necessity of men's sports jacket

csquire

My husband is packing four the Grand Australia and NewZealand tour beginning on Oct. 13 It was suggested that a sports jacket would be in order for the welcoming dinner. He would prefer not to bring a jacket. Is it necessary?
Do men usually wear a jacket for that dinner?

lori

I hope not, because my husband isn't bringing one.

rabo

This has been discussed on numerous Tauck trip forums. Although I have not been on this tour, and I do prefer to wear a jacket at Welcome/Farewell and special dinners, the choice is entirely yours. You should do what you are most comfortable doing. Some men at these dinners will wear jackets, others will not. No one will look any differently at you because of what you wear. It's your vacation!

British

My husband did not take a jacket on the Spotlight on Australia tour. We are going to NZ next and he will not be taking one either. First he is on vacation, he works very hard all year, nice to be casual, and second there is no room in the suitcase. We have never been on a Tauck tour where all the men wear jackets. There are usually a few at a Welcome dinner but then people get more and more casual as the trips go on. I just can't imagine having to put a man's jacket in and out of a suitcase for two weeks and it still look decent to wear. I have great packing tips for keeping things less creased, but when you are throwing stuff in a suitcase for pick up at some unearthly hour to head for the next destination, even I get a little slapdash. When I bother to look around and check what others are wearing, we are always somewhere in the middle of the pack of extremes from those who wear glitz and sparkle and those who are in baggy shorts and unshaven. Having said that, we have never done a River Cruise.

jdurkin

As Rabo says, it really is down to your personal sense of style. As a Melbourne resident, I don't think gentlemen need a jacket. Having said that, I think everyone will need to pack some sort of jacket as a layer of clothing. My rule of thumb when I travel is that I try, as far as is practical, to dress like a local and blend in as much as I can. This is as much for personal security as it is to satisfy my sense of being an experienced traveller, rather than a tourist. Of course, the sight of a camera dangling around one's neck definitely ruins my vision of perfection!! )

It all depends where you are, naturally. A three piece suit in tropical Queensland would mark you as an eccentric of the very oddest kind. Likewise, it's easy to pick a tourist wandering down Collins Street in Melbourne, regardless of whether you are wearing baggy shorts and unshaven. Unless you happen to be some gloriously godly, Apollo type, there is nothing more disturbing than the aforementioned vision. I suppose if anyone were to be so dressed in a smart restaurant here, you would be deaf and blind to the reaction of other diners, anyway. But you do need to consider the invisible label you have placed over your head … I am [probably] a tourist. Rip me off. The Tauck bubble can only extend so far.

Cheers,

Jan

chatkatinca.

On the Prague to Budapest tour last year, men wore jackets to dinner many of the evenings and all of the special events - dinner at the Castle in Prague, in Budapest at the Club eveing and the musical night in Vienna. My husband will be wearing a jacket on our Spotlight on Australia tour.

British

The land tours are different, like I said you will be moving from hotel to hotel and keeping your suitcases in order will be a challenge. Also, bare in mind what time of year you will be traveling, it can get very hot in Australia. I assume you will give the jacket a break in Uluru and in tropical Queensland whatever time of year you travel. It's a great trip, but as Jan says it only skims the surface of Australia

Sue M

I am glad the topic of sports jackets came up. I was also going to ask if they are necessary. My husband does not mind wearing a sports jacket, but I think for this trip, most folks (like us) are concerned with packing.
For the Grand Australia/New Zealand trip, we will be traveling for almost a month (including flights and and extra time in LA and Melbourne). Being allowed only one 50 lb. piece of checked luggage per person and a small carryon that can not weigh more than 15 lbs (Tauck rules for their flights), we are really limited in what we can pack.
A sports jacket (that might only be worn once or twice) takes up a lot of room. Now having said that, I know my husband would not want to be the only gentleman not wearing one, so I am glad to read that other men do not plan to bring sports jackets.
We are going on the tour that begins February 9th.
It would be very much appreciated if those of you who are going earlier, could post comments and suggestions when you return.
Sue

British

I'll try to do that Sue, I'll count numbers even--- if I remember

Leo M

I sense a great deal of angst surrounding this topic. May I ask who made the "suggestion" that a sports coat would be in order at the Welcome Reception????

If it was Tauck than Tauck should clarify its "suggestion" for the benefit of its guests. British is right...her husband is on vacation and will not wear a jacket. I don't blame him. I wouldn't either.

Tauck is always reasonable. This should be an easy fix...Leo M

jdurkin

Leo M wrote:

I sense a great deal of angst surrounding this topic. May I ask who made the "suggestion" that a sports coat would be in order at the Welcome Reception????

I certainly didn't, Leo! But I did suggest that travellers need some sort of jacket as a layer of clothing. You know that song? Four Seasons in One Day …...

