Attire for Tower of London Dinner

We are taking the England, Scotland, Wales tour in Sept. I see there is a special Tower of London dinner. What attire is acceptable for that evening? We would prefer to not bring along suit/tie/sport jacket, dress/skirt, if at all possible. Thanks!

Comments

  • We are just back from this trip and had a great time!

    Most men wear a sports jacket (no tie) to the Tower of London dinner, but it is not required.

    Our tour director recommended good flat walking shoes for this event due to the cobblestones, and this was excellent advice. Many women who wore sandals or shoes with heels regretted it. There is much walking on cobblestones prior to the dinner and after dinner for the Ceremony of the Keys. There are also many stairs to climb. Practical supportive shoes are definitely the best choice fo this dinner
  • Many people dress up for this dinner, but it is certainly not required. You will be dining only with other people on the tour. However, something you may wish to consider is where you will dine on your own. If you plan to go to a nicer restaurant in London, you may want to pack a sport jacket and dress.
  • I appreciate this advice since I'll be taking this tour Aug 3. Have tickets to the theatre the following week so will have at least one dress packed, but sounds like I'll be wearing tennies with it. Thanks.
  • I'm so glad that neat casual clothes are Ok as I would have looked terribly out of place. Because I live in the tropics I never take a sportcoat or ties with me when I go on holidays. I'm looking forward to our journey which starts on 10th August. Feel free to add you name to the list if you are one of the 24 Americans travelling with a pair of Aussies on this adventure. You can drop us a line at rodmky@optusnet.com.au.

    Rod
  • When I took this trip there were several times where I wore a suit (and I am not normally one who does that). The atmosphere was somewhat formal in the Tower of London dinner. Most men had coats or suits and ties. Most women had nice dresses. I don't think anyone really cared if you didn't (I sure didn't since I can't actually remember anyone who didn't) but for the most part it was more formal than other dinners or events. I think I wore my suit for the introductory dinner, at one of the hotels for dinner where a coat was required by the restaurant (there was a choice to go to a different, casual restaurant--since we stayed at that hotel for two nights and ate in both places, I would rather have suffered through the suit twice for the better food), and the Tower of London dinner. Either way, you'll be fine and have a great trip.

    We've been to England and Wales several times on our own and have relatives in Wales, but the Tauck tour took us places we had never been and gave us a great history lesson as we drove throughout the countries. The hotels were very good and the food was delicious. Enjoy.
  • edited February 2014
    We went last July 2013 and I just pulled up the pics- the women wore dresses or slacks, skirts, blouses and jacket or sweater (nothing glamorous) while the men wore slacks, nice shirts and most started out in jackets and ties- last summer's heat in the UK forced almost all the men to remove their jackets and ties early into the welcome dinner and the farewell dinner in the Tower where these photos were taken.

    Pictures worth a 1000 words?

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  • Wow, AlanS, love to see your other pics. Can you post a link? Please! Thanks in advance!
  • Hey! Who's the dapper bloke with the bow tie? What stylish dinner company this smiling couple makes!

    Cheers,

    Jan

  • Isn't the smiling lady Tauck Rachel? We have had the pleasure of her Tour Direction twice in Africa and some good laughs too!
  • I was thinking what a great idea the bow tie was. It doesn't take that much effort to maintain some level of sartorial elegance after all, does it? Goodness, anyone would think dinner guests at the Tower were required to pack a suit of armour the way some blokes carry on.

    Cheers,

    Jan
    Translation: satire = a joke. One can never rely on North American readers seeing the funny side. Kind of ruins the moment if you have to spell it out, though.
  • We have to wear that armor to deflect that biting satire, otherwise our egos, self-esteem, gender identification, or some other political or social demographic would be bruised, beaten, or otherwise be harmed. I'm sure I'll get roasted for this one.
  • British wrote:
    Isn't the smiling lady Tauck Rachel? We have had the pleasure of her Tour Direction twice in Africa and some good laughs too!

