Unusually Smart-Looking Men

[Tomasso]

Then there's the guys with buttons in their shirt instead of studs......

 

[Flicka]

I never noticed before but the Duke looks exactly like my maternal grandfather did. /off-topic

 

[MikeBravo]

I can't see the pix it's just a red x on my screen.

Count yourself lucky, my friend

 

[vitanola]

I can't see the pix it's just a red x on my screen.

Count yourself lucky indeed.

The poor boy appears to have been gift wrapped.

 

[1961MJS]

Hi, back when all of that stuff went out of style (1979), a friend of mine bought the white jacket, white pants, black pants, and EVERY color they had of shirt at $5 a piece I think. Still kind of got hosed, but he wore them on Halloween.

Later

 

[Edward]

I definitely think this is a case of differing social customs then - I dug out one of my old [ETA: Swedish] etiquette books (from 1933) and it states that white tie is worn at weddings, except at morning weddings. White tie is always correct for audiences (yes, at court) and funerals, no matter what time of day it is. It's also worn at formal dinners, balls and large parties, but, it says, the old custom of wearing white tie simply because it is your first visit as a guest to someone's home, isn't used anymore (never heard of that one, but there you are). On the other hand, it says that a dinner jacket is only ever worn at night (yes, it's actually bolded in my book so it's clearly a Rule). I think the difference is that a dinner jacket is for dining, while white tie is simply a man's best.

Anyway, remember that for your next visit to the Swedish court - no lounging about in morning wear just because it's early. Whip out your tails!

Fascinating! Thanks for posting.

And notch lapels, too. Wouldn't trust his tailor much - you know he'll have paid two fortunes for a jacket that looks like a lounge suit jacket with some satin tacked on.

 

[Flicka]

Fascinating! Thanks for posting.

Is this irony? Just in case it isn't, I'll offer some more gems from the same book (translated from Swedish by yours truly - does anyone now what a chapeau claque is, or is that called something else in English? It's a collapsing top hat, anyway):

And now to the hats! Top hats should be used together with white tie (not only at weddings and funerals). At festivities, the races etc. top hats may be worn together with morning wear. Younger gentlemen wear a chapeau claque which is commonly left in the cloakroom nowadays.

With dinner jacket one wears a black hat; that is a bowler; a soft, black hat; or a chapeau claque. But you may not wear a top hat or chapeau claque if you are not wearing a fur coat or a dark grey overcoat. If you wear an ulster or burberry, you have to wear a hard, low hat; i.e. a bowler hat.

I love old etiquette books. I have one listing 100 forms of parties from 1930, and it's hilarious. I have a dream of finding some other vintage fans and setting up a dinner club where we can try them out (they come with set menus and recipes).

 

[Baron Kurtz]

I don't think Ed was being ironic. He really is fascinated by this stuff.

I knew what a chapeau claque was, but only because I look at french eBay for vintage.

Is this irony? Just in case it isn't, I'll offer some more gems from the same book (translated from Swedish by yours truly - does anyone now what a chapeau claque is, or is that called something else in English? It's a collapsing top hat, anyway):



I love old etiquette books. I have one listing 100 forms of parties from 1930, and it's hilarious. I have a dream of finding some other vintage fans and setting up a dinner club where we can try them out (they come with set menus and recipes).

 

[Flicka]

So if anyone is interested, I condensed the information I found re formal wear here and put it up at my poor history blog, which I have been neglecting for a while but fully mean to revive:

http://theragsoftime.blogspot.se/2012/07/what-to-wear-use-of-formal-wear-in.html

 

[Edward]

Is this irony?

Sorry, I only just realised when I read your post it might have come over that way, but no, it certainly is not - I really do love these sorts of details and rules. All those years of poring over details in Dungeons and Dragons, Warhammer and the likes as a kid, maybe...

Just in case it isn't, I'll offer some more gems from the same book (translated from Swedish by yours truly - does anyone now what a chapeau claque is, or is that called something else in English? It's a collapsing top hat, anyway):

Ah, yes - an "opera hat". Interesting they make the age distinction - was it just a generational shift in availability / fashion, or do you think the opera hat was actually considered "a young man's hat" in and of itself?

I love old etiquette books. I have one listing 100 forms of parties from 1930, and it's hilarious. I have a dream of finding some other vintage fans and setting up a dinner club where we can try them out (they come with set menus and recipes).

Yes, I love that sort of thing. Whether or not I choose to live by a particular "rule" (one I loathe is this standing up during the Halleluljah chorus... not least because most people who demand it be observed couldn't even tell you why they do it), I love to know what it is and how it came about.

So if anyone is interested, I condensed the information I found re formal wear here and put it up at my poor history blog, which I have been neglecting for a while but fully mean to revive:

http://theragsoftime.blogspot.se/2012/07/what-to-wear-use-of-formal-wear-in.html

Thank-you - will check that out.