Dress Like a Man (6 page)

C
HAPTER 10:
F
ORMAL
D
RESS (
M
ORNING
D
RESS AND
W
HITE
T
IE)

A caution for modern readers: the term "formal dress" is badly misused in today's society.

Wedding invitations are the chief offenders here. People will cheerfully request that their guests appear in "formal dress" with
no
conception of what they're asking.

So let us be very clear: the term "formal dress" is a specific standard. There are two traditional formal looks for men, at least in countries that do not have their own cultural formal dress: "morning dress" in the daytime and "white tie" at night.
Anything else is not truly "formal."

Even the tuxedo, which most Americans think of as "formal wear," is really only a semiformal outfit. If invited to an official event like an awards ceremony or a ball that requests formal dress, wear the appropriate daytime or evening costume. If it is a private, personal event like a wedding, and you are unsure of the host's intention, check discreetly beforehand.

Daytime Formal Attire: Morning Dress

Of the two "formal dress" options available to most men, the daytime version is the less commonly used.

It is most popular in England, where it is still worn by government officials at some of their public functions, and occasionally by members of the aristocracy at high-formality social events.

The primary components of morning dress for men are:

• A
  morning coat
  -- a single-breasted, peak-lapel cutaway coat, usually fastened with a single button, sometimes with silk piping along the edges. Gray is the most common color for social wear.
  
• Formal trousers
  -- striped (or, less commonly, checked) trousers from heavy wool. They generally do not match the morning coat, except in the "Morning Gray" suit sometimes worn for daytime weddings and in black for funerals. They are sometimes known as "spongebags" or as "cashmere stripes," the latter of which refers to the pattern rather than the material. Only suspenders are appropriate; formal and semiformal attire should never include a belt.
  
• A
  waistcoat
  -- generally gray, black, or buff (a yellowish-tan color). Again, it does not match the jacket except in gray morning suits or black funeral garb.
  
• A
  formal shirt
  with a high wing collar or a detachable turndown collar attached with studs. In formalwear, wing collared shirts traditionally have single cuffs, while turndown shirts have double cuffs.
  
• A conservative necktie (with turndown collars) or a
  formal ascot
  (with wing collars). Note that a formal ascot is
  not
  the same thing as a day cravat, which is not worn with morning coats.
  
• Black oxfords, riding boots, or dress boots.
  

Other optional items include pocket squares, boutonnières, canes, top hats (the only kind of hat that should be worn with morning dress), spats, and suede, chamois, or kid leather gloves in lemon or gray.

Note that these are the contemporary, modern standards for daytime formalwear. Historically, even the morning coat was a casual option, with the now-obsolete frock coat worn for formal daytime occasions.

Evening Formal Attire: White Tie

The morning coat or morning suit, as the name would suggest, is meant for daytime wear.

In the evening, the maximum dress standard for men is defined by
white tie
attire. This is an inflexible standard even compared to the tuxedo, which most men already think of as a strict dress code.

Resist any temptation to play around with this one. Most men will never wear it, and if you find yourself called upon to do so, stick to the classic standards:

• An
  evening tailcoat
  -- double-breasted but worn unbuttoned, with peak lapels faced in satin or grosgrain. Black and midnight blue are the only appropriate colors, and the cutaway is straight rather than angled or swooped.
  
• Formal trousers
  that match the material of the tailcoat, with stripes along the seam made from the same material as the lapel facings. Only suspenders are appropriate; formal and semiformal attire should never include a belt.
  
• A
  waistcoat
  made of white pique, single- or double-breasted with oblong lapels and long enough to cover the trouser waist fully.
  
• A
  wing-collared formal shirt
  with a stiff front placket, single cuffs fastened with links, and only one or two front studs (sometimes three for very tall men)
  
• A white
  bowtie
  , generally made of pique to match the waistcoat. Either batwing or butterfly shapes are acceptable, but should always be hand-tied.
  
• Black
  dress pumps
  , a formal type of slip-on shoe. Plain black oxfords can be substituted in a pinch, ideally ones made from patent leather. If plain calf oxfords are your only option, polish them to a very high shine for white tie wear.
  

Cultural Alternatives

Some countries may have their own native alternative to morning dress and white tie for a man's most formal clothing option.

Famous examples include Scottish formal dress (which includes a kilt and sporran for men), the Icelandic
hátíðarbúningur
, and the Philippine
barong Tagalog.

Traditional cultural garments are also sometimes made in more elaborate forms to create a
de facto
formalwear, such as the decorated
dhoti
and
kimono
sometimes worn at Indian and Japanese formal events.

If you belong to a culture that acknowledges an alternative to morning dress, you are of course free to wear it (even outside its native country). Men who are not native to the culture, however, should be wary of unwanted appropriation, and only wear such garments when expressly invited to, or when given them as gifts in preparation for a specific event.

