What to wear to a Diner en Blanc

Diner en Blanc 2015

... in Cape Town it's on November 28 and I am still waiting to find out 2015's date in Johannesburg.

And already, Vince and I are busy making plans. Just as important as your choice of menu and table decorations is your choice of what to wear.

ostrich egg jewelry

Obviously you wear white. And they mean all white. But as a veteran now of two Diners en Blanc in Johannesburg, I can tell you it's not that simple. For instance women can get away with silver or nude shoes and men with a darker beige. You risk being turned away though with black shoes or a black belt. We've never risked it.

For the Diner en Blanc-Johannesburg in 2013 I went for comfort and wore pants. Ralph Lauren white eyelet trimmed pants and a floor length white crochet sweater, a Morgane Le Fay sleeveless blouse underneath and a Panama Hat from the Bryanston Organic Market on my head. Ostrich egg and silver jewelry and silver sequined straw wedges.

The only thing I bought especially for the DOB that year was my ostrich eggshell jewelry, purchased mostly from Avoova in Cape Town and Mambu Designs in the Bryanston Organic Market.

For our second Diner en Blanc-Johannesburg in 2014 I made more of an effort. I wore a white lace dress I found in a local Joburg boutique that has since closed, a Ralph Lauren Angora bolero that I already owned and I had a fascinator custom-made for me by The Little Hattery in Cape Town.

My sweater has a rhinestone clasp so I accessorized with Lulu Frost art deco rhinestone earrings and bought a pair of rhinestone embellished sandals. Sparkly!

  





These are some things to think about when deciding what to wear to Diner en Blanc in 2015.

The more elegant, the better. Save the white tee shirt, white pants and white flip flops for the beach. You will feel underdressed wearing them at DOB. People pull out all the stops! And there is usually a contest for best-dressed which makes people go even crazier with their fashion choices.

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hats make nice centerpieces too

Include headwear in your ensemble. That means hats of course, but headwear is more than just hats. Here is your chance to think outside the box.

People wear anything from tiaras and crowns to platinum blonde wigs. Have fun!

Individualize with accessories. White sunglasses. Ostrich boas. Bow ties for men. Folding fans. Gloves. An ascot. And masks for that Carnival feeling.

Prepare for rain. Unless you live in the desert or if there is an absolute 0% chance of rain, think about it. If you care about what you're wearing and it's not waterproof, bring a white umbrella and / or a clear or white rain coat

Think French. Since DOB started in the Bois de Boulogne in Paris, anything French goes, both on the table and on your person. Inspiration can come from the Eiffel Tower and the other monuments of Paris to ...

... an homage to some of the more imitable French style icons such as Marie Antoinette, Jean Seberg and Brigitte Bardot.

Some cities even have a contest for the dress or tablescape with the most French flair.

For one of these Diners someday, I am going to wear a white Marie Antoinette ship on my head!

DOB Barcelona was held on the beach in front of the Gehry fish

All terrain shoes. You never know where you'll be walking and on what surface. Could be gravel, grass, sand or concrete. Stilettos are probably not a good idea for most locations - always a well-guarded secret until the last minute. It's best to just plan for all terrains.

As always, the guys have a much easier time of it. A white button down shirt paired with white linen pants. White boat shoes or bucks. White slip-on sneakers or lace-ups for a more casual look. Vince wore a white linen guayabera and Panama hat with white slip-on sneakers in 2013. He stepped it up with a custom-made white linen suit, white boat shoes and a white pith helmet in 2014.

Let's go shopping!

What to wear on an archaeological dig in Kruger National Park

I am smiling under that dust mask!

Excavating in Kruger is a dirty job!

I wore long pants and a long-sleeved shirt to try to minimize the dust and dirt on my skin. Socks and boots to keep the dirt and ticks out, and a hat or bandana on my head. I wore my eyeglasses because I wear glasses. But if I didn't, then I would still have worn safety glasses to keep the dirt and dust from landing in my eyes. Ouch! I wore leather gloves to stop blisters from forming and to keep my hands from getting even more dirty. And most importantly, I wore a particle dust mask! Sunscreen and bug spray.

It wasn't pretty but it was effective.

