The State of Black Tie: Your Observations

[Andy57]

Dancing in the dark...

 

[ValidusLA]

Have a black tie function tomorrow night. It will be the first outing for my new Steed MTM tuxedo. I’ll try to post some pics.

In the meantime, I took my calfskin opera pumps to Kirby Allison of www.KirbyAllison.com to have his shoe shine guy work on them. Got them back today looking like they were patent leather. Amazing job!!
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FYI: These shoes are Peal & Co. (Brooks Brothers). Don’t be fooled by the shoe trees. ?

Calfskin pumps for the win. Well done.

 

[Van Veen]

The tux (rather surprisingly, given it's GQ) seems to fit semi-properly.
That Nas fellow probably needs a tad more cleavage to sport the first dress in a convincing manner.

it's Tom Ford, who IMO is almost single handedly preserving quote-unquote "proper" black tie (in the public eye!)

 

[ld111134]

I’m getting married in two weeks. I’ll be wearing a ventless, one-button, peak lapel dinner jacket (I’m getting the shoulders softened a bit by a tailor), a white linen pocket square, a pique front shirt with a detachable collar, a plain black self-tie, a white marcella waistcoat and patent leather pumps.

My bride’s brother is getting married on New Years Eve. I’ll be a little less formal: Shawl collar dinner jacket, pleated front or pique shirt with a spread collar, a black self-tie with white pinstripes, a black cummerbund and the same patent leather pumps that I will have worn to my own wedding,

 

[Mark from Plano]

As rhe French would say, “C’est formidable!”

I’m a big fan of the white waistcoat, detachable collar look. Well done.

 

[stuffedsuperdud]

I’m getting married in two weeks. I’ll be wearing a ventless, one-button, peak lapel dinner jacket (I’m getting the shoulders softened a bit by a tailor), a white linen pocket square, a pique front shirt with a detachable collar, a plain black self-tie, a white marcella waistcoat and patent leather pumps.

This is glorious. Is the marcella waistcoat a callback to the supposed origins of black tie, that is, white tie but with a tail-less jacket?

does a high shine like this dull over time or over usage? I pretty much only use my black oxfords for funerals and black tie both of which do not happen on a regular basis...I'm wondering if it would be worth it to pay to have a high shine done up on them and then just ride it out over the next 5-10 wears, which could be 3-5 years possibly.

It wilts a little bit but is easy enough to bring back; you just need to wrap a soft cloth tightly around two fingers and buff it over, lubricating with a tiny droplet of water; lubricant is crucial as a dry cloth might do more harm than good to the glassy finish. Worse case scenario, if that does not work, buff over it with a veeerrrry thin film of Saphir mirror gloss, which should do teh trick.

 

[The Chai]

No idea really. Given the nature of the event I’m going to (dancing, etc) I’d be surprised if they get through the evening without some damage. That said I’m hopeful I could buff them back into some level of shine and get a few wears out of it.

I gave up on the high shine given if you're doing any sort of dancing they are gonna get scuffed in the first 30 seconds. I usually get suede slippers so I can rub them against the back of my trousers to descuff them. I have a project where I am looking to get pumps made from soft kangaroo skin.

 

[ld111134]

As rhe French would say, “C’est formidable!”

I’m a big fan of the white waistcoat, detachable collar look. Well done.

Thank you, Mark!

My fiancé and I are staunch traditionalists in many ways. She won’t let me see what she will wear although her friends tell me that she’ll look spectacular. She will be the star of the show, which is how it should be!

 

[Faux Brummell]

Here's something interesting that I don't think I've seen before - references to midnight blue dinner jackets with self-faced shawl collars. One is a Laurence Fellows drawing from 1939, the other is a vintage jacket from the 1950s.

 

[ld111134]

This is glorious. Is the marcella waistcoat a callback to the supposed origins of black tie, that is, white tie but with a tail-less jacket?

Thank you!

Exactly! I want to strike a balance between black and white tie. On the other hand, to my by-then brother-in-law’s nuptials, I’ll wear a less fussy fit (shawl collar dinner jacket, pleated front shirt with a turn-down collar and cummerbund).

 

[The Chai]

Here's something interesting that I don't think I've seen before - references to midnight blue dinner jackets with self-faced shawl collars. One is a Laurence Fellows drawing from 1939, the other is a vintage jacket from the 1950s.

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A SF member, guido wonglini had a midnight self faced shawl collar in a tropical wool which I particularly liked! I think the armoury did a black tie photoshoot recently where one of the guys was wearing a black self faced 4x1 shawl in dupioni silk

 

[Andy57]

Here's something interesting that I don't think I've seen before - references to midnight blue dinner jackets with self-faced shawl collars. One is a Laurence Fellows drawing from 1939, the other is a vintage jacket from the 1950s.

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View attachment 1706828

It seems, perhaps, that is (or was) quite common for shawl-lapel jackets to be self-faced. I've never heard of it being a "rule", though. Three of my shawl jackets are self-faced, two are silk-faced.

 

[Faux Brummell]

I had been under the impression that black and midnight jackets were intended to have silk-faced lapels. It’s nice to keep learning.

 

[Andy57]

I had been under the impression that black and midnight jackets were intended to have silk-faced lapels. It’s nice to keep learning.

You may be right. I'd have to say that I would have thought that to be the case, too. My midnight blue shawl-lapel jacket I had made with silk facings. I think, though, whatever one decides to do, if one carries it off with sufficient aplomb, no one would dare question.

 

[Mark from Plano]

Black tie event on Saturday night. Sadly no good photos. This is the best one and you can’t see much.
Details:
- First outing for the new Steed MTM tuxedo. Smith Woolens midnight in 80% wool 20% mohair. One button with peak grosgrain lapels.
- Hemrajani formal shirt.
- Jan Leslie sterling silver and onyx shirt studs.
- Peal & Co (Brooks Bros) calfskin opera pumps with mirror shine provided by www.kirbyallison.com.
- Edward Armah grosgrain tie and cummerbund.
- Silk white/black polka dot pocket square.
- Fort Belvedere black silk formal hosiery
- Trafalgar Limited Edition “How Do You Do” silk braces (not shown).
- Antique IWC dress pocket watch in 14kgold case with 14k gold chain (not shown).