There are also a few situations where uniforms may be worn in place of white tie or morning dress. High-formality military balls sometimes request dress uniforms of active servicemen and servicewomen, and formal dress of all other attendees.

Apart from those exceptions, however, formal dress is a strict standard and should be treated as such. On the rare occasion that a man is invited to a formal affair, he should either have proper attire made for him, or else he should arrange a high-quality rental well in advance.

C
HAPTER 11:
S
EMIFORMAL
D
RESS (
S
TROLLERS AND
B
LACK
T
IE/
T
UXEDO)

In the previous chapter, we discussed true formal dress.

That's an extremely high standard that men are rarely called upon to wear anymore. Most men go their whole lives without ever needing to put on morning dress or white tie attire.

Semi-formal occasions are a little more common. Black tie is a popular enough wedding attire that many men end up at least renting a tuxedo once or twice in their lives.

Unfortunately, that's also led to some dilution of the standard, especially at large commercial rental outlets. These days, simply being labeled as a "tuxedo" doesn't necessarily make an outfit black tie.

Additionally, like formal wear, semiformal wear has a daytime standard as well as a nighttime standard, making black tie inappropriate before around 5:00 in the evening (give or take -- the general rule of thumb is, if the event will
end
after dark, you can wear a tuxedo even if the sun is still up at the
start
of the event).

If you're going to dress for a semiformal event, take the time to do it right. Wear the appropriate attire for the time of day, and stick to the standard rather than branching out into something that's more of a costume based on formalwear than true semiformal dress.

Daytime Semiformal Attire: Strollers

The "stroller" is a type of coat, and its name is generally given to the whole traditional outfit worn with it as well. Both the term and the fashion are most common in the United States. In the United Kingdom (and countries influenced by UK styles), most daytime events are either treated as formal or business affairs, with no need for a middle ground.

The stroller looks similar to men's formal daytime attire, and most modern men won't be able to tell the two apart at a glance. The main differences are the color and length of the coat. Essential components include:

• A
  stroller
  or
  Stresemann
  jacket -- black, single- or double-breasted, and tailless, made from heavy wool and usually with peaked lapels. They tend to be a touch longer and more squared-off than modern suit jackets, but do not have the long tails of a morning coat.
  
• Formal trousers
  in light gray. Solid, striped, or checked are all acceptable, though the stripes and checks should be a subdued, gray-on-gray pattern. As with formal attire, only suspenders are appropriate -- never a belt.
  
• A
  waistcoat
  in gray, black, or buff.
  
• A
  formal shirt
  with a detachable, turndown collar (never a wing collar). The front should fasten with studs, not buttons, and the cuffs should be single and fasten with links.
  
• A
  gray or silver
  necktie
  (never an ascot or cravat).
  
• Black Oxfords, dress boots, or riding boots.
  

Most of this style is interchangeable with morning dress. The main difference is the jacket and the shirt collar/necktie combination. In most countries that wear it (the United States, Germany, and Japan are the places where it is most common), semiformal daytime attire evolved as a slightly more convenient version of its formal cousin, and has remained largely unchanged ever since.

Evening Semiformal Attire: Black Tie

Black tie attire calls for a tuxedo jacket, but not all tuxedoes are black tie.

Sounds complicated, no?

Mostly it comes down to the quality of the tux and the other items you wear it with. For true black tie, everything should be black and white, with the possible exception of a single small, colored accent like a boutonnière.

Other than that, the "dinner suit," as black tie is sometimes called, is not actually all that different from a modern business suit. It is largely a matter of accessories, materials, and precision that turns it into a higher dress standard.

For true black tie, the following are all required:

• A
  tuxedo jacket
  -- a black or midnight blue wool jacket with satin or grosgrain facing on the lapels. Lapels should be peaked or shawl collared (notch lapel tuxedos exist, but are an awkward-looking modernization best avoided). The jacket can be single- or double-breasted, with single-button, single-breasted models the most traditional style.
  
• Dinner suit trousers
  -- matched to the tuxedo jacket, with the same base material, and the material used for the lapel facing sewn along the trouser streams in wide stripes (called "braids"). The trousers are uncuffed and should only be worn with suspenders, never with belts.
  
• A black
  waistcoat
  or
  cummerbund
  , both equally acceptable. Avoid colored versions of either -- restrained, dark-colored cummerbunds are
  occasionally
  acceptable, but unless the wearer is very sure of himself it's always better to keep semiformal evening wear black and white.
  
• A
  black tie shirt
  -- plain white, with a turndown collar and a pleated or pique front panel and double cuffs. Studs and links should be used to fasten the shirt. Wing collars are not black tie appropriate, and should be avoided.
  
• A
  black bowtie
  made of the same material as the lapel facings and trouser braid. Self-tied is the only appropriate option, never clip-on.
  
• Dress pumps
  or highly-polished black calf Oxfords.