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The State of Black Tie: Your Observations - Page 53

post #781 of 1434
12/17/12 at 7:00pm
(Both are) supposedly so. And that stuff got me hammered quite good that night.
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post #782 of 1434
12/18/12 at 9:00am
Can anyone comment on how KW's plaintoe balmoral compares against the CJ Wembley?
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post #783 of 1434
12/18/12 at 4:51pm

what is the thought on pleats for a tuxedo? i realize they are not in fashion for suits at this point, but how about a tuxedo?

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post #784 of 1434
12/18/12 at 5:52pm
From Black Tie Guide:
Quote:
The preferred appearance of elegantly draped pleats versus clean and smooth flat-fronts is a matter of personal taste. There are, however, some practical factors that should be taken into consideration before choosing one style over the other.

When it comes to the naturally high waist of dress pants, pleats add comfort by expanding to allow more room for the way that a man’s hips splay when he is seated. They also serve to emphasize the wearer’s leg line by extending the trousers' crease and they conceal the bulk of any objects placed in the front pockets. More relevantly, pleats can also minimize a protruding stomach by allowing the trousers to fall straight down from the belly rather than curving inwards underneath it. Flat fronts, conversely, require flat stomachs.

Pleats can be forward (facing the fly) or reverse (facing the hip pockets) and there are differing opinions on which style lies flatter against the body. Pleats can also be single, double or triple although double pleats are by far the most common.
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post #785 of 1434
12/19/12 at 7:24am
Quote:
Originally Posted by sugarbutch View Post

From Black Tie Guide:

 

Thanks. So its a matter of personal preference I suppose. I always wear flat front trousers, but when searching for a tuxedo I have been interested in pleats. I think they are a bit more appropriate for formal attire, but I don't have much black tie experience beyond crappy rented tuxedo's for weddings. Am I correct to feel this way, or if should I stick with flat front if I am a smaller guy (5'9" 180)?

 

Thanks!

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post #786 of 1434
12/19/12 at 7:56am
Quote:
Originally Posted by bigtimebuck4 View Post

Thanks. So its a matter of personal preference I suppose. I always wear flat front trousers, but when searching for a tuxedo I have been interested in pleats. I think they are a bit more appropriate for formal attire, but I don't have much black tie experience beyond crappy rented tuxedo's for weddings. Am I correct to feel this way, or if should I stick with flat front if I am a smaller guy (5'9" 180)?

Thanks!

I always go with flat-fronts but I also tend to wear my trousers at, or just above, the hip, not all the way at the waist. With pleats it's impossible to get the slim silhouette I like so I avoid them.

That said, a single pleat that isn't too deep would probably be just fine. I seem to recall that Jos. A Bank's "signature" tux has this (and has all the other significant details correct, too).
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post #787 of 1434
12/19/12 at 8:49am
What works for me:

With no jacket, I do flat front, lower rise, belt that's more decorative than functional since the bottom of the waistband lining is held up by my hip bone, and plain hem.

With a jacket, pleats, higher rise, suspenders, cuffs.

For formal, pleats, higher rise, slightly looser waist to accommodate dance and libations, suspenders, plain hem.
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post #788 of 1434
12/19/12 at 10:24am
Quote:
Originally Posted by bigtimebuck4 View Post

Quote:
Originally Posted by sugarbutch View Post

From Black Tie Guide:

Thanks. So its a matter of personal preference I suppose. I always wear flat front trousers, but when searching for a tuxedo I have been interested in pleats. I think they are a bit more appropriate for formal attire, but I don't have much black tie experience beyond crappy rented tuxedo's for weddings. Am I correct to feel this way, or if should I stick with flat front if I am a smaller guy (5'9" 180)?

Thanks!

Properly fitted trousers with pleats will not make you look fat. I would go for pleats.
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post #789 of 1434
12/23/12 at 11:56am

Dear all,

It is clear from only a brief search of this forum that the propriety of notch lapels has long been debated.

 

As someone who attends Black Tie events frequently I would like to propose a point that is so often missed on these sorts of forums with regards to the notch lapel. As this thread seems to be the most read I thought it would be best to post here, apologies if this breeches protocol - this is my first post. 

Whilst I have a very traditional taste, and favour a single-breasted peak, I feel that people discard the idea of the notch for the wrong reasons.

 

Whilst yes, the peak is more formal and shawl more traditional (in that the very first dinner jacket featured a shawl) the notch is not simply wrong - it is, after all, more formal than the shawl!

 

As I'm sure we all know (all discussions of black tie mention it) dinner jackets with notch lapels have come to prominence as companies cut costs and create dinner jackets in the same mold as a normal suit. (N.B even Gieves and Hawkes of Savile Row have recently introduced a two button, notch jacket and dubbed it a dinner jacket.)

 

The way I see it, the 'incorrectness' therefore comes not from the lapels themselves, but rather from having two buttons, venting, flapped pockets etc. These features begin to make the wearer look messy and the dinner jacket over-complicated, Black Tie success lies in subtlety. 

 

Thus a one button dinner jacket, without venting and pocket flaps, and with a silk-faced notch lapel would be more 'correct' than a two button, vented etc. 'dinner jacket' with peak lapels. This is why the dinner jacket worn by Sean Connery as Bond that someone posted earlier is perfectly correct, and why Prince Philip's penchant for the notch lapel is acceptable. Looking at old photographs of the Royals even Prince Charles, that bastion of style, used to wear one in his youth.

 

I still accept that notches are less acceptable than peaks and shawls where everything else on the jacket remains the same. 

 

Also, just as a side note, I recently saw a picture of George Clooney wearing a double breasted dinner jacket with notch lapels. This IS simply wrong. Double breasted jackets should for the most part be peaked... I personally think that a double-breasted shawl is perfectly correct, it is essentially no different to a smoking jacket.

 

Thoughts welcome.

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post #790 of 1434
1/1/13 at 7:13am
Where can we purchase silk shoe laces these days? Anyone have any luck with a source?
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post #791 of 1434
1/1/13 at 7:17am

http://store.asuitablewardrobe.net/flatsilkshoelaces.aspx

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post #792 of 1434
1/1/13 at 8:37am
Quote:
Originally Posted by RDiaz View Post

http://store.asuitablewardrobe.net/flatsilkshoelaces.aspx

They always seem to be out of stock, does anyone have any other resources for purchase?
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post #793 of 1434
1/1/13 at 10:28am
Try Cleverley. Leffot might be able to source it for you too since their EG patent shoes come with silk laces.
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post #794 of 1434
1/2/13 at 5:32am
Any suggestions for a source of collar studs for detachable collars - the only ones I can find look pretty crappy...
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post #795 of 1434
1/2/13 at 5:40am
Quote:
Originally Posted by akatsuki View Post

Any suggestions for a source of collar studs for detachable collars - the only ones I can find look pretty crappy...

Perhaps this is equally crappy, and it appears to only come with the whole collar, but have you seen this:

http://www.brooksbrothers.com/Detachable-Collar/112E________WHIT_17H______,default,pd.html?omnpp=recently%20viewed

FWIW, the stud in that one looks nicer than the stud that comes on the detachable collar shirt they sell.
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