Theatre, concert, anywhere you sit in the dark
Dressed enough for the foyer, comfortable enough for three hours in a seat built in 1890.
Built on: Whatever you would wear to a nice dinner.
An evening out at a venue is two different events wearing one outfit. There is the arrival — foyer, bar, interval, people looking at each other — and there is the sitting, which is most of the time and which nobody dresses for.
The sitting imposes real constraints. Seats are narrow and armrests are shared, so anything wide on the arms is a problem for the person next to you. Cloakrooms are a queue at both ends, so a wrap you can fold onto your lap beats a coat you have to check. And venues are either freezing or stifling with no middle setting, which argues for a layer you can remove rather than a warm outfit.
Earrings are the right investment here for a reason specific to the context: the foyer is bright and the auditorium is dark, so anything below the neck is invisible for most of the evening. Whatever you want seen should be at face height.
Bag: small, on a strap, and it goes on your lap or under the seat. A tote by your feet in a dark row is how bags get kicked down the aisle.
Two things people forget. Bangles are audible in a quiet passage and you will be very aware of it. And long gloves — if this is where you wear them, which it is the natural place for — come off before the interval drink, not during it.
