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Too gimmicky a cummerbund?

landshark

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Anything that isn't black is too gimmicky a cummerbund.
 

TimelesStyle

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Originally Posted by landshark
Anything that isn't black is too gimmicky a cummerbund.

Disagree there. Even blacktieguide.com says that the waist covering, whether waistcoat or cummerbund, is the one place it's acceptable to add some color to a dinner suit. I'd like to find a nice dark burgundy or even purple, but can't seem to find one that doesn't look too bright.
 

WBaker

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Originally Posted by TimelesStyle
Disagree there. Even blacktieguide.com says that the waist covering, whether waistcoat or cummerbund, is the one place it's acceptable to add some color to a dinner suit. I'd like to find a nice dark burgundy or even purple, but can't seem to find one that doesn't look too bright.

Maybe id reconsider, but ive never seen this done well. Id still think black is pretty much the gold standard, and anything else is in a dangerous territory.
 

TimelesStyle

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Originally Posted by WBaker
Maybe id reconsider, but ive never seen this done well. Id still think black is pretty much the gold standard, and anything else is in a dangerous territory.

Fair enough. What I really, really want, if I'm going black, but can't seem to find at a reasonable price is a jacquard paisley one. Ben Silver does a vest in that pattern which looks great but is much more expensive than I want to spend. Also, with the high button stance of my DJ, I think a cummerbund is better suited than a waistcoat.
 

WBaker

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^
Yeah I could see this as being a much safer middle ground.
 

pvrhye

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I'd be tempted to get one of those low-cut white waistcoats with the full back if I wanted something out of the ordinary with my black-tie gettup.

EDIT: Reading comprehension fail.. you explained why you're wearing a cummerbund.

EDIT2: Since you have a higher button stance you'll be showing more or less cummerbund than is typical (not sure how open it is on the bottom), so I'd keep it kinda muted. If you can't see it at all under the jacket, I'd take the recent Bond angle and omit it for the same reason you don't wear one with a DB.
 

cbbuff

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The first one is
eh.gif


The second one is
laugh.gif


The "Burgundy" one is red on my monitor, but a solid burgundy could work well.

Be careful jazzing up a tux - it's formal wear and not a fashion show.
 

TimelesStyle

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Originally Posted by pvrhye
I'd be tempted to get one of those low-cut white waistcoats with the full back if I wanted something out of the ordinary with my black-tie gettup.

EDIT: Reading comprehension fail.. you explained why you're wearing a cummerbund.

EDIT2: Since you have a higher button stance you'll be showing more or less cummerbund than is typical (not sure how open it is on the bottom), so I'd keep it kinda muted. If you can't see it at all under the jacket, I'd take the recent Bond angle and omit it for the same reason you don't wear one with a DB.


Yea, I thought about a white waistcoat but the issue is I think it looks odd if just a tiny bit of vest sticks up above my jacket when buttoned. I think the jacket is based on Zegna's standard 2B cut and they just moved the button an inch lower, giving it a rather high stance for a single button.

To your other point, I definitely could go sans-covering. The trousers fit well enough that there won't be any sagging (could even get by w/o braces if I had to/wanted to), nor do I have any bulges in the waist area to conceal.
 

CousinDonuts

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sort of a matter of personal taste here. If you look at a picture of a handsome fellow wearing an all black bowtie and cummerbund, do you think "wow, that looks sharp"? How about if that same combo is patterened or colored?
 

Master Squirrel

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Originally Posted by TimelesStyle
Disagree there. Even blacktieguide.com says that the waist covering, whether waistcoat or cummerbund, is the one place it's acceptable to add some color to a dinner suit. I'd like to find a nice dark burgundy or even purple, but can't seem to find one that doesn't look too bright.

Admittedly I have a Black Watch tie and cummerbund I use for "creative black tie" but colored and funky sets will always make you look like you are stuck in the 1980s.
 

cncrd

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Originally Posted by TimelesStyle
I looked at that, but it was just a bit too bright for my liking. What I'd want is a very dark wine color and probably a solid.

There are a couple on the Carrot & Gibbs site that are close to that wine color, but still maybe a bit light?





Also, if you can find them, there's an (I think Irish) manufacturer called Dion. I have a full back formal vest from them in a black paisley silk that I occasionallly wear with my formal clothes. The manufacturer is extremely difficult to track down, and I may even be wrong about the Ireland part, but I believe that's correct.

Anyway, at the time I bought my vest, I seem to recall that they offered cummerbunds and ties in the same sort of dark conservative fabrics- some paisleys, some textured solids. Might be worth a bit of research.
 

Sazerac

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Originally Posted by CousinDonuts
sort of a matter of personal taste here. If you look at a picture of a handsome fellow wearing an all black bowtie and cummerbund, do you think "wow, that looks sharp"? How about if that same combo is patterened or colored?

This is very, very true.

I can theoretically see a nicely patterned cummerbund or waistcoat working, but in practice I can't see many guys pulling it off. It's so terribly easy to come off like a turnip in a rental rig. Instead of letting your personality out with a cummerbund, why not let your personality come out with, you know, your personality.
 

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