Evening Dress Questions

[Kida]

Hi Styleforum,

This is my first post and I have a few questions about what to wear out at night. I hope you can clarify for me.

I'm attending a party at a nicer restaurant with my wife and her employer. I'm wondering if chinos with a tie and jacket are acceptable in the evening or if the chinos are more for day? Should I go with gray pants instead? I live in FL. where its both hot and for the most part, if you wear anything that extends below your knees is "dressed up" even at a lot of the nicer spots. I could go with jeans but its just too hot already and plus I'd like to look nicer anyway.

Second question has to do with shoes ... is brown ever acceptable after sun-down or always black?

Thanks in advance for your advice!

 

[Achilles_]

Chinos would be fine IMO but I would do linen or light wool in gray. Are you wearing a sport coat or blazer? I'm not a fan of a tie without a jacket of some sort. Just my .02

Brown shoes should be fine

 

[JLibourel]

I thought this was going to be a question about white tie attire!

I would second the foregoing opinion to eschew wearing a shirt and tie without a jacket. I know a lot of young guys do it, but it still looks like something the assistant produce manager at local supermarket would wear--inelegant!

A navy blazer with nice, clean, crisply ironed chinos--the classic "California tux"--is never a bad look although perhaps over-popular.

 

[MrDaniels]

Where are they taking you? You can always call the reservation desk at the restaurant and get an idea of how men dress there. If it is ultra formal, you might want a real suit. If it is hip and trendy, you might want to lose the tie...

 

[delavegatailors]

Better to wear a jacket. I also wouldn't recommend wearing a shirt and tie without jacket.
A navy blazer or a linen sporcoat will work. You can combine them well with chinos. And brown shoes are acceptable too.

 

[aravenel]

Like the others said, make sure to wear a coat with the tie, otherwise you look like a bank teller.

Otherwise, that's fine, assuming others will be wearing a similar level of dress.

 

[JGloger]

Chinos and brown shoes are both perfectly acceptable.