A SUFFICIENT FORM for an invitation to an opera party will be found in the chapter on the theater, which needs only a verbal change to specify the particular performance at the opera instead of at the playhouse. In general, also, the procedure suited to attendance at the theater is to be followed in connection with the opera. But there are certain differences that should be regarded.

The dress for the opera is more formal than for the theater, generally speaking. The man, for example, usually keeps his white gloves on. The woman, for her part, wears a gown that is sleeveless and decolletÉ, and displays jewels according to her means or taste. An aigrette takes the place of the hat that may be worn to the theater. Nevertheless, it is quite permissible for a woman occupying a stall in the orchestra at the opera to wear a costume of the sort commonly seen at the theater.

Visiting at the opera is a distinctive feature, facilitated as it is by the number of boxes, so greatly in excess of those with which the theater is supplied. For it is with the boxes that this visiting is chiefly concerned, though it reaches to some extent to the orchestra stalls.

Between acts is the proper time for such calls, which are usually, but not exclusively, paid by men. A gentleman may call on a lady of his acquaintance in a box, though she is a guest of a host or hostess who is not known to him. In such case, the woman to whom he pays the visit must introduce him to her entertainer. But an introduction of the sort is merely formal, and entails no necessity of subsequent recognition by either party.

No more than five minutes, or even less, should be given to such calls, but some discretion is permitted by the particular circumstances. Thus, where there are many coming and going, the time should be shorter than when there are few other visitors, or none. The call should never extend beyond the end of the intermission.

Since an opera box is equipped with a vestibule of its own, the women do not leave their wraps in the cloak-room, but wait until their arrival at the box, when they are taken off in the vestibule. Afterward, on entering the box, the chaperon and other older women precede the younger, and are offered the choice of seats. But they usually prefer the less conspicuous positions, and the chairs at the rail are given to the dÉbutantes, or younger matrons. The exact arrangement is always a matter for the display of tact on the part of host or hostess.

Visiting among the stalls is necessarily more limited, but is practised to any extent rendered convenient by location.

In such visiting, the ordinary amenities of social intercourse are to be observed. The men, for example, must stand when a lady enters the box in which they are seated, and they should remain standing until her departure, or until she has taken a chair.

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