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No more white tie for Nobel Prize Awards ceremony?

Marc Chevalier

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Up until very recently, winners of the annual Nobel Prizes would wear white tie and tails when receiving them. Today's photos of the Nobel Prize ceremony suggest that this tradition might have finally bitten the dust. Does anyone here know for sure?


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Cobden

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It may be due to practical reasons; if the US President was unable to wear tails (due to engagements after the affair, or it being a flying visit, or even perhaps for political reasons, etc.) it wouldn't exactly be the done thing for others to wear it.

A shame if it doesn't come back next year - I'm hoping it's a one off
 

avedwards

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Cobden said:
perhaps for political reasons
I don't see how politics would prevent Mr Obama from wearing white tie. He is the leader of a Western country, and in Western society white tie is the most formal sort of evening wear, so why should he not wear it?
 

Boodles

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"...it wouldn't exactly be the done thing for others.."

I don't think I understand why the others would follow his lead.

Cobden said:
It may be due to practical reasons; if the US President was unable to wear tails (due to engagements after the affair, or it being a flying visit, or even perhaps for political reasons, etc.) it wouldn't exactly be the done thing for others to wear it.

A shame if it doesn't come back next year - I'm hoping it's a one off
 

Cobden

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Boodles said:
I don't think I understand why the others would follow his lead.
avedwards said:
I don't see how politics would prevent Mr Obama from wearing white tie. He is the leader of a Western country, and in Western society white tie is the most formal sort of evening wear, so why should he not wear it?

It's not very man of the people, perhaps? Gordon Brown always wore a suit to the Lord Mayor's clambake when others wore tails as he felt tails were elitist (I believe now he is PM he has been seen in tails).

Presidents (and other world leaders) have advisors saying how they should dress - generally to exude confidence, dignity, leadership, honesty, and all that malarky (which is why all politicians in the western world dress identically). White tie and tails is hard to manipulate in such a way, and the view in most peoples eyes is not of formalwear, but of a monocled and moustachioed 19th century elite.

I don't think I understand why the others would follow his lead.

The best way I can put it is that it would be sort of the nobel equivalent of a woman outdressing the bride at a wedding

Incidentally, if White Tie isn't reinstated, I positively refuse to come up with any serious new discoveries in the various awarded fields. lol
 

Tiller

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Boodles said:
I don't think I understand why the others would follow his lead.

I wouldn't.

As far as why he won't wear white tie who knows. I also understand that he snubbed the Norwegian king, which seems like a bad political move, if politics alone is the reason he is making his decisions at the ceremony.
 

Hal

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To which Nobel Prize Awards Ceremony are you referring? There are two; the Peace Prize is presented in Oslo, the others in Stockholm. The formality codes of Norway and Sweden may not be the same - I think that the Swedes would be less likely to ditch the white tie than the Norwegians.
 

Geesie

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Cobden said:
It's not very man of the people, perhaps? Gordon Brown always wore a suit to the Lord Mayor's clambake when others wore tails as he felt tails were elitist (I believe now he is PM he has been seen in tails).

Formal dress is elitist...
Pronouncing words correctly is elitist...

I sure feel better knowing that all these rich and powerful world leaders are just plain folks after all! I can really identify with them, unlike in the past when they tried to be educated and dignified!
 

Matt Deckard

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Anyone track down when the last time a receiver of the prize wore tails?

I do know that it's been only in the last 12 years that pimps at their annual meet have moved from carrying sticks to carrying chalices. Not much of a change in their dress. Yet this tails thing is apparently a bigger deal.

More on the level of American pimps switchover from fish tank shoes to green alligator shoes as the accepted wear for formal meets.
 

Marc Chevalier

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Hal said:
To which Nobel Prize Awards Ceremony are you referring? There are two; the Peace Prize is presented in Oslo, the others in Stockholm. The formality codes of Norway and Sweden may not be the same - I think that the Swedes would be less likely to ditch the white tie than the Norwegians.

I'm referring to the Oslo ceremony.


Someone just sent me information --from the official Nobel Prize website-- concerning the dress code. Apparently, neither Oslo nor Stockholm require white tie at their awards ceremonies if the recipient does not go the the banquet afterward. (The banquets at Oslo and Stockholm are still white tie.) In other words, a recipient at Oslo or Stockholm who attends the ceremony and the banquet must wear white tie to both. http://nobelprize.org/award_ceremonies/banquet/dresscode/


That said, photos from recent Nobel peace prize ceremonies in Oslo show no recipient wearing white tie. The Stockholm ceremony is another story: recipients wore white tie there as recently as 2008. Looks like Hal was dead right.


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