sport jacket for men

Jettystone

For those of you who have been on this Australia/New Zealand tour, what has been your experience regarding the use of a sport jacket among your tour group? Just to get a reading on this: Would you say generally 50/50? Few wear one? We have been on four Tauck tours and have not carried a sport jacket. The trip information refers to possibly dressing for dinner beyond the welcome and farewell dinner. Your specific information would be helpful.

British

It's the same old story, some wear jackets the first night, then you never see any again.

jdurkin

What British said .... but please don't think you will blend in if you wear your "safari" gear in large cosmopolitan cities like Melbourne, Sydney or Auckland. You will mark yourselves out as naive tourists. Always better to be as inconspicuous as possible when you travel and blend in as best you can. On the other hand, if you feel comfortable wearing a jacket in a restaurant because that's your style, go right ahead. You won't be alone in these world cities.

Cheers,

Jan

Richardb

I did because that is what I do! However, I used the jacket only for the welcome and final dinners where several other (but not all) gents did the same.
Just be comfortable and don't bother thinking about what others might think - just be yourself and relax. Some of us just feel uncomfortable without a jacket for certain activities. Do your own thing.
Richard

Irishwoman41

Our March 23rd Australia/NZ trip will be our 8th with Tauck. My husband always has two jackets with him, one to travel in and one for the trip itself. He is a very meticulous dresser and we both find we get better service and attention and respect when we are dressed appropriately. We have been disappointed in recent years to find Tauck discouraging anything but casual dress. And I told them so. Sort of the "dumbing down" of dress. I have, on several trips, had Tauck guides tell me how pleased they were to see us dressed as we were. So, it is certainly your choice but we will continue to do our "own thing" and have a good time in the process.

British

I am on the New Zealand only trip right now, so I can only tell you what I sm seeing in this particular group, all groups vary, but this one is very very casual. I haven't seen a jacket since some people wore them at the Welcome dinner. Many of the men wear polo shirts at dinner. My husband wears a nice shirt. More importantly, I could in no way attempt to blend in with the locals at night because the women of all ages are wearing such short skirts, I have never seen anything quite like it since I was a teenager in the sixties. Some of these women need to see what they look like in a mirror before leaving the house. We leave for Auckland today, so I await to see what the locals are wearing there. As far as Australia is concerned, it's about 3 years since I was there, I cannot recall the dress there.

jdurkin

Oh, your post is so funny, British! My grandmother had a saying quite apropos of your short skirt vision. Nanna used to say, with feeling ...."Tsk ..... the things you see when you haven't got a shotgun..." The second line of the saying, more oft left unsaid is ..."Because you'd put them out of their misery." This has to be understood in the context that Australia has never been party to a gun culture, so the outrageousness of the statement renders it more humorous than otherwise. In past times, (my grandmother's era) farmers and other people on the land had guns as a necessary part of animal husbandry, (as I'm sure they still do) and they would generally be shotguns. Strangely, I do remember my mother using the phrase within my hearing ... back in the day of the Mary Quant mini I was so proud of .......

What would the world be like if we couldn't laugh at and with each other? Urgh, so boring .....

Richardb

As I indicated in my earlier post, I am with Orishwoman41..........it is all about what you feel comfortable in.
Back here in England some firms have what they call "dressing down Friday" where casual attire rules every Friday. When I worked at one such firm temporarily I must say that I would not even dig my garden in what some guys wore!
Richard

lvgregger

From my personal experience on Tauck trips in AUS/NZ and in London, Paris and Versailles the only reason to have a sport coat is if you are personally going to feel more comfortable wearing one. Only one third of the men, at most, have worn them on our past trips.