    You are most correct! She was tagging along and taking some last minute notes before leading her own E,S,W trips later in the year (and this year?). I understand she was a fantastic Tauck Africa tours guide. In the bow tie is Ron, our fabulous Tauck guide- he should be leading 3 tours the season if he makes it back from his round the world trek. He is a great guy and a fount of UK knowledge and all things dealing with English royalty, succession, etc.

    Sorry, about the wide format photos- you may need to slide your frame bar, you can see the Tauck label on Ron's shirt pocket.

    Sorry, slockwood I don't have any other photos uploaded.

    If any of you have Ron or Rachel this summer, ask about this photo of me (by the way that is Rachel in the seat behind me). I was in self-imposed time out:

    Alan_with_tape.JPG
  • ndvb wrote:
    We have to wear that armor to deflect that biting satire, otherwise our egos, self-esteem, gender identification, or some other political or social demographic would be bruised, beaten, or otherwise be harmed. I'm sure I'll get roasted for this one.

    I love it!!!!! :))))))))
  • Yikes, security at the dreaded Heathrow airport must be slipping if they let you and your ducktape through! That's a joke too!
  • He probably left his box cutter at home.
  • edited February 2014
    AlanS wrote:
    You are most correct! She was tagging along and taking some last minute notes before leading her own E,S,W trips later in the year (and this year?). I understand she was a fantastic Tauck Africa tours guide.

    We had the pleasure of having Rachel as our tour director on our ESW August 9th tour last year. Her knowledge of UK history was incredible, and she related it without notes. She is a great storyteller! She was also adept at dealing with unexpected issues to ensure a smooth trip. We hope to take one of her South Africa tours sometime.
  • ndvb wrote:
    He probably left his box cutter at home.
    Language is a funny thing. It took me quite a while to equate the aforementioned term with what people in the UK, Australasia and parts of Europe refer to as a Stanley knife. (In the same way Hoover has become a generic term for vacuum cleaner.) Yep, that term sure did colour me confused, concerned, alarmed and perplexed. And that is certainly not a position anyone wants to be in when dealing with your TSA I can tell you!

  • jdurkin wrote:
    Language is a funny thing. It took me quite a while to equate the aforementioned term with what people in the UK, Australasia and parts of Europe refer to as a Stanley knife. (In the same way Hoover has become a generic term for vacuum cleaner.) Yep, that term sure did colour me confused, concerned, alarmed and perplexed. And that is certainly not a position anyone wants to be in when dealing with your TSA I can tell you!

    It really wasn't called a box cutter that much until labelled as such by the press after 9/11, at least I never heard the term. Many, especially in the trades, refer to it as a utility knife like the venerable Stanley 199 below, although it is sometimes called a drywall knife where it is often confused with a taping knife that has a wide blade and more akin to a trowel. I hope no one mentions any kind of knife as the folks at TSA have no sense of humor (thank goodness).

    tmp50CA%2Etmp_tcm96-1995771.jpg?width=600&404=404.png
  • Yep, that's the one. I have heard of the other tools you mention … probably from home improvements shows! And I remember another one, called a putty knife, used for spreading putty when installing glass into sash window frames. I suppose those all come ready made, if at all, now.

    You are quite right about the total lack of any sense of humour at the TSA. Australians are particularly warned about engaging in the sort of banter we normally use, back and forth I might add, with our own airport security personnel. The last time I went through airport security a month ago in Melbourne, I was tested for chemical traces of bomb making. I giggled the entire way through, while the security bloke was totally professional, and pleasantly good-natured … all at the same time! We have to be very aware and highly alert when we deal with the TSA, mainly because of the social differences in tone and manner. I make no comment on the level of professionalism of the TSA, you understand. I am just commenting on the social differences, including language anomalies. Arrival procedures, I've found, are quite different. The US Immigration officials do have funny bones. I'm often chided for not being tall enough to reach the eye recognition gizmos. (Who can jump after a flight that long!) Perhaps it's because they know when eyes are really smiling! And knowing that, means that they really are good at their jobs.

    Cheers,

    Jan

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