Men looking for black tie with a twist this season should consider the oldest look in semi-formal wear. You see, when the dinner jacket was first worn the late Duke of Windsor and his set had not yet gotten around to making it more casual, and it was usually worn with the same accessories as the white tie ensemble that upper class men wore to dinner. That meant a white piqué waistcoat and a white dress shirt with piqué front, single linked cuffs and a detachable winged collar, a combination that has since been supplanted by less attractive alternatives in the name of looking different. So of course it can be used in turn to look different and better at the same time.
The two piece winged collar shirt is the key to the look, which is best worn with a single breasted, peak lapelled jacket (the lines of the shawl collar are better suited to the turndown collared pleated shirt and the DB jacket was made for turndowns as well). Attached collars are a pale shadow of what they should be as they cannot be constructed with the necessary collar height, so the collar attaching studs of the detachable version are worth the trouble. A piqué front is also a requirement for authenticity but personally I see no reason that they should button in back as they once did, leaving a man without a valet at the mercy of his spouse when he dressed for the evening.
Shirt and waistcoat are worn with white tie in the illustration, from a 1934 Esquire.
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Black Tie with a Twist
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
11 comments:
I appreciate your comments on the merits of the wing collar shirt, and in particular the collar stud.
I have a small collection which I seldom use, but they are at the ready in their Swaine Adeney Brigg caramel pigskin round stud box.
I have always felt as you do that the perfection of the conventional in evening dress underscores with greater nuance the beauty of one's companion, and that, after all, is the point. Right?
Thanks, nice post, Will.
Eh. Call it blasphemy, but I think winged collars inevitably look like costume these days.
Meh, no more than DB shawls.
The Duke wore a regular turn-down collar with his double-breasted, shawl lapel dinner jacket. QED.
Whenever I see that illustration, the first thing that I notice is the gentleman's choice of footwear.
Will, I fully understand where you are coming from on this. However, fashions change, and what the Duke of Windsor once did, and what is acceptable as "correct dress" are two very different things. My point is, wearing white tie accoutrements with a dinner jacket (as opposed to tailcoat) looks, at best, like one made a mistake, and at worst, like one is trying too hard. Besides, if the invitation says black tie, presumably it is correct to wear black tie accessories including the black bowtie. Note here that I truly mean a black bowtie, and not red or polka-dot or any of the other horrendous abominations men tend to wear to display their hilarious personalities (don't get me started on jaunty waistcoats with black tie!).
Maybe I'm just a bit of a stickler, but I would have some problem with a man who wore white tie accessories with a dinner jacket. In my view, royalty and their entourage may be able to get away with it, but that doesn't make it correct.
Let's see. Sinatra, I don't believe I suggested wearing a white tie with the rig, That would, to borrow a phrase, be blasphemy.
Of course the Duke wore turndown collared shirts with DB coats. That and the backless waistcoat were his innovations. The costume part is the idea of making a smoking jacket in black cloth.
Apologies Will. I completely misread you. Of course, you haven't suggested wearing a white bowtie, much to my relief.
However, I think you are suggesting wearing a white waistcoat with a dinner jacket, and I still maintain this falls into the "trying too hard" category.
I note that the shoes for the seated gentleman are oxfords with a cap toe. Was that the normal wear with a tail coat?
Pumps are best and patent leather cap toes also acceptable.
Of course, black tie was originally worn with the entire white-tie rig, including a white tie. Then again, those were the days of black vests with white tie.
I did manage to finagle a stiff-fronted detachable-collar shirt at an absurd discount, and have tried it out. Even the airhead fashion-type girls were favorably impressed. Costume? Humbug.
Post a Comment