Cheers,

Jan

Richardb

I agree with what Jan says. We did this tour in October last year from England and me, being me, did take and wear a sports jacket and tie for the welcome and closing dinners. I just feel more comfortable that way, but did not wear the jacket or tie anywhere else. It is all about one's personal self respect - if you feel more comfortable without a jacket just go that way. The whole thing about a Tauck Tour is that you are supposed to relax and enjoy the experience, so there is no point in worrying about what others might think - it is YOUR vacation, so do whatever makes YOU feel comfortable. I can assure you that the tour experience will certainly be as excellent with or without a jacket.
Richard

British

It's interesting to get the perspective from an Englishman. If an Englishman only wore a jacket at the Welcome Dinner and never again on the tour, until the Farewell dinner, and yet had it available to wear again if required, that says a lot to me. In fact, a look just now at the 'What to Pack ' section makes no mention of jacket and tie, I think the word Formal is used. Some people might even interpret that as a tuxedo or dinner jacket or black tie depending on which country you come from, the terms are different. I!m only going on the New Zealand tour that technically is the second half of the whole tour. So one could interpret that as having two Welcome and two farewell dinners. When we did the Spotlight on Australia tour, a group of us left and the remainder of the group went on to New Zealand and picked up a new Spotlight on New Zealand group.
This subject comes up constantly. Tauck might want to review it's advice in the clothing section, it tends to be extremely generic and sometimes downright wrong. The best example being the 'Paris Event' that takes place at New Year where shorts are on the packing list. I don't know whether it got changed but that could mislead a lot of people about the type of weather to expect in Paris at that time of year.
No, i did not start this subject, but it's something I always make comment about. A lot of people obviously show great concern about it and TAUCK Tim and Emily who are always helpful, generally just quote the same packing list that is on the website. The best tips I have found about clothing have come from this forum over the years.

jdurkin

Look, chaps, this is getting silly. Surely there is some common sense out there? This thread is about Australia and New Zealand. So how about some basic facts.

The two independent nations, Australia and New Zealand, are often collectively referred to geographically as Australasia. Australasia is in the Southern Hemisphere. Thus, the seasons are reversed to what you are used to in the Northern Hemisphere. (As is the direction of the water down the drain pipe.)

You are spending a Very Short Time in both (or either) countries. You are crossing vast amounts of country to see a few tourist icons. You are crossing from climate to climate within each country. This makes packing difficult. Choose natural fibres that breathe and that you can wash out yourself in the hotel bathrooms. Choose garments that can be layered. Fine micron wool is an excellent solution. One of those new-fangled "buffs" is an excellent accessory. You also need a sun hat.

Check the net for current and past average temperatures for the cities you are visiting. There are plenty of weather sites available. Find a local news site in each country and check the current weather. Get a feel for where, and when, you are going. You are not in Kansas any more, even though many do choose to visit in cyclone/rainy season. (Why would you do that!)

Formal wear for gentlemen can mean many things, including white tie or black tie. "White tie" indicates tails. Your President wears this style of dress for the that fancy Ball after the Swearing In ceremony. Or think Fed Astaire dancing with Ginger Rogers.
"Black tie" means a dinner suit (or what you call a tuxedo) which is usually black, worn with a black tie. Think George Clooney on his wedding day in Venice.
"Morning suit" means a grey, tailed suit, white shirt and grey tie … which some people wear to very special race meetings, like Ascot, Longchamp and even the Melbourne Cup (although you rarely see that nowadays). Or fancy weddings, even! (But not in Australasia!)
A "dinner jacket" can refer to a cream linen jacket worn over formal black trousers with a silk strip down the outside seam. It can also describe any manner of fancy jacket worn over the same trousers.
For ladies, formal wear means an evening gown, traditionally floor length, worn with (traditionally) above elbow length gloves, preferably in the finest kid leather. Think the Oscars.
You won't need any of this for your Tauck package tour of Australia or New Zealand.

Gentlemen might, depending on their personal style, pack a tailored jacket and wear that with or without a tie. Everyone should pack some sort of (unstructured?) jacket to wear as a layer of clothing. The weather can change. It can get cold. It can rain. It can get windy.

Everyone likes to freshen up. Daytime travel clothes get dirty, dusty and yes, smelly. As do people. As a point of personal hygiene it is a Good Thing to wash and change clothes. It is respectful to the other people within range. It is also a mark of respect for the people around you. In the process of getting cleaned up, ladies might like to dress up or down, depending on the place and occasion. As mentioned above, you do not need formal or even semi-formal clothes. Tauck often use the words resort, smart, casual. I think that covers most appropriate possibilities!

I can't believe I'm actually saying this! Hand on heart, on one of my recent travels some of the above really needed to be said. It wasn't. It was most unpleasant for everyone else, including the offending party … who ended up being ostracised purely out a sense of self preservation by the group.

Many people have said it is your vacation so you can do what you want. It is also a mark of civilised society that you don't always do exactly as you want, when and where you want it. We all get enough of that inside our own homes! Heaven help us, we don't need to take that outside, do we?

I have not set out to be offensive on any level. If you do take offence, I'm sorry for that, but I have to wonder how much you will really enjoy your visit Down Under.

Cheers,

Jan

njhoo

We are also on the Oct 13 start and I will not be bringing a sports jacket or tie for the first/last dinner. I however, will be taking along a nice light weight sweater as part of the layering that will be okay for these two events. Russ

lvgregger

I have not had a problem on any Tauck travel experience with NOT wearing a jacket. I tend to dress smartly with nice long sleeve shirt and good slacks. Do what you are comfortable with? and who are you trying to impress?