Hats are a must!

look at that dust and dirt from sifting!

And when I was back home in Joburg, it took a world of spa products to help me feel clean again. Dead Sea mud from Israel, a seaweed foot scrub from Ireland, facial exfoliating cream from Denmark, and an olive oil and eucalypti Savon Noir body scrub from Morocco.

All before I went to Toast for my oxygen facial and spa manicure and pedicure.

What to wear for winter load shedding ...

The biggest problem with load shedding in the winter is that the sun sets earlier and then, it is cold. Our apartment is always cool anyway with all the tile floors, thick concrete and brick walls, high ceilings and tons of trees providing shelter (and preventing warmth) from the sun. Even at high noon on the hottest days of summer, I never even think to turn on the air-conditioning inside.

But conversely, the same attributes that keep the apartment blissfully cool in summer tend to keep it consistently frigid in the winter. Add single pane drafty windows to the equation and you better start thinking about what you are going to do when the sun goes down and the electricity goes out during winter load shedding. Yes we have several gas heaters, but those are localized solutions. In the bedroom or the living room in close proximity to where you are huddled. If you go from room to room or say, go to the bathroom, you're gonna have to leave the glow of that radiant heat behind. I am not dragging a gas heater around with me. Solution - wear your warmth.

I wear this little number to help keep me warm during load-shedding. A faux fur shawl over thermals or sweat pants, wool felt slippers and I keep this furry hot water bottle on hand. (I can boil water for it on my bistro gas burner.) Not very sexy but it is effective.

I have yet to go "full faux fur" and wear the hat, but it's only the beginning of June. We still have three more months left of winter in South Africa. TIE.

What to wear when tracking turtles

Continuing with my series on "what to wear ..."

For a night trek to see sea turtles nesting,

1. I wore shorts and a tee shirt. Some of the women wore sundresses and / or bathing suits having come straight from the beach I guess. But since we were staying less than a kilometer from where the beach trek started, we were able to go back to the cabin, shower after the beach and eat dinner before heading back to the trek.

I like cargo shorts for the many pockets to hold all the little things you like to have at your fingertips ... like my pocket Canon camera and tissues.

2. I wore my Gore-tex rain jacket tied around my waist. Of course you can wear it if it starts to sprinkle or if it is windy. But make sure it is breathable as it is hot! Even if it's windy, it is still hot. It is also a great thing to sit on while you wait in the sand for the guide to signal that it is okay for the group to come to observe the nest.

3. I carried a fabric satchel to hold our water bottles but you could use a day pack too.

5. I wore a straw safari hat too. Not for the shade because you are walking at night, but as a place to hold my night vision head lamp. You cannot use your lamp on the beach while trekking and you don't need one if you walk when there is a full moon like we did (the best time to trail turtles.) A lamp comes in handy though for the walk through the thick brush back to the parking lot from the beach. Plus a hat keeps your hair from flying all over the place in the wind.

6. Speaking of walking, I wore closed toe Teva water sandals which I took off and left under a bench at the entrance to the beach. It was dark on the walk back to the car and I didn't want to stub my toe on a rock or a branch in regular flip flops.

7. Don't forget your camera and flash!

8. Finally, wear insect repellent and take your malaria pills. 

What NOT to wear on a game drive in Rwanda ...

As I found out in Akagera National Park ...

... the hat, pants and hiking shoes are okay but the shirt is all wrong. You should stay away from wearing navy blue and black while on safari in Rwanda. Why? Because these are the colors that attract tsetse flies and they are the carriers of sleeping sickness!

a navy and black tsetse fly trap

There are tsetse fly traps like this one all over Akagera National Park and they have been very effective in removing the threat of sleeping sickness there. The traps have almost completely eradicated the tsetse fly population. In fact, of the remaining flies, it is estimated that only one out of 65,000 still carries sleeping sickness.

So my advice to you is to wear khaki.

What to wear on a gorilla trek

I follow a blog about practical fashion on safari called The Girls' Guide to being on Safari. It is an exclusive guide for the future safari girl by Marian Myers who is related to a friend of mine who lives in Joburg. Marian describes herself as a bush-loving city girl who is now living in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe. Her husband is a wildlife photographer and they both spend alot of time in the bush so she knows of what she speaks.

