The State of Black Tie: Your Observations

brax said:

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Kudos to whomever got this pic! Great timing

solid_olid said:

Black tie noob here, trying to figure out some stuff for my wedding. Hoping you wonderfully well dressed gents can help me out, I've already benefited a lot form reviewing other parts of the thread. I am leaning towards a Kent Wang MTO but want to try some more OTR stuff in case it ends up just working, and also to help figure out what I want.

A couple requests that would be very helpful for me:

1. What are your best examples of midnight blue tuxes? With the color variation based on the light it is a bit hard to tell what to go for.
   1. I love this though color-wise, I like that there is not a heavy contrast with the lapel. https://www.styleforum.net/threads/the-state-of-black-tie-your-observations.275650/post-10809778
2. What's your favorite OTR/RTW black tux? Ideally sub $1000 but can flex up to $1500?
3. What's your favorite OTR/RTW midnight blue tux? Same pricing as above.

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Hiya,

Two notes -

One, note how @hpreston has a tux that if he did not tell you was midnight, you would have thought was black. This is what you're aiming for if you want midnight - not obviously blue. It is indeed hard to tell, because online, you will see photos of models using big light setups not representative of lighting where you wear a tux. And then the photos are heavily edited.

Two, can you fairly easily find yourself at various stores carrying tuxes (or at least business suits) to try them on? My favorite off-the-rack style/fit may be very different from yours. If I tell you to strongly consider SuitSupply's tux, because I liked the store and their fit was pretty good (but needed tailoring), that might be a strong enough reference to convince you that it's The One, despite it potentially not fitting you or your sense of aesthetics for squat. I assume you have some time to try out a bunch? The wedding is many months away?

ericgereghty said:

My attempt it looking snappy last night.
@edinatlanta you got the blackwatch DJ, no?
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I did. Tbh it is so dark you can barely see it is tartan. Still need to let the back seam of mine out a touch.

edinatlanta said:

I did. Tbh it is so dark you can barely see it is tartan. Still need to let the back seam of mine out a touch.

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Can you post a close-ish up of it, if you have any photos handy? I'm very tempted by it, though it looks brighter than ideal on SMs site...so your input on it is good news.

Save me from searching through this thread ... I'm helping a friend with a tux for a true red carpet event, including photos. Is the consensus midnight or black, taking into account the flash?

I vote midnight….

Mr. Six said:

Save me from searching through this thread ... I'm helping a friend with a tux for a true red carpet event, including photos. Is the consensus midnight or black, taking into account the flash?

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If it helps, I believe that I read on the Black Tie Guide that midnight blue was favored in the old glory days of Hollywood because it looked more like true black under the lights and on film whereas actual black reflected light in a way that made it look less black.

Mine is midnight blue by Schofield & Smith.

Thanks, all! I thought I remembered midnight but didn't want to roll the dice on the search function.

Mr. Six said:

Save me from searching through this thread ... I'm helping a friend with a tux for a true red carpet event, including photos. Is the consensus midnight or black, taking into account the flash?

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Baaah... Consensus...

1. Get a black one, focus on fit. No "fun" details, remember it is a uniform.
2. Consider getting a smoking jacket, it can be velvet.
3. Consider getting an alternate dinner suit, it could be midnight blue.

Possibly this is not the right thread for this posting, but, here goes . . .

At the end of this month, there is (I hope) the distinct possibility that I will have occasion, in London, to wear the white tie ensemble which I bought in London this past summer. I have made a few additions to the ensemble more recently, and, in the spirit of testing (I used to be in IT - one discovers that one can never test enough), I decided to put them altogether, and see how they worked.

The latest acquisition was a formal shirt with wing collar and pique front, with button hole large enough to handle my best set of shirt studs - a happy accident of post-Xmas sales (thank you, Paul Stuart). That, combined with the formal slippers I recently purchased online from the UK, rounds out the indoor portion of my white tie attire.

For outerwear, for the purposes of travel, I've opted for a lighter weight overcoat, as the coat will be seeing service both in London and in Granada, Spain, and the black coat which I own will be too heavy (in insulative qualities and sheer weight) to be schlepped to two foreign cities. Ditto for my black Homburg - I have opted for my navy Lock homburg, to match the overcoat as shown, and because it suits my head and face much better than the black one.

