Formal Wear Primer

[Josephine]

Excellent, I'm rather glad I purchased one, then.
Here's the exact one I bought:

Please post a picture when you do wear it.

 

[Miss 1929]

You look perfect!

Incredible!

UOTE=Mr. Rover]I just got back my cream palm beach dinner jacket from the tailor...Whatcha think?

[/QUOTE]

And being a Latin theme (think: tropics) this year, you could wear this to the Art Deco Preservation Ball, hope you can come!

White tie and tails would also be great.

http://www.artdecosociety.org/about/events/calendar.htm

 

[jamespowers]

Excellent, I'm rather glad I purchased one, then.


Quite right. I suppose they went out of style some time after The Great War, as I've yet to come across anyone wearing one in photos of the era.

Here's the exact one I bought:

http://www.vintageshirt.co.uk/images/co101.jpg

Here are a few ideas of what to wear it with:

 

[DerMann]

Here are a few ideas of what to wear it with:

I say, absolutely spiffing illustration.

If I like the way this collar works out, I may invest in a few more the next time I place an order.

 

[DerMann]

Sorry for the double post, but I've just been pondering...

Since an Imperial collar is technically simpler than a wing-tipped collar, does that make it more formal? That seems to be the way with the rest of the shirt (plain bib v. marcella bib, single v. double cuffs).

 

[LindyTap]

sorry if this has been asked before, but I couldn't find anything, I recently bought a vintage tailcoat, but I'm having a really hard time finding the proper vest and tie in stores. Any idea where I can get the pique vest and bowtie? Brooks brothers used to have them, but they stopped, so I'm at a bit of a loss here!

 

[scotrace]

They can be found on eBay all day long.

 

[AlanC]

I would think that the NYC Brooks Bros. would have them. Try contacting the store rather than going through the website.

 

[Bugsy]

Try the Vintage Shirt Company. It's in England and they marvelous stuff.
http://www.vintageshirt.co.uk/

 

[Orgetorix]

Brooks does still have them, and any sales associate can get one for you.

 

[LindyTap]

Thanks for the responses everyone. I asked at the brooks brothers outlet, and they said they couldn't get them, but that may be because they're an outlet. I think I'm going to go through ebay, that seems to be the best route from what I can see.

 

[DerMann]

I ordered one from the tuxxman, and I didn't really like it.

It came with a matching pre-tied bowtie, but the waistcoat itself was not worth the money at all. For $20, I got one from The Vintage Shirt Co., and that one came with faux MoP waistcoat studs.

 

[balder]

It is possible to worry too much about etiquette. Much etiquette advice is groundless for the modern day. For example, you've heard here that black tie (bow, usually) with wing collar will make you look like a butler or waiter. Now, who has regular contact with a butler? I certainly don't. And a waiter wearing tails? Not even at the fanciest wedding, and if he is wearing tails they will fit terribly because they'll be horrid, rented, and polyester.

I cannot imagine anyone in california saying: "My word, madam. That man looks like a butler! Have him removed and flayed; He's offending my eyes".

Wear what looks good (there are things which don't work - patterns, colours etc that will look bad together). This is part of the learning experience. You'll make mistakes. And believe me, when you make a dress mistake, you'll know it! And you will not make the same one again!

bk

At Royal garden parties at Hollyrood House in Edinburgh,the waiters wear morning dress(I've done it!),but are bareheaded to distinguish them from the guests who would wear a grey top hat.

 

[Shaul-Ike Cohen]

While I concur in general, and about the point that hardly anybody is used to waiters in tails or butlers, still I suppose many people associate black ties and tails with waiters, probably unconsciously and from movies and the like.

In fact, many people associate black ties with with waiters even with a short dinner jacket - the white tie might have a greater effect on not looking like a waiter than tails or no tails. In full evening dress, you might look like an orchestra conductor, though.

By the way, isn't the popular image of a butler more dependent on striped trousers (and a posture like you were expecting a wigging)?

 

[Baron Kurtz]

I would associate a butler with morning dress. Also barristers look like this in my mind's eye, but wearing a stroller. So yes, striped trousers.

And God is a gigantic old white man (grandfather type) with a big white beard and white Roman toga. He lives on a white fluffy cloud (cumulo-nimbus, if my high school geography doesn't fail me), and generally throws lightning bolts around for a pastime.

A fun game, this.

bk

 

[Shaul-Ike Cohen]

As they say, clothes maketh the god.

But hey, I didn't prescribe or prohibit any kinds of dress. I was just describing what associations people might have, and it's not my fault that, given a suitable situation, some might take you for a waiter if you're in tails with a black bow tie.

Thinking again, I'm not sure how many would take you for God if you grow a long white beard, clad yourself in a toga and throw the occasional lightning bolt while hanging around on High Street. [huh]


.

 

[Midnight Blue]

They can be found on eBay all day long.

Are you sure? I signed up for a couple of searches related to brooks brothers formal vests a few weeks ago and have yet to receive a single notice of one coming up for bid.

 

[LindyTap]

maybe not brooks brothers ones specifically, but there are all sorts of white pique vests and bow ties from other manufacturers.

 

[Midnight Blue]

maybe not brooks brothers ones specifically, but there are all sorts of white pique vests and bow ties from other manufacturers.

As yes, that's true. I recently bought a 100% cotton model for a great price. However, the band behind the collar was cheap elastic and its metal clasp made it difficult to undo the band in order to slip it through the corresponding loop in a formal shirt. I was hoping to find a Brooks Brothers model because the neckband fastens with buttons instead - and is vastly superior in every other detail as well. Ah well, I will keep on searching ...

 

[LindyTap]

Well I got my vest, as well as my bowtie and matching shirt. But I have another question. I recently found my grandparents' wedding picture from 1954 and initially thought "oh cool, grandpa's got white tie on" but on further examination I realized that he didn't have a vest on. In fact, it looked like he had on a cumberbund. On top of that, I realized he had a dinner jacket, not a tailcoat on. (The contrast isn't that good and I had to look very closely to see this.) So it appears that my grandpa was wearing a white bowtie with an otherwise black tie ensemble. (That looked quite nice actually) Now, my grandpa was just an old country boy from tennessee, so he wouldn't have known better, but I was wondering if this was at all common at the time? I know you can wear a white vest to maximize the formality of black tie, but what about the tie itself? I've never heard anything like this before, but has anyone else?