Get Ready With Me: Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island, MI

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The Grand Hotel is one of the most special places in the world, and that extends to the dress code set for guests. Keep in mind while packing that the dress code for ladies and gentlemen fits the relaxed yet elegant atmosphere of the Grand Hotel. The dress code prohibits crop tops, sweatpants, or cut-off shorts before 6:30 pm. After 6:30 pm, ladies should wear dresses, skirts, blouses or oxford tops, pantsuits, or slacks around the hotel or to dinner. Traditional resort attire, such as dresses or blouses and skirts for ladies and girls, as well as chinos and polos, are appropriate for daytime activities as well. Gentlemen are required to outfit themselves in a suit coat, necktie, dress shirt, and slacks for dinner and are not allowed to wear denim or shorts to dinner.

This dress code applies to all areas within the Grand Hotel. My husband and I enjoy the dress code, and we enjoy the opportunity to celebrate our visit to the Grand Hotel by dressing up and mixing prints (my husband’s go-to combination for bowtie/tie and kerchief combinations is gingham and stripes!) For a quick guide and 50 examples of how to mix prints, please check out this blog post! The Grand Hotel is one of the last remaining vestiges of a time where respect and excitement were expressed through fine dressing, and it’s a wonderful way to celebrate a tradition that’s over a century old!

See our video below on how we prepared for dinner at the Grand, and see below for a list of where to shop our looks if you so desire. Did I mention my dress was only $34? Looking and feeling fabulous doesn’t have to break the bank!

Have you ever stayed at Grand Hotel? If so, feel free to share your memories in the comments below. I’ve learned that anyone who stays here has wonderful memories to share!

Safe travels!

xAnnie Fairfax
Follow Me for More: @AnnieFairfax

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The Official Houston Preppy Handbook says

April 5, 2019 at 4:29 pm

Her outfit is nice, his is overall fine, if unexciting, except the white woven belt with brown leather with a formal grey suit and black wingtips – that’s a hard no on that combination. And he could really use, if not a haircut, some styling of his hair when formally dressed.

Since you guys go back every year, might I suggest your husband take a page from us Southern boys and add some color to his summer formal attire – the Grand in summer seems a perfect venue for it. If he’s not sure he can pull off a full seersucker suit, I understand, but may I suggest he get himself a summer suiting like something in a light tan cotton poplin? Brooks Brothers makes a very good one that can be had for under $600, even cheaper if you buy it at the end of summer for next year. Or go with a sportcoat and non-matching trousers, especially if the trousers are an off-white linen. I picked up a normally $350 60% linen/40% sportcoat in a medium-dark blue for $50 by buying it at Jos. A. Banks’ end of summer clearance sale.

And his red tie is more a business/winter color – try some bright summery colors like yellow or tangerine, and have some fun with bow ties as well as long ties – bow ties are’t as hard to tie as people think. And a suit doesn’t look finished without a pocket square. Don’t try to exactly match the print of the tie, just pick a color out of the tie to match, or a crisp white is always correct.

The quintessential summer dress shoe is the white buck (white suede oxford dress shoes). It’ll look great with either of the outfits I suggested below. GH Bass’s Proctor in oyster is a more off-white if a bright full white buck is intimidating.

Dressed like I suggested, your husband’s outfit will evoke an early 20th Century gentleman at a Summer Colony, perfect for the Grand Hotel.

Comments

The Official Houston Preppy Handbook says

April 5, 2019 at 4:29 pm

Her outfit is nice, his is overall fine, if unexciting, except the white woven belt with brown leather with a formal grey suit and black wingtips – that’s a hard no on that combination. And he could really use, if not a haircut, some styling of his hair when formally dressed.

Since you guys go back every year, might I suggest your husband take a page from us Southern boys and add some color to his summer formal attire – the Grand in summer seems a perfect venue for it. If he’s not sure he can pull off a full seersucker suit, I understand, but may I suggest he get himself a summer suiting like something in a light tan cotton poplin? Brooks Brothers makes a very good one that can be had for under $600, even cheaper if you buy it at the end of summer for next year. Or go with a sportcoat and non-matching trousers, especially if the trousers are an off-white linen. I picked up a normally $350 60% linen/40% sportcoat in a medium-dark blue for $50 by buying it at Jos. A. Banks’ end of summer clearance sale.

And his red tie is more a business/winter color – try some bright summery colors like yellow or tangerine, and have some fun with bow ties as well as long ties – bow ties are’t as hard to tie as people think. And a suit doesn’t look finished without a pocket square. Don’t try to exactly match the print of the tie, just pick a color out of the tie to match, or a crisp white is always correct.

The quintessential summer dress shoe is the white buck (white suede oxford dress shoes). It’ll look great with either of the outfits I suggested below. GH Bass’s Proctor in oyster is a more off-white if a bright full white buck is intimidating.

Dressed like I suggested, your husband’s outfit will evoke an early 20th Century gentleman at a Summer Colony, perfect for the Grand Hotel.

missamy says

June 29, 2019 at 11:15 am

I love to wear a red dress and that one is stunning!

Jessica Malinowski says

July 5, 2019 at 1:57 pm

Stunning dress!

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