Is it true that people in the UK still wear top hats for dinner?

Question

Is it true that people in the UK still wear top hats for dinner?

Answer 1

Lol.. I haven't seen any guys wearing a hat in my 2 years I used to live in the UK .. maybe a cap... but definitely no top hats.. that stopped in the 1950's and they did wear them in every country then.. until the early 1950's then this stopped.. it was no longer fashionable same as the fashion for women changed dramatically from the conservative kind of clothes they wore in the 1950's to the mini skirts and then later the hippie look which was the same everywhere in the western world..  they all had long hair.. the guys.. and the girls wore mini skirts and boots... and danced to different music. in the 1950's it was petticoats for women and dancing to Rock n' Roll.. then came the 60's and everything changed... x*x The Queen and the Royals are the only ones who may wear hats in public now.. and everyone goes and wears hats to Royal Ascot that's a must.. and the craziest hat wins a price.. that's more for the women though.. but I believe women who don't wear a hat don't even get in there.. x*x

Answer 2

I don't think so...

Answer 3

where have you been for the last 100 years?

Answer 4

One would only wear Morning Dress outdoors at a formal event (grey Top Hat, Pinstriped Trousers, Waistcoat, Tail Coat, Dress Shirt, Patent Leather Shoes, and Cravat), e.g. Royal Ascot, up scale weddings, the Queen's Garden Party, being Knighted, etc.

Evening dress (black Top Hat, Tail Coat, trousers, Dress Shirt, Bow Tie, Patent Leather Shoes) is only for formal balls, the Lord Mayor's Banquet, the Opera (if you are into dressing for the occasion), or performing aa a Professional Classical Musician - particularly as a soloist.

Even if one were dining in Evening Dress (rather than the more correct etiquette of Dining in a Dinner Jacket) one would eat bare headed.

Except hiring one for a Wedding, a vanishingly small number of people would ever put on Morning Dress. Most of these wear Morning Dress without the Top Hat, as most British men would be extremely uncomfortable in any sort of hat.

One might just about get away with wearing a top hat and eating if one were at an incredibly posh outdoor picnic (the kind with waiters and marquees). These only occur in that "special" version of reality represented by films staring Hugh Grant circa 1995.

Answer 5

top hats  are  formal wear  only  and  all hats  are  removed  before  dining

Answer 6

Gentlemen do not wear any kind of hat during dinner, in the U.K. or anywhere else.

Answer 7

They might indeed don such a hat to wear outdoors while they are going to and coming from a formal dinner.  However, I have it on the highest authority that they doff their hats when arriving at the place where they are to enjoy the coveted feast and the charms of all the ladies.

Answer 8

After the war we never dressed for dinner and certainly didn't wear hats.  Mummy and Poppy and we children generally showed up in our underpants.