Quote:
Originally Posted by Mark from Plano 
There is no dispute on whether oxford cloth is acceptable.
When I was young, I was taught that black tie should have no sportswear aspect to it -- hence no vents to the jacket and one shouldn't wear shoes with broguing or textured leather, button-downs shirts or even a wristwatch if you're being doctrinaire. Because oxford is a sportwear cloth, one shouldn't wear a shirt made of it in a formal setting.
Then, several years later, I saw some oxford formal wear shirts at Charvet and figured their "Le Smoking" rules were the same as our "Tuxedo Park" rules, and that I learned the wrong rule.
Hence, my belief it is somewhat on acceptable -- like a vent in a dinner jacket, which some people add in order to modernize the tux a bit.