Marian writes about the kind of things you want to know but have no one to ask. What to wear, what to pack, what shoes, what toiletries, where can I get stuff, etc. Going on a gorilla trek is different than being on safari in the bush so I thought I would dedicate a blog post about what to wear on this very specialized outing.

1. You will be trekking in a rainforest in the mountains of Rwanda/Uganda/Congo so dress for wet. I wore my Barbour safari jacket with a hood and a Barbour rain hat. Let me just say at this point that I buy most of my foul weather gear in the UK. They know foul weather! It did rain on our descent off the mountain and with my hood up, I managed to keep completely dry! 

wearing my Barbour to Buckingham Palace in 1993

Your jacket is very important so I will say a little more about it. I have two waxed Barbour jackets, a  lightweight green Eland and a mediumweight navy blue Border with a zip out faux fur lining for extra warmth. First of all, Barbours are guaranteed thorn-proof so if they tear or wear out, you can send your jacket back to the Barbour factory and they will repair it for you. (Vince has been really rough on his Barbour Border and has had it repaired and patched so many times, it is practically all new. He regards all those patches as badges of honor though. He wants to be buried in his Barbour!)

My lightweight one was perfect for the trek as the heavier one is more suited to colder climates. It would have been too heavy for the trek both in terms of weight and warmth. You are really working when you climb and it is not very cold even though you are in the mountains. Remember that Rwanda is only 2 degrees south of the equator.

Secondly, you do not need to be carrying all that weight on your back. My heavier Barbour is better suited to a game drive in the South African winter, a brisk gallop on horseback back in the UK in the autumn or a visit to Buckingham Palace!

those boots go well with gorilla

2. Boots. You are trekking uphill over rocks and mud. Once again waterproof is important. The porters wore rubber rain boots which suffice for the waterproof part. But you also need traction so in that regard my hiking boots would have been better than my wellies. If you choose to wear hiking boots, you must wear gators to protect your legs from the stinging nettles which will go right through your pants. I wore my Dubarry Gore-tex lined leather boots. Technically they are from Ireland and not the UK, but I bought them in London at the Chelsea Flower Show so I think the same foul weather principle holds. Besides Ireland knows a little something about foul weather too! Dubarry boots are impenetrable to water and stinging nettles, breathable and they go high up your calf to your knee. Choose a soft wicking fabric for your socks such as coolmax (NO cotton) to guard against blisters. (It is not cold so you do not need socks for warmth.) 

buy one of these with the name of your gorilla group after the trek

3. Dress in layers. I wore a breathable linen safari type shirt and underneath that, a wickable fabric tee shirt and bra. Our trek was considered a medium grade hike and I was very comfortable. I wore jeans and they were pretty resistant to the nettles. I did get stung a little on my thighs but it was minimal.

4. Wear gardening or work gloves. Your hands are most vulnerable to the stinging nettles,  especially if you are grabbing onto vegetation when you climb. Which you will. And it is a guarantee that of you slip and grab a handful of vegetation for support, it will be a fistful of stinging nettles.

A stick is essential for climbing as well. The porters will provide you with a walking stick if you did not bring one but they do make great souvenirs. Especially the ones carved in Rwanda with a gorilla on top! So go for it.

I hired a porter who carried my waterproof day pack which held my water bottles and tissues. (They rely on the income so even if you do not need a porter, you should hire one anyway.) I carried my pocket Canon camera in my jacket pocket.

stinging nettles!

A note for the guys: Vince wore a Gore-tex shell with a hood and plenty of big pockets, a US Marine Combat Boonie Hat, a pair of heavy canvas work pants which he says were impenetrable to the stinging nettles, a tee shirt, his Gore-tex hiking boots and knee-high gators. He also used his two retractable hiking sticks. Vince did not hire a porter and he carried his own camera.

The only other piece of equipment we might consider if we do it again is a camera harness system to hold your camera still while you trek uphill. Vince wore his camera inside his jacket and extra camera lenses in his jacket pockets during the trek but he said they bounced around alot and it was annoying.

Happy trekking!