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musings on men's formal wear from the creator of The Black Tie Guide
Browsing All Posts filed under »Classic Black Tie«
Havana Nights
I came across this 1958 ad photographed at Hotel Nacional in Havana shortly before vacationing in that city last week. I subsequently made a point of visiting the hotel that was once the haunt of American mobsters and movie stars to see how it had held up in the years after the Castro revolution (which […]
Finishing Touch: The Pocket Square
February 22, 2012
I love the idea of finishing off a black-tie ensemble with a smart boutonniere as was popular with young blades back in the 1930s. However, in this age of stripped-down minimalism I fear it would come off as a bit too dandyish. I have no such compunctions about a pocket square though. The classic rule […]
Hall of Fame: Ryan Kwanten
February 9, 2012
While the men of Hollywood have definitely upped their game in recent red-carpet appearances, True Blood star Ryan Kwanten’s debonaire style has managed to set him apart as Most Valuable Player. Rather than trying to reinvent the tuxedo as so many rookies feel obliged to do, this young Australian actor puts himself in the big […]
A Tip of the Hat: Formal Headwear
January 15, 2012
I just finished writing a detailed history of formal hats for the Vintage section of the Guide and thought I’d share some of the more interesting facts here. Top hats have been the standard headgear with tailcoats since the early Victorian era and were originally made of either silk or beaver fur. Collapsible versions of […]
Rapper Pitbull Promotes Classic Black Tie
January 1, 2012
Like many other North Americans I watched parts of Dick Clark’s New Year’s Eve special during last night’s festivities. The highlight for me was seeing Pitbull (the rapper behind the hit “Give Me Everything”) perform not just in a tuxedo but in classic black tie. Friends assumed I would be perturbed by his untied bow […]
Midnight Blue in Mission Impossible
December 30, 2011
I took advantage of the Christmas holidays to see Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol which featured a very Bond-esque climax with Tom Cruise’s character decked out in a smart tuxedo at a swank soiree. It was only as the scene progressed that I began to detect the slightest hint of blue in his evening suit. The […]
Midnight Blue: “Blacker than Black”
December 20, 2011
Ten years ago I assumed, like pretty much every other North American under 60, that proper tuxedos had always been black. It was only when I began researching my first tuxedo purchase that I discovered there had once been an alternative called midnight blue which was considered the ultimate in formal elegance. Like the term […]
Plaid Tidings: Holiday Black Tie
December 5, 2011
The holiday season is upon us which means it’s time for dressing up. Not only do black-tie charity galas peak around this time of year but it’s also become the last bastion of private black-tie parties. This became apparent as I was researching historical menswear magazines and noticed that as the century progressed formalwear articles […]
A Striking Impression: The “Deep V”
December 1, 2011
When a man walks into a formal affair the first thing that identifies his black suit as a tuxedo is the accompanying black bow tie. And the first thing that identifies his tuxedo as superlative is the broad white V of exposed shirt front. This inverted triangle is a perfect confluence of sartorial ingenuity. The […]
DIY Formal Accessories
November 24, 2011
I sometimes suspect that traditional dressers who discover The Black Tie Guide must feel like guests showing up at the end of a legendary party. Upon arrival they are regaled with vivid descriptions of the evening’s festivities but when they attempt to partake for themselves they can find only leftover scraps. So it is that after becoming hooked […]
March 3, 2012
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