Black Tie questions

[EnglishLapel]

Originally Posted by CousinDonuts

I'm pretty sure all classic tux pants are flat front. Check a GQ or Esquire style guide.

So wrong. Double pleats are the "classic".

 

[LendMeYourEars]

To start, you have not supplied enough information relating to the circumstances of this event. Are we talking about a reception at the White House, or the marriage of your two lovely Chihuahuas? Nevertheless, if, as you say, you are "not very well versed" when it comes to formal dress, and you wear suits infrequently, spare yourself the time and expense of searching for a black-tie specific ensemble. Any rental operation worth their weight in grosgrain should be able to meet your needs adequately. At the very least you will not lose points for incorrectly 'thinking outside the tux.'

 

[Matt S]

Originally Posted by EnglishLapel

So wrong. Double pleats are the "classic".

Double forward pleats are probably the most classic, though high-rise flat fronts are the most old-fashioned.

 

[amplifiedheat]

Originally Posted by CousinDonuts

Um?

I assumed you were being facetious. Citing Esquire or GQ as an authority on what's classic would usually be considered a joke around here. (I saw one GQ guide on black tie that got roughly one out of three pieces of advice correct.)

The first tuxedos did in fact have uncreased, unpleated pants, worn on the natural waist. They also were two-button shawl collar, made of wool heavy enough for a topcoat, so you can see things took some time to coalesce. In its golden age, when it became something men of status wore out on the town rather than to private dinners, the tuxedo overwhelmingly took pleats.

Flat fronts aren't wrong. They are, however, less crisp and less comfortable.

 

[Bounder]

Originally Posted by RSS

If you really don't see yourself using it often ... don't waste the money. For a tie ... I suggest a standard necktie ... but not black. Perhaps silver or grey.
I have a completely different take. If you are invited to a black tie event and you are not going to wear a tuxedo, you should go in jorts, tank top and flip-flops. That way, you will be enhancing everyone's evening by allowing them all to wax virtuously self-righteous about how crass and boorish you are. Instead, if you show up in a vague approximation of something half-way appropriate, everyone will have to do their seething internally while they pretend to be polite to you and it will be much less enjoyable for all concerned, with the possible exception of you. But if you want to be a good guest, sometimes it is necessary to rally round the hosts and support their efforts to provide a pleasant evening by taking one for the team.

Originally Posted by LendMeYourEars

Nevertheless, if, as you say, you are "not very well versed" when it comes to formal dress, and you wear suits infrequently, spare yourself the time and expense of searching for a black-tie specific ensemble. Any rental operation worth their weight in grosgrain should be able to meet your needs adequately. At the very least you will not lose points for incorrectly 'thinking outside the tux.'
True, it is only halfway through the first week in January, but this, so far, is the clear leader for SF's annual "Worst Advice" award. If you are "not very well versed" in the requirements of black tie, do not, under any circumstances, go to a rental shop and expect them to fit you up. You will come out looking more like a circus clown than James Bond. Even if you know what you are doing, the odds of you being able to find all the requirements for classic black tie in a rental shop are pretty low. Hint: plastic shoes that originally came from a Frankenstein costume are not classic black tie accessories. Here follows the traditional -- and necessary -- link to the Black Tie Guide. http://www.blacktieguide.com/

 

[CousinDonuts]

Originally Posted by amplifiedheat

I assumed you were being facetious. Citing Esquire or GQ as an authority on what's classic would usually be considered a joke around here. (I saw one GQ guide on black tie that got roughly one out of three pieces of advice correct.)

The first tuxedos did in fact have uncreased, unpleated pants, worn on the natural waist. They also were two-button shawl collar, made of wool heavy enough for a topcoat, so you can see things took some time to coalesce. In its golden age, when it became something men of status wore out on the town rather than to private dinners, the tuxedo overwhelmingly took pleats.

Flat fronts aren't wrong. They are, however, less crisp and less comfortable.


So what you're saying is that you can basically wear whatever you want and someone will think you are "classic" and others will think you look stupid. I'd say that's the answer to 99% of the posts on this website. How about this....since your jacket should cover your butt and crotch, and you'll mostly have your jacket on, and it will probably be darker in the banquet hall, it doesn't matter because someone would have to be staring right at your junk to see if you have pleats or not?

 

[RSS]

Originally Posted by Bounder

But if you want to be a good guest, sometimes it is necessary to rally round the hosts and support their efforts to provide a pleasant evening by taking one for the team.
Generally I'd say this is true ... unless doing so is truly not within one's budget. Of course, there is always used/vintage.

 

[Bounder]

Originally Posted by RSS

Generally I'd say this is true ... unless doing so is truly not within one's budget. Of course, there is always used/vintage.
You have improved on my suggestion immensely. Yes, used/vintage jorts, tanktops and flip-flops would really enhance the overall effect.

 

[RSS]

Originally Posted by Bounder

You have improved on my suggestion immensely. Yes, used/vintage jorts, tanktops and flip-flops would really enhance the overall effect.

I will always recall a "Euro Trash" party in NYC ... way back in 1983 or so. The dress was "Black Tie or Trash Bags." Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia showed up in Black Tie Trash Bag.

 

[tuxenthusiast]

Originally Posted by Sazerac

If it's not going to be a financial hardship, I'd say buy one. Fact is, you will need one sooner or later. And it's sort of one of those rites of passage. Like:

Yes, I do have a stamp in my passport that's not from Canada.

Yes, I do own a classical music album that's not Vivaldi's Four Seasons.

Yes, I do have a tuxedo hanging in a garment bag in the closet.


I went to my first black tie event ever on New Year's Eve and I think that tying your first bow tie and putting in your first pair of cuff links should be considered rights of passage too. I had no one there to help me with either and threading cuff links through with your non-dominant hand is difficult to do; and tying a bow tie with only a video and some text is not easy either. One I got both it all seemed so simple, but I was sweating it for a while.

A tux is so worth it! I felt so good, and I have never gotten so many enthusiasistic comments on my appearance in my life! I was told I looked swank, which was very nice.