The gala
A gala is a precision mechanism: an invitation that calls for a reply, a dress code that is not open to discussion, a programme timed to the minute. This is what the authorities on etiquette and the houses that give them publish.
What the institutions publish
- Debrett's. Black tie calls for a black wool dinner jacket, single-breasted, without vents, with peaked or shawl lapels in silk, worn with a bow tie one ties oneself.
- Debrett's. White tie, the most formal and rarest of codes, requires a black tailcoat with silk lapels worn open, over a white shirt fastened with removable shirt studs.
- Debrett's. Every invitation calls for a prompt reply, acceptance or regrets, and going back on one's word at the last moment is considered rude.
- amfAR, The Foundation for AIDS Research. The amfAR Gala Cannes is presented in the foundation's press releases as a black tie event: cocktails, dinner, then a live auction.
- Monte-Carlo Société des Bains de Mer. At the Monaco Red Cross Gala, gala dress is required, dinner is served at 20:30 and admission is reserved for guests aged 7 and over.
- Monte-Carlo Société des Bains de Mer. Donors to the Monaco Red Cross Gala are expected from 19:45 in the Salle des Etoiles, where the evening opens with the gala dinner followed by a tombola, punctuated by the fireworks launched from the sea just before the show.
Each rule is taken from the document published by the institution, consulted at its official address on 27/08/2026.
Custom, according to the house
One replies to an invitation in the days that follow, never on the eve. One arrives at the cocktail hour, not the dinner hour; one does not change places at table. During the gala auction, one applauds the lots of others. The telephone stays in the pocket: a gala is recounted the next day, not live.
On the radar