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musings on men's formal wear from the creator of The Black Tie Guide
Browsing All Posts filed under »White Tie«
Reader Role Models: Posh in Pennsylvania
Steve Sader is one of the very few Americans who attends white-tie occasions on a regular basis. He likes to attend both the The Philadelphia Assembly – a highly prestigious and aristocratic ball dating all the way back to 1748 – and the Academy of Music Anniversary Concert and Ball, this year celebrating the Academy’s […]
The Buffalo Club
April 3, 2013
Reader Bill Cleary from Buffalo, New York (seen on the right) is living the formal dream, as are his fellow members of The Buffalo Club. The club is steeped in tradition having been incorporated in 1867 by a group of men that included former U.S. president Millard Fillmore. A book published for the organization’s 125th […]
White Tie at the Holy See
March 22, 2013
It’s rare enough for White Tie to be worn to any diplomatic occasion these days but rarer still to see it worn as per Vatican protocol: in broad daylight and with a black waistcoat. The replacement of the usual white waistcoat may well be related to the proscription of white dresses at papal audiences for any woman other […]
Up Close: The Hidden Tailcoat Pocket
February 4, 2013
Like other rarefied details of bygone formal tailoring such as shirt-front trouser tabs and authentic trouser braiding, I have long wished to see an actual example of pockets hidden inside a tailcoat’s tails. From The Black Tie Guide: “In company, as little as possible should be borne in pockets of the coat ; indeed, a full-dress coat […]
2013 Vienna Ball Season: Insider Report
January 28, 2013
Reader Kate from the Washington, DC area wrote to say that she empathized with the challenge of finding classic black tie attire in the U.S. as experienced by a recent Inaugural Ball correspondent. On the flip side, her recent experience in Vienna provides an insight of what a genuine ball should look be like. While I did not […]
Alfred E. Smith Dinner 2012
October 28, 2012
The Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation Dinner is an annual fundraiser for Catholic charities best known for being headlined by the two main presidential candidates during U.S. election years. Together with the Gridiron Club’s annual dinner for the sitting president and journalists it is one of the last surviving high-profile White Tie affairs in America. […]
1907 Formal Wear I: Full Dress
August 6, 2012
Back in 2006 when I began researching original materials regarding the history of formal wear my options were limited to library collections. It has been astonishing to note since then how many vintage publications have become available online. To this day it still awes me that I can peruse the scanned pages of Victorian-era tailoring […]
The Shawl-Collared Tailcoat
July 24, 2012
The shawl collar is normally associated with the informal smoking jacket or semi-formal dinner jacket so it’s surprising to learn that it has occasionally been featured on full-dress tailcoats dating back to the Victorian era. In 1866 The Gazette of Fashion noted that the “rolling collar” had become the most stylish type of lapel on […]
Up Close: The Detachable Collar
July 7, 2012
The exquisite attention to detail I mentioned in my review of Brooks Brothers’ authentic full-dress waistcoat and shirt applies not just to the garments but to the peripherals too. In particular, the accoutrements associated with the detachable shirt collar. First there are the collar studs which come in different sizes corresponding to their function: a […]
Up Close: The Full-Dress Shirt
May 1, 2012
Just as with their full-dress waistcoat, Brooks Brothers’ full-dress shirt is a wondrous lesson in old school elegance. First and foremost, it is a collar-less tunic that allows for a tall and rigid detachable collar that frames a man’s face with stately splendour. It also lets the wearer choose from a variety of wing shapes […]
June 13, 2013
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