The State of Black Tie: Your Observations

[ImTheGroom]

In one of the opening scenes of Goldfinger, considered by many as the seminal Bond movie.

I consider it the first Bond movie to parody itself - a grand tradition in its own right.

 

[Nine Miler]

Quote:
I know this is really late, but going back through this thread, I felt the urge to reply. It appears that there is actually a silk braid running down the center of the (satin?) stripe or "tape" that covers the side seam on the trouser. It is a traditional application. http://www.styleforum.net/content/type/61/id/646190/

 

[ImTheGroom]

I went back through my old emails. This is the website where I found my waistcoat:
http://www.rubylane.com

 

[sugarbutch]

So, this happened

 

[ImTheGroom]

So, this happened

It works... if there's a bass drum on his back, a harmonica rigged up around his neck, and later he's going to tie balloon animals.

 

[lwmarti]

The Universal Theory of Black-tie
It seems to me that you can categorize all people who attend black-tie events by two properties. The first measures how strictly they follow the rigorous interpretation of black-tie like you might find on certain web sites or in certain books. The second measures how much independent thought has gone into this decision. If you’ve done management consulting you’ll probably be tempted at this point to create a two-by-two matrix whose entries reflect the four possible combinations: strict/thoughtful, non-strict/thoughtful, strict/non-thoughtful, and non-strict/non-thoughtful.
An example of a person in the strict/non-thoughtful (SN) category would be someone who strictly follows what they perceive to be the best interpretation of black-tie because they read on a web site or in a book by Alan Flusser that that’s what you need to do.
An example of a person in the strict/thoughtful (ST) category would be someone who strictly follows what they perceive to be the best interpretation of black-tie, and this decision is actually based on their independent assessment of the long history of black-tie and what’s best.
An example of a person in the non-strict/thoughtful (NT) category would be someone who considers the strict interpretation of black-tie to be more of a guideline than a rule, and this decision is based on their independent assessment of the history of black-tie, etc.
An example of a person in the non-strict/non-thoughtful (NN) category would be someone who freely violates the principles of black-tie because they’re trying to look like their favorite celebrity who happens to cheerfully violate any and all guidelines about what’s reasonable for black-tie.
My personal opinion is that both the ST or the NT people have reasonable opinions and ought to learn to respect the other’s while both the SN and NN people are worthy of a quick yet subtle sneer or two.
One two-by-two matrix that neatly summarizes everything. That will be $100K, please. Plus expenses.

 

[WICaniac]

The Universal Theory of Black-tie
It seems to me that you can categorize all people who attend black-tie events by two properties. The first measures how strictly they follow the rigorous interpretation of black-tie like you might find on certain web sites or in certain books. The second measures how much independent thought has gone into this decision. If you’ve done management consulting you’ll probably be tempted at this point to create a two-by-two matrix whose entries reflect the four possible combinations: strict/thoughtful, non-strict/thoughtful, strict/non-thoughtful, and non-strict/non-thoughtful.
An example of a person in the strict/non-thoughtful (SN) category would be someone who strictly follows what they perceive to be the best interpretation of black-tie because they read on a web site or in a book by Alan Flusser that that’s what you need to do.
An example of a person in the strict/thoughtful (ST) category would be someone who strictly follows what they perceive to be the best interpretation of black-tie, and this decision is actually based on their independent assessment of the long history of black-tie and what’s best.
An example of a person in the non-strict/thoughtful (NT) category would be someone who considers the strict interpretation of black-tie to be more of a guideline than a rule, and this decision is based on their independent assessment of the history of black-tie, etc.
An example of a person in the non-strict/non-thoughtful (NN) category would be someone who freely violates the principles of black-tie because they’re trying to look like their favorite celebrity who happens to cheerfully violate any and all guidelines about what’s reasonable for black-tie.
My personal opinion is that both the ST or the NT people have reasonable opinions and ought to learn to respect the other’s while both the SN and NN people are worthy of a quick yet subtle sneer or two.
One two-by-two matrix that neatly summarizes everything. That will be $100K, please. Plus expenses.

