Cruise High Fashion
Cruisers have always been fashion conscious – but now the concept of "high fashion" ups the stakes for cruise passengers everywhere.
Tips and Advice About High Fashion on a Cruise
Even before you start thinking about whether to go “high fashion” or not, you need to know your cruise itinerary and the climate and weather you should expect – and then you need to know the dress requirements of the cruise line you are traveling with.
Once you know what kind of dress code is required for your particular cruise (see “Cruise Dress Codes”) and have discussed it at length with your fellow passengers in the forum (see “Dressing on Cruises”), you need to decide if you’re going to stick with your favorite outfits from last summer, or if a whole new wardrobe of high fashion is in order. For some this is the high point of the cruise - shopping for it!
And there’s nothing wrong with that. Part of being on a cruise is feeling you look your best. You don’t want to be wearing that ratty old bathrobe when you’re gazing out over the moonlit Caribbean Sea.
It is for you that the “cruise collection” was born. Also known as a travel collection, or resort collection, the cruise collection is a preseason line of ready-to-wear clothing that is presented in addition to the regular spring and fall collections and which offers “light” clothing at a time when usually only cold-weather designs are available.
Offered by high fashion houses like Chanel, Dior and Ralph Lauren, cruise collections are also now being targeted at men by the likes of Yves Saint-Laurent, Dolce & Cabbana, Gucci and Armani.
Don’t be intimidated by the classic labels – their cruise high fashion collections are increasingly popular because they are what is considered “wearable” and can be utilised beyond the cruise experience.
Another bit of advice is to head for the upmarket retailers like Saks Fifth Avenue, Nordstroms, Neiman Marcus and Bergdorf Goodman, among others, who offer off-the-rack pieces for cruise wear.
And of course, yet another option is the internet.
Neiman Marcus, for example, have been offering current designer merchandise and luxury brands on the Internet since 1999. Highlights of their service includes the NM Virtual Studio/Personal Shopper Program, which makes available all the inventory from its largest store, 24-hour instantaneous customer assistance via real time online chat and fractal zoom for up-close looks at details.
In fact, the options are endless. The trick is to go for what makes you comfortable and what you can afford.
