Professional Concert Dress Guidlines For Classical Musicians
Let me guess, you have a big orchestra or group recital coming up, and you need to look good. Not just good but you want to wow everyone with your professional concert dress. You are smart to realize that this is not the time to look like you just rolled out of bed. In fact were you aware that many competitions and festivals are graded to at east a small degree on your appearance? Many teachers will also dock your grade if you come to concerts sloppy and inappropriately dressed. Check out this University Professor's letter to students concerning their professional concert dress....or lack of it.
“These dress guidelines are strongly enforced to ensure that everyone in the ensemble is dressed professionally for performances. If in doubt as to what to wear, you should stay as conservative as possible. Students who arrive for a concert improperly dressed will be sent home to change or, if this is not possible, will have their grade automatically lowered and may be pulled from the concert.”
*One safe rule to follow is that no one should be able to see your toes, knees, or elbows.
Professional Concert Dress Guidlines
MEN Dress Guidelines
- Black tuxedo
- White dress shirt – clean and pressed!
- Black socks and black dress shoes
- Black cummerbund or black tuxedo vest
- Suspenders are permitted, but must be either black or white
- Black bow tie
WOMEN Dress Guidelines
- Plain, black, floor to mid-calf length gown with long or ¾ sleeves or
- Long or mid-calf black skirt (or black dress slacks) with a black top having long or ¾ sleeves. No black jeans.
- Black or neutral hosiery and black dress shoes (No open-toed shoes or sandals)
- No plunging necklines, rising slits, low-cut backs, or displays of midriff. Dress and skirt slits must not exceed six inches in length. Wear a slip if the outfit requires.
Long black skirts paired with a long sleeve black shirt can be a great option, especially when travelling.
I came across an AWESEOME online boutique store, I've included the picture link below. Shabby Apple has the most unique, stylish, and sophisticated selection of black dresses I have ever seen. By the way, I am not even getting paid to say that, Shabby Apple is not a sponser of my website, I just think they are that awesome and I like recommending awesome things to my readers! You will want to make sure on the exact standard of your performance group and be careful because some of the dresses only come to the knee. However, they do have a handful of black dresses that come to mid-calf and some that sweep all the way to the ground. Almost all of their dresses have sleeves which is great because most orchestra's require sleeves.