I am still debating the pros and cons of acquiring a top hat, though that would be an acquisition taking either a vast amount of time (combing through vintage shops) or money (combing through Lock, Laird, and Bates in London).

Tailcoat, trousers, waistcoat, & bow tie - Ede & Ravencroft
Shirt - Paul Stuart
Cufflinks & studs - Deakin & Francis, London
Braces - Albert Thurston
Formal slippers - Broadland Slippers, UK
Overcoat & scarf - Turnbull & Asser
Hat - Lock, London

upr_crust said:

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Simply impeccable.

upr_crust said:

Possibly this is not the right thread for this posting, but, here goes . . .

At the end of this month, there is (I hope) the distinct possibility that I will have occasion, in London, to wear the white tie ensemble which I bought in London this past summer. I have made a few additions to the ensemble more recently, and, in the spirit of testing (I used to be in IT - one discovers that one can never test enough), I decided to put them altogether, and see how they worked.

The latest acquisition was a formal shirt with wing collar and pique front, with button hole large enough to handle my best set of shirt studs - a happy accident of post-Xmas sales (thank you, Paul Stuart). That, combined with the formal slippers I recently purchased online from the UK, rounds out the indoor portion of my white tie attire.

For outerwear, for the purposes of travel, I've opted for a lighter weight overcoat, as the coat will be seeing service both in London and in Granada, Spain, and the black coat which I own will be too heavy (in insulative qualities and sheer weight) to be schlepped to two foreign cities. Ditto for my black Homburg - I have opted for my navy Lock homburg, to match the overcoat as shown, and because it suits my head and face much better than the black one.

I am still debating the pros and cons of acquiring a top hat, though that would be an acquisition taking either a vast amount of time (combing through vintage shops) or money (combing through Lock, Laird, and Bates in London).

Tailcoat, trousers, waistcoat, & bow tie - Ede & Ravencroft
Shirt - Paul Stuart
Cufflinks & studs - Deakin & Francis, London
Braces - Albert Thurston
Formal slippers - Broadland Slippers, UK
Overcoat & scarf - Turnbull & Asser
Hat - Lock, London

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You look great! The only thing that isn't perfect is the showing of vest between trouser and jacket. It should just be one uninterrupted line of the colour black. However, I have only seen this on men wearing vintage fracks (as we call them here in Sweden) and never on anyone that bought something new OTR. Basically you need the trousers to have a rise that extends over the front panels of the jacket, which you won't find on modern sets.

The other thread doesn't see quite as much use.

There are some threads about morning dress, but it doesn't look like one has evolved into a catchall. There's probably even less said about strollers / black lounge.

upr_crust said:

Possibly this is not the right thread for this posting, but, here goes . . .

At the end of this month, there is (I hope) the distinct possibility that I will have occasion, in London, to wear the white tie ensemble which I bought in London this past summer. I have made a few additions to the ensemble more recently, and, in the spirit of testing (I used to be in IT - one discovers that one can never test enough), I decided to put them altogether, and see how they worked.

The latest acquisition was a formal shirt with wing collar and pique front, with button hole large enough to handle my best set of shirt studs - a happy accident of post-Xmas sales (thank you, Paul Stuart). That, combined with the formal slippers I recently purchased online from the UK, rounds out the indoor portion of my white tie attire.

For outerwear, for the purposes of travel, I've opted for a lighter weight overcoat, as the coat will be seeing service both in London and in Granada, Spain, and the black coat which I own will be too heavy (in insulative qualities and sheer weight) to be schlepped to two foreign cities. Ditto for my black Homburg - I have opted for my navy Lock homburg, to match the overcoat as shown, and because it suits my head and face much better than the black one.

I am still debating the pros and cons of acquiring a top hat, though that would be an acquisition taking either a vast amount of time (combing through vintage shops) or money (combing through Lock, Laird, and Bates in London).

Tailcoat, trousers, waistcoat, & bow tie - Ede & Ravencroft
Shirt - Paul Stuart
Cufflinks & studs - Deakin & Francis, London
Braces - Albert Thurston
Formal slippers - Broadland Slippers, UK
Overcoat & scarf - Turnbull & Asser
Hat - Lock, London

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Looks amazing, but you really need a proper scarf and gloves to complete the outfit