The State of Black Tie: Your Observations

[The Chai]

Since it was in black and white, none were all the wiser.

Yeah but it was obviously light brown/tan even under black and white

 

[JJ Katz]

Frankly, Mr Andy57 wears DJ so well, so casually and so often that he transcends the rules.
IF AND ONLY IF one wants to look at ye olde rules, then ideally, one shouldn't wear a watch at all with 'social' clothing like DJ or full fig since they aren't going to be looking at the time, in such a setting.
Reality, of course, was never that straightforward. I've personally taken to not wearing a watch with DJ (but then again, I wear it much more seldom and in any case I'm cheating because I have a phone inside my jacket pocket...)

 

[Concordia]

One thing to remember about black tie, is that it was also a halfway house between formal and informal. Especially in one's home people would make modifications (if there were no guests). So the smoking-jacket instead of proper dinner jacket, etc. When you're ordering in en famille, you can be a bit more relaxed.

 

[Andy57]

Since it was in black and white, none were all the wiser.

That was my thought.

 

[The Chai]

When you do not even bother matching your lapel facings with your bow tie

 

[Andy57]

I think I long since gave up pretending that my bow tie is even remotely black-tie appropriate. We dashed out of the house to take these pictures in a brief moment of clean air as the Bay Area endures catastrophic wild fires.

The tie is, of course, Le Noeud Papillon.

 

[brax]

I think I long since gave up pretending that my bow tie is even remotely black-tie appropriate. We dashed out of the house to take these pictures in a brief moment of clean air as the Bay Area endures catastrophic wild fires.

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The tie is, of course, Le Noeud Papillon.

I think that you break the rules so well because you know the rules so well. I know the rules pretty darn well and choose to abide by most. It’s those who know little who often make the biggest mistakes and look awful. I don’t think there is a substitute for knowing the rules.

 

[Andy57]

I think that you break the rules so well because you know the rules so well. I know the rules pretty darn well and choose to abide by most. It’s those who know little who often make the biggest mistakes and look awful. I don’t think there is a substitute for knowing the rules.

Thank you. I'm only coloring so far outside the lines because we're making such a weekly, Covid-19 habit of this game. We try to have some levity at the end of the week ?

 

[Concordia]

Avoids looking sober even before the evening gets under way.

 

[Nobilis Animus]

Now, as someone who also enjoys evening clothes when the occasion calls for them, I am not so sure about what many consider to be rules about it. Take the recent watch discussion: the habit of not wearing one (with tails anyway) was simply a gesture of consideration from one or several party guests at one time which morphed into more of a norm when others wanted to copy those people. Especially with Black Tie, it hardly seems to matter much.

In fact, I find that having a certain familiarity with dressing for evening events tends to inspire more nonchalant takes on the outfit. Wearing a velvet dinner jacket with a pink stripe shirt, simple cufflinks, no tie, and a colourful scarf - with your handkerchief rakishly stuffed in - is possibly more in keeping with the original spirit of the thing anyway, considering that it was invented for the most informal house parties and pleasure-seeking excursions.

 

[am55]

I would offer a different (Wodehousian?) interpretation, the thought bubbled up in a recent conversation with someone I met in the street funnily enough.

At school we had strict uniform rules, including forbidding the use of tailors to approximate the uniform items. One of my classmates was one of the many descendants of a Texan billionaire family; another was the son of a cab driver; both, thanks to the equalising nature of being dressed identically, were on a relatively equal footing in class discussions which led to diversity of thought and better learning (IMHO), especially when coupled with the Socratic method.

I feel like evening wear has/had a similar goal. You invite a bunch of people to your get-together and you have selected an interesting menu of guests, the uniform equalises and allows for better conversation. To individualise it as much as possible breaks from the spirit. To wear an expensive or noticeable watch (and let us not pretend that a Calatrava is "understated") also. Obviously this does not apply if you're going out for dinner at a public place...

 

[Andy57]

I would offer a different (Wodehousian?) interpretation, the thought bubbled up in a recent conversation with someone I met in the street funnily enough.

At school we had strict uniform rules, including forbidding the use of tailors to approximate the uniform items. One of my classmates was one of the many descendants of a Texan billionaire family; another was the son of a cab driver; both, thanks to the equalising nature of being dressed identically, were on a relatively equal footing in class discussions which led to diversity of thought and better learning (IMHO), especially when coupled with the Socratic method.

I feel like evening wear has/had a similar goal. You invite a bunch of people to your get-together and you have selected an interesting menu of guests, the uniform equalises and allows for better conversation. To individualise it as much as possible breaks from the spirit. To wear an expensive or noticeable watch (and let us not pretend that a Calatrava is "understated") also. Obviously this does not apply if you're going out for dinner at a public place...

I don't disagree. The uniform of black tie does serve a sort of homogenizing function. I also like the idea that black tie provides a sort of backdrop against which one's companion may shine. To deviate too far from the classic black tie standard defeats the purpose of both. If I were actually attending an event where the dress code was specified as black tie, then I'd dress appropriately. New Year's Eve doesn't count.

 

[Nobilis Animus]

I would offer a different (Wodehousian?) interpretation, the thought bubbled up in a recent conversation with someone I met in the street funnily enough.

At school we had strict uniform rules, including forbidding the use of tailors to approximate the uniform items. One of my classmates was one of the many descendants of a Texan billionaire family; another was the son of a cab driver; both, thanks to the equalising nature of being dressed identically, were on a relatively equal footing in class discussions which led to diversity of thought and better learning (IMHO), especially when coupled with the Socratic method.

I feel like evening wear has/had a similar goal. You invite a bunch of people to your get-together and you have selected an interesting menu of guests, the uniform equalises and allows for better conversation. To individualise it as much as possible breaks from the spirit. To wear an expensive or noticeable watch (and let us not pretend that a Calatrava is "understated") also. Obviously this does not apply if you're going out for dinner at a public place...

I concede that if an invitation to a black tie event is given, there is (or should be) a generally-accepted understanding of the rules of its composition. And I do not endorse anyone who tries to cobble together this outfit and fails - there is a difference between a mistake and an innovation.

It's when evening wear is called for, but there is no expressly stated dress code that I think there is greater leeway for differences. A man dining at a restaurant, to use your example, with the usual black tie rig save for personal touches like a silk shirt or a bottle-green velvet jacket or forgoing a tie, is not breaking any rules of evening wear. Nor, I would argue, is he badly dressed, if he does so tastefully and with clothes of the highest quality. In fact, I happen to own a jacket, purchased by a relative from a luxury store in maybe the 1930s, of exactly this kind; it is an early alternative to the dinner jacket, rather than the smoking variety. So there were similar practices in the past.

This all reminds me of the recent wedding of Princess Eugenie in 2018, where almost all the attendees ended up looking similarly predictable: morning dress for the men of varying combinations, and day dresses and hats for women, which made them all look exquisitely shabby once Cara Delevingne showed up in a top hat, tails, and a tie:



Everyone looked positively dowdy next to her, not the least because her look was far better tailored. And it didn't offend her hosts at all because she asked ahead of time.

This sort of thing becomes totally acceptable outside of proscribed 'events,' in my opinion, and it can be far more dashing.

 

[am55]

Extraordinary how points of view can be so different, isn't it? She sticks out to me in the opposite manner. Bias from formative years in Blighty probably.

 

[Nobilis Animus]

Extraordinary how points of view can be so different, isn't it? She sticks out to me in the opposite manner. Bias from formative years in Blighty probably.

It's how we keep things interesting!