You're omitting the largest category: NI (non-strict / ignorant). I am reasonably certain that 90% of the people at the BT events I attend did no research before buying their evening wear and simply told the salesman at JAB or Men's Wearhouse, "I need a tux."

I don't begrudge them. Thoughtful people don't sneer at anyone.

 

[chareth]

Which one's Chaotic Neutral?

 

[Huntsman]

Just went to the first black tie not-optional event of my life, meaning that 85%+ of the men were in some variant of black tie. I saw, basically, really awful rental DJ's (85%), decent DJ's of some sort (10%), very good rigs (4%) and some clearly superlative DJs (1%).

I fall into the NT category myself. I do wear a watch, and my studs don't match my cufflinks. Most glaringly, I eschew the cummerbund, and as I do not have a waistcoat I like, have been sans waist covering.

~ H

 

[LeviMay]



Which one's Chaotic Neutral?

Ha.

 

[Wayward]

Edit: Never mind, it was funnier in my head.

 

[Wayward]



The Universal Theory of Black-tie
It seems to me that you can categorize all people who attend black-tie events by two properties. The first measures how strictly they follow the rigorous interpretation of black-tie like you might find on certain web sites or in certain books. The second measures how much independent thought has gone into this decision. If you’ve done management consulting you’ll probably be tempted at this point to create a two-by-two matrix whose entries reflect the four possible combinations: strict/thoughtful, non-strict/thoughtful, strict/non-thoughtful, and non-strict/non-thoughtful.
An example of a person in the strict/non-thoughtful (SN) category would be someone who strictly follows what they perceive to be the best interpretation of black-tie because they read on a web site or in a book by Alan Flusser that that’s what you need to do.
An example of a person in the strict/thoughtful (ST) category would be someone who strictly follows what they perceive to be the best interpretation of black-tie, and this decision is actually based on their independent assessment of the long history of black-tie and what’s best.
An example of a person in the non-strict/thoughtful (NT) category would be someone who considers the strict interpretation of black-tie to be more of a guideline than a rule, and this decision is based on their independent assessment of the history of black-tie, etc.
An example of a person in the non-strict/non-thoughtful (NN) category would be someone who freely violates the principles of black-tie because they’re trying to look like their favorite celebrity who happens to cheerfully violate any and all guidelines about what’s reasonable for black-tie.
My personal opinion is that both the ST or the NT people have reasonable opinions and ought to learn to respect the other’s while both the SN and NN people are worthy of a quick yet subtle sneer or two.
One two-by-two matrix that neatly summarizes everything. That will be $100K, please. Plus expenses.

SN: the zealous ST: the devout NT: the agnostic NN: the sheep

 

[ImTheGroom]

SN: the zealous
ST: the devout
NT: the agnostic
NN: the sheep

Spot on. This gave me quite the chuckle.

 

[Roycru]

As both of my old shirts are nearly at the end of their useful lives, I have been looking at new shirts. I have a question. In the sixties, when I bought my shirts and links and studs, all the shirts used three studs and all the link and stud sets came with three studs.

I noticed that new shirts now use four studs and that link and stud sets now come with four studs.

When did this happen?

 

[ImTheGroom]

As both of my old shirts are nearly at the end of their useful lives, I have been looking at new shirts. I have a question. In the sixties, when I bought my shirts and links and studs, all the shirts used three studs and all the link and stud sets came with three studs.

I noticed that new shirts now use four studs and that link and stud sets now come with four studs.

When did this happen?

When it became common for men to go without a waist covering. My shirt takes 5 studs, and the bib goes all the way down into the waistband. It's evolved over time. Anyway, you should still only show three studs - I have a vintage set, with only three studs, and wear those as the top three, that show above my waistcoat. For the last two I use two of the cheapo studs that came with the shirt.

What kind of shirt(s) are you planning to get?