Is this okay for tea at the Ritz and ROH?

[DieDreiHexen]

We visit London quite often, but mostly supper in Marylebone, picnic in the park, the theatre, lunch by the river, an exhibition or Ronnie Scott's (or work!) Basically, nice stuff but nothing fancy, just wear jeans or a day dress. This outing is unusual for me...

We are celebrating DD's 16th birthday in January with a trip to Mikimoto for pearl earrings, tea at the Ritz and Onegin at the Royal Opera House. We are overnighting at the Ritz (already looking forward to breakfast!)

DD has an amazing Sister Jane dress.

Would this dress do for me? How do people dress for ROH? Is it better in black or cream? (I'm a Deep Autumn apparently) And what shoes might work? I was hoping I might get away with loafers as I hate heels.

Any ideas appreciated!

@Shakatak@WindsurfingDreams

The whole 'Cambridge let me...' was OP being sarcastic/trying to match the tone of some of the posts

@Mountainstories While that is true, on both counts, many opt for afternoon tea at The Ritz because it's The Ritz. It's also in close proximity, far closer in fact, to Old Bond Street (than Rosewood is to ROH) when the OP and her daughter are going shopping.

The main problem with Rosewood is their restaurant - Holborn Dining Room - as delicious as the food is, has absolutely zero atmosphere. Scarfes bar is lovely though.

You make a good point, it's just such a shame to have a certain expectation of afternoon tea at the Ritz and then be disappointed.

OP, another good afternoon tea is at The Corinthia Hotel, which isn't too far either.

@Mountainstories That's true re. Corinthia. Also, Claridges, and Sketch whose afternoon tea, not to mention toilets, are much lauded. However, and ultimately, maybe The Ritz holds a special place in OPs heart or even her daughter requested it. People usually pick a place for a specific reason and not just personal preference.

Yeah, I'll take that. It's definitely a thing to have afternoon tea at the Ritz, which is why they're so full even though their offering is poor. It strikes me that OP wants to have a full on glam day, which sounds fantastic, but that the Ritz may let them down.

OP it's your/your daughters day, do what you like 👍

@Grammarnut

If I want to have tea at the Ritz I can - but I can also think of things I would enjoy more. I wouldn't write a post on it and what to wear on MN, though.

Sure. But the whole point here is that this is the 'style and beauty' section where posters can ask advice for an appropriate or nice outfit for the activities they are undertaking. The OP in this case is going for tea at the Ritz and to the Opera. There will be other threads where people have asked advice on dressing for a rock concert or travel (for example).

For a lot of people, these are not activities which they do every day, perhaps a once in a lifetime thing so they want to feel comfortable and not out of place.

But the Corinthia is where the TOWIE cast hang out when they're in town. Surely no-one wants to be rubbing shoulders with that lot?

The dress is appropriate enough, though it's a bit meh for nearly 300 quid, particularly given that it's over half polyester.

But I agree with other posters who have pointed out that you'll be spending the time sitting down. Your daughter's dress is gorgeous enough to make it worth the slight discomfort, but the Me+Em one really isn't.

(I've just spent 4 days in London, and I dressed up for everything. For Wicked and dinner at an Ivy Brasserie I wore emerald green trousers and an amazing embroidered jacket over a patterned top.)

Afternoon tea at claridges and the savoy are both lovely and have the same old fashioned glamour as the ritz without the touristy feel. Since you’re having breakfast at the ritz which will be amazing it might be nice to do tea somewhere else.

There are too many pages to read them all but what I'll say as having tea-d at the Ritz several time over decades with young and older people, you can wear anything that's reasonably smart.

I think looking over-dressed is in bad/poor taste and a bit chavvy.

I'm sorry but I don't like that green dress and your DD is bound to get 'looks'.
It's not IMO suitable for the Ritz where everyone is more low key.

Lovely outfit but I would fear jam stains on cream! Is it ok for getting up & down out of awkward theatre seats?
I think it's a shame people don't dress up more for the theatre/ballet/opera, it's my only 'formal' outing these days and I love dressing up then feel a bit out of place with folks in jeans and anoraks! (not in London myself and would love to visit ROH)

😂

Poor taste? Chavvy? Listen to yourself....

God this thread is unreal. All those people saying don't go to The Ritz, everyone goes to The Ritz are you all just too cool to go somewhere touristy? I went in the summer and every single person in the Palm Court dressed up for tea, it's NOT low key as you put it, it's a great opportunity to dress up! I wouldn't go regularly but lovely to do now and then and the staff are lovely, make such a fuss of you.

Crumbs!

Just an FYI, afternoon tea at the Ritz is hideous. They cram you in like sardines and there are so many people. Its a meat market, and a very overpriced one at that.

@Mountainstories do you know what a meat market means? A place people go to pick up partners for casual sex. I mean I’ve not been for afternoon tea at the Ritz (prefer Ham Yard) but I shouldn’t imagine it’s full of people trying to get their rocks off

do you know what a meat market means? A place people go to pick up partners for casual sex.

Try telling that to a butcher.

@HauntedBungalow i very much doubt the ritz is either a literal meat market or the more commonly used slang intention of meat market. So, that response doesn’t really make sense….

For the regulars who go to the ROH please can you tell me where is a good area to sit? I would love to see Onegin but every time I look at the seating plan I’m not sure where to choose.

I will definitely wear something smart, I’ve been following this thread and some of the comments are quite unbelievable. I hope you and your daughter have a wonderful day OP.

There aren't really any bad seats at the ROH. Sight lines and acoustics are very good. If you are round the sides of the horseshoe shape you may find yourself twisting to look at the stage.

Middle of Grand Tier is lovely but our budget is more sides of the Amphitheatre. Which is still good but you may want binoculars for detail.

How miserable and sour would a person have to be to give a beautiful teenager wearing a special dress and having afternoon tea with her family ‘looks’? Ew

@pinecrest we usually sit in the stalls circle because DH likes it but there isn't really a bad place. DD sometimes has complimentary tickets which are at the sides of the stalls and very close to the orchestra. The view is super, albeit not as brilliant but the atmosphere can be more jolly.

@Pinecrest depending on budget - for the more expensive seats I prefer the stalls circle, preferably the front row in the section where it curves round from top of the horseshoe down the straight sides - that is the best balance for me of being able to see the detail, being slightly elevated to get a sense of the patterns and spectacle but not having to twist too much to see. I also like the same sort of seats in the balcony.

For more budget seats I like to be as far to the front of the amphitheatre as I can get. There are also some excellent value seats round the side of the stalls circle close to the stage which are actually bench seats (rows b and c) but they tend to go in the pre-sale to memberships (imo they are much better than the equivalent price tickets in the amphitheatre as the view overall is briliant, even if you might miss a small part of the stage).

Enjoy though - as @AnnaMagnani and @RosesAndHellebores say, there aren't really any bad seats as such.

Ah I see, meat market may have been the wrong description for afternoon tea at the Ritz. How about.. human soup? I find it unreal how close the table are together, literally cramming as many people as they can into the finite Palm Court area. It's the opposite of luxury, although you'd have bragging rights of having been to the Ritz for afternoon tea.

There are lots of much nicer places in the area that are actually luxurious, but in the end if you've got your heart set on the Ritz, all good.

How about.. human soup?

Abattoir?

There are some really unpleasant posts on this thread- style and beauty is usually such a nice and helpful part of mumsnet. I seriously hope some are AI responses, as otherwise there are some really jealous, spiteful, and elevenerife posters about. I hope the OP has an amazing time.

Oh fgs just give over. This is the weirdest, snobbiest, awful thread. All that 'I know old money rubbish', it's painful.