What to wear
Deciding what bring and what to wear to all the events can be confusing. There’s the fancy opera performances in the evening and informal events during the long, hot days. So, to help you out, SpoletoToday veteran and former fashion guru, Stephanie Harvin, offers some advice. (Disclaimer: Stephanie has worked at the paper since she was a mere child, but she doesn’t get out much during the festival so …)

Tourists are often unprepared for climate. It will be hot. Very hot and usually humid. Because the heat and the hey-I’m-on-vacation attitude, audiences at Spoleto performances are often clad in anything … shorts, T-shirts, sneakers, hats. I totally understand comfortable, and figure you deserve to be comfortable: You have to walk the hazardous-to-your-ankles streets of Charleston and navigate sidewalks teeming with fellow Spoletians. But it is quite possible to be comfortable and not look like you spent the day at Disney World.

Time was when wearing flip-flops to the symphony was simply NOT DONE. It was a SIN along the lines of failing to RSVP a wedding invite, wearing white (or black) to a wedding (unless you were the bride or groom), forgetting to cut the price out of the jacket of a book you are giving as a gift, wearing white shoes before Memorial Day or after Labor Day … you know the drill. Everybody is used to casual now and some of us even prefer it. There’s nothing at all inappropriate with T-shirts and shorts at Marion Square or at most day-time events, particularly Piccolo kid-friendly ones.

Nevertheless, it seems a bit tacky for the higher cultural arts to wear beach flip-flops and a sweaty T-shirt to the theater. So, if you want to dress more like a local and less like a tourist, here are some tips:

Local Spoletians, who have a car and can go home right away, tend to dress up, particularly for opera and ballet — especially for opening nights, certainly for galas. Oh, and for chamber music, most notably for 1 p.m. chamber music on a Sunday, just after church, or 11 a.m. chamber music on a Sunday in lieu of church.

There’s no need to be a fashion model. No one is going to care that they saw you last night in the same outfit. Frankly, with the recession and economic unpleasantness, the use of accessories like scarves, jewelry (check out the craft fairs and other fab artists working in the town) is just tres chic. In fact, what better time than an arts festival to show off a new Southern style?

So, ladies, two dresses will get you through Spoleto. A daytime cotton or linen dress (polyester is like wearing a sleeping bag; and sweat can ruin silk) and a nighttime black dress. In fact, black always says Art. Some of the air-conditioned venues may be chilly, so a wrap, light sweater or scarf is a good idea.

Rules of thumb: Spoleto is dressier than Piccolo. Night is dressier than day. Venues that exist solely for performances (theaters, auditoriums, recital halls) are dressier than multipurpose places (churches, bars, schools, the library.) Galas are dressier than parties. Parties are dressier than happy hour.

Rest assured, however, that this is the most polite city in American, so there’s really no stress. It’s all about you being comfortable and feeling at ease.

Here’s a basic guide to Spoleto survival:

Wardrobe, Ladies
1 cocktail or other fancy dress, for the gala or premiere.
Heels for inside at the party. Stockings not necessary or advised.
Jewelry for the party
Something black to wear
Something white to wear
Shorts
Cotton skirts
Cotton tops
Light-weight evening wrap

Wardrobe, Men
1 tuxedo or suit for men if you’re going to a gala or opening night party.
1 seersucker suit for the garden party. (Or the Charleston uniform of khaki pants, blue button-down shirt and navy jacket.)

A pair of socks for the parties
Something black to wear
Something white to wear (not shoes. Please.)
Shorts
Cotton pants
Cotton shirts

Extras, everyone
1 breathable straw hat, not heavy
Sunglasses
Sunscreen - Don’t ask why, just do it. SPF 40 and above
Comfortable shoes (tennis shoes OK, if not too scruffy)
Comfortable flipflops
Kleenex
Cough drops
Reading glasses
Breath mints, for the sake of the person sitting next to you
M & M’s in case you need a mid-opera snack
Aspirin, for the wine you’ve been drinking in the daytime. ( Or a mid-afternoon nap)
Opera glasses
Your tickets unless you’re picking them up at will-call.
Your appetite
A watch
A street map of Charleston
A water bottle
A hand fan. Sandalwood, rice paper, or a paper fan on a wooden paddle.
Insecticide for gnats and skeeters. On the plus side, when it’s so hot you can’t stand it, there are no gnats.)
A camera (but not during the performance)
A cell phone that turns off - the second you walk in the door.