortnum & Mason, Claridge's, etc., w/o dressing to the nines, unless you want to atrract unwanted glances. Ask yourself what you'd wear to your sis/bro/best friend's wedding; plan accordingly. "Tea" at the corner fish & chips shop, jeans or less is OK.

Jeans OK at low-casual places only. Hats for women at church, the races, weddings, formal events. Gloves for the highest formal events.

Anyway, good on ya for inquiring about style, standards, and proper dress. Western Civ. needs a boost now & then.

Hats for church only for weddings/christenings, but only if you want to: they are not required.

For the 'afternoon tea' thing at somewhere which considers itself 'a cut above' (e.g. Fortnums) one would dress reasonably smartly (although Idoubt you'd be refused service unless unutterably scruffy-looking) A wedding outfit would be somewhat over-the-top, however. For 'afternoon tea' anywhere else you wear what you wear.

If you are going to move in the very highest echelons (tea with Her Maj, perhaps?) then yes, you may well wish to wear gloves/hat. Otherwise, we wear gloves to keep our hands warm when it's chilly.

Don't worry, please. Pack something simple & smart (black trousers & top?)if you intend to go somewhere a bit posh, otherwise just wear what you normally wear (but don't forget the layers/wet weather jacket). :-)

Well now, this august journal has many suggestions that might help you to resolve this sartorial dilemma. Ladies can take their cue from the standard set by 'The Chap.'

http://www.thechap.net/content/section_epistolary/am-I-chap.html