For the afternoon a lady may retain her street suit, or she may put on a handsomer one. If she is not going out she may prefer to wear a house dress of more expensive material, and made in a more elaborate style, than would be suitable in the morning. According to the present fashion, such a gown would be cut down at the throat, with half-length sleeves. Whether the sojourner at a hotel changes or does not change her gown in the afternoon, she should do so for late dinner, since morning costume would not then be appropriate. As we have already seen, a variety of dress is permissible at these public places of entertainment, because guests are arriving, departing, or going out for engagements of all sorts. The general rule, however, to which there are some exceptions, prescribes evening dress for the evening. At large and fashionable hotels in New York, many of the women wear décolleté gowns. A lady invited to a dinner party at one of these places would dress as she would at a private house. In smaller cities, and at quieter hotels, low-necked dresses are not so often seen.
If a lady intends to take an evening train she may, if she pleases, appear at dinner in traveling hat and dress. If she is going to the theater, opera-house, or concert-hall, she will wear the kind of costume described in [Chapter XII].
Correspondents sometimes ask what the proper dress is for Sunday evening at a hotel. Opinions on this subject vary in accordance with people’s religious views or inherited traditions. While the old-fashioned strict observance of the Sabbath has been much relaxed both in England and in America, the Puritan view of the day still strongly influences the manners and customs of the country at large. Those who hold to it prefer to dress quietly and to eschew low-necked gowns on Sunday evening. They appear in costumes suitable to wear at church, even if they have no intention of going there. There are many other people, especially in a cosmopolitan city like New York, who hold no such view of the observance of Sunday, and dress then as they would on any other day of the week.
Ladies always retain their hats in the daytime at a restaurant or roof-garden. They remove their gloves on sitting down to table, and throw back or take off their outer wraps. It is usually possible to check these, but many people object to the delay involved. Women of good taste prefer to dress quietly if they attend a dancing-tea at one of these places, and thus avoid attracting special attention. At certain restaurants an effort is made to compel all guests to wear evening dress. This is merely copying an English fashion ill-suited to a democratic country. At the Hotel Savoy in London they enforce such a rule. An American lady who had reached the half-century limit, and did not care to appear in public in a low-necked dress, went not long ago to the restaurant there with a party of young friends. She wore a new and expensive Paris dress and her handsomest jewels. The young people were all in evening dress, but because the chaperon did not have on a décolleté gown they were refused admission to the restaurant, and were obliged to content themselves with dining in the grill-room! At the best hotels in New York, such as Delmonico’s, the Astor, and the Plaza, ladies may wear costumes with hats or full evening dress, as they find most convenient. For afternoon dances at hotels and roof-gardens, men usually come in business suits. After six o’clock evening dress is the proper costume. The dinner-jacket, or informal evening dress, as it may be called, is often worn for dancing at roof-gardens, because it is more comfortable than the long-tailed dress-coat. It is also used for unceremonious occasions at hotels and restaurants, as it would be elsewhere (see Chapters [IV] and [XII]).
XII
THEATER, OPERA, AND CONCERT-HALL
Arrangements for Formal and Informal Theater Parties—The Supper—The Bachelor and His Duties as Host and as Guest—Dress and Behavior at the Theater, Opera, and Concert-hall.
AN informal theater party may be an impromptu affair got up at short notice. It may either be a Dutch treat, where every one pays for himself, or one or more persons may act as hosts and invite the others to go at their expense. If a gentleman and his wife ask another lady to accompany them, they should either call for her or invite her to dine with them. At the conclusion of the performance they should take her home, or the husband alone could do so. It is not necessary to have a carriage if the street-cars are near at hand. If two ladies living in the same house are invited, the tickets may be sent to them, asking them to meet their hosts at the theater. Unless they are very young women, it will be proper for them to go together, whereas for a lady alone it would not be quite pleasant to do so. When the concert or play is over, the host will see them to their carriage or to the street-car. If the hour is late, he will offer to escort them home. If they assure him that they are not afraid to go alone, he will not insist upon doing so, unless he believes this necessary for their protection. Two young and pretty women are liable to annoyance from rude passers-by at a late hour in the evening.
If a man wishes to take a young lady to the theater he must invite her mother or other chaperon to be of the party. This is a safe and excellent rule to follow, and few exceptions should be made to it. In the case of cousins or old friends it is sometimes broken, especially if the lady is not in her first youth. But young women should remember that, as the world is very censorious, one who broke this rule often would be the subject of unfavorable comment. A girl may, of course, go to the theater with her brother. The gentleman may invite a married lady to matronize the party, or he may ask the girl to choose her own chaperon. He calls for both his guests; first for the matron, then for the young lady. At the close of the performance he escorts them both to their houses, leaving the younger woman first at her residence, and then the elder one at hers. Where the chaperon has been provided by the girl, the man may, if he prefers, send them the tickets and meet them at the theater or concert-hall, waiting for them in the lobby. He would certainly offer at least to escort them home, unless they were going in a carriage. In this case he would content himself with asking the man at the door to call it, or going to find it himself, should this be necessary, and putting them safely into their own conveyance. He should endeavor to find a sheltered place for them to stand pending the arrival of the vehicle, and keep a sharp lookout himself lest the carriage lose its place in the line and so make the ladies wait for an undue length of time.
For a large and formal theater party, it is usual to invite the guests to dinner, or to supper after the play or opera. In either case they assemble at the house of the hostess, who provides an omnibus, automobile, or other conveyance to take them to and from the playhouse. She must name an hour early enough to enable the party to reach the opera-house or theater in good season. If she asks her friends to dine with her, she should for the same reason avoid a long bill of fare. The guests should be careful to come punctually. Should any of them be detained, they should telephone and ask the hostess not to wait for them. To fail to keep an engagement for dinner is considered one of the gravest social sins. How much worse it is to spoil a theater party in addition by remaining away after promising to come!