Fashionably Late

Even if you're NOT Elizabeth Taylor - it's okay to be late - sometimes... 

Liz Taylor arrived to her own funeral “fashionably late” – that’s 15 minutes in the book of etiquette. Few things annoy other people more than people who are late – but, according to Emily Post’s Etiquette Daily, you might be EXPECTED to arrive late for a dinner party – depending on who’s hosting it. In some areas, particularly rural parts of the country, you are expected to be prompt, while in a number of cities, arriving between 15 minutes and a half hour after the party starts is merely considered “fashionably late.”

If you’re a stickler for punctuality – and prefer to arrive “fashionably EARLY” – there’s no such thing. “On time” is the absolute earliest you should arrive unless you’ve been asked to help or come ahead of time.