Shannon Heth wore a red Stella McCartney gown for cocktail hour with her mother aboard the Eastern & Oriental Express train.Shannon Heth/SUPPLIED/Supplied
For as long as I can remember, my mom has had a love of big cats. She’s seen pumas in Patagonia, camped in sub-zero temperatures to catch a glimpse of snow leopards in Ladakh, tracked jaguars in Brazil’s Pantanal wetlands, and chased after cheetahs, lions and leopards in the back of a jeep in Africa. So, when I learned about the Tiger Express, a special edition train trip hosted by Belmond, I knew exactly how we’d be celebrating her 80th.
My mom and I often mark our birthdays through our shared love of travel. We’ve seen the mystic ruins of Machu Picchu, art installations in Marfa, Texas, Michelin-starred restaurants in Mexico City and a lightning-based art installation in the middle of nowhere, New Mexico. The chance to spend time together on an iconic train, rattling down old jungle rail lines seeking tigers, felt like the perfect way to celebrate her ascension to level eight. The itinerary included a night at Raffles in Singapore, three nights at the Datai eco-resort on the island of Langkawi, and the real draw, two nights and three days aboard the Eastern & Oriental Express train that takes passengers deep into tiger territory in Malaysia.
Train travel has been experiencing a renaissance of late, with the global luxury train travel market growing from US$1.2-billion in 2025 to a projected US$2.3-billion by 2034. You can board the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express train in Paris and wake up in Venice, or glide through the African bush and watch for wildlife from the open-deck observation car on Rovos Rail. Perhaps you’d like to climb the Andes up to Lake Titicaca as you sip on a pisco sour on the Andean Explorer, or experience a fusion between East and West aboard the Seven Stars train line in Japan.
On a journey into the Malaysian rainforest, Heth discovers a glamorous travel dress code that’s increasingly elusiveIllustration by Lauren Tamaki
Six weeks before our trip, I sent my mom a text: “Have you started outfit planning yet?” I’d already started to feel the fashion pressure, imagining what I’d wear for drinks in the piano car, lunches with free-flowing champagne in crystal flutes, and teatime on fine china. My philosophy on style has always been to buy that special piece because the occasion will find you, and this was the trip my closet had been waiting for.
I selected a long, Norma Kamali mint green dress that I envisioned floating down the wood-panelled train car corridor. A light blue lamé Dima Ayad kaftan would be the perfect 1920s-inspired dinner look. And I’d wear a red Stella McCartney dress with a ruffled neckline and full taffeta skirt for our first cocktail. My mom got in on the excitement, too, and purchased a lounge set from Farm Rio in a tiger print. Every outfit had to be meticulously coordinated because all we were allowed to bring with us into our cabin was a carry-on. Thank goodness for Sham, our cabin steward, who offered to steam it all back to life.
Once on board, it was as if we had entered a world where romance and style are celebrated, and the lost art of dressing up indulged. I met the British actress Jaime Winstone, who paired a sequin flapper-esque dress with an equally sparkling headscarf fashioned from the remains of an altered Prada frock. Her husband, James Suckling, sported a tuxedo to dinner both evenings. Most dapper was Derek McLean, the executive producer of the U.K. adaptation of The Masked Singer, who, on night one, wore tartan trousers and a green velvet argyle jacket, and, on night two, his wedding outfit in handmade silk by London tailor Joshua Kane.
It was a refreshing change from people boarding planes in their pajamas. For those of us who still love the creative challenge of a dress code, slow travel is the way to go. While Four Seasons Resorts now have a smart casual clothing policy, the brand’s new ship has an “evening chic” expectation for its dining rooms – shorts and trainers are explicitly banned after sunset. On the newly launched Orient Express Corinthian sailing yacht, men are encouraged to wear full tuxedos in the evening, and women don’t look out of place in a cocktail dress or gown.
In the end, the tigers on our journey stayed mysterious and unseen. What emerged instead was another endangered species, a style of travel where people still believe a journey is an occasion worth dressing for.