Hall of Shame | The Black Tie Blog

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Hall of Shame: Bad Plaid

March 12, 2014

So often the best arguments for traditional formal wear are the arguments against it. This excerpt from a recent article in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette could be a carbon copy of similar proclamations written since the 1960s, all featuring outfits that were quickly dispensed to history’s rubbish bin. For far too long, formal dress for men […]

Hall of Shame: RoFo

March 5, 2014

This one really hits home: Here’s my clown of a mayor representing my favourite attire as poorly as he represents my beloved city. The occasion was Jimmy Kimmel’s post-Oscar show last Sunday. For the record, I didn’t vote for the guy because he was an obvious idiot even before he was elected. (Sadly, a sizable […]

Hall of Shame: Cowboy Coats

December 20, 2013

Part of the research for my recent post on western tuxedos involved combing through formalwear rental sites, an endeavour that’s always sure to yield some horrific examples of so-called formal attire. I thought I’d share the latest results with readers as an early Christmas present. Just to be clear though, the following outfits are by no […]

Flashback: Retro Ruffled Shirts

July 5, 2013

I have completed the Black Tie Guide’s Vintage Shirts page which previously only described shirts from the 1930s and ‘40s. The period covered now extends back to the English Regency and forward to the late 1950s. I arbitrarily ended the review at the 1960s because that’s when the so-called peacock revolution turned fashion on its […]

Hall of Shame: Tuxedo Knickers

August 30, 2012

The T. Barry Knicker Co. offers black-tie golfers these “luxurious Tuxedo Knickers”, a concept they describe as “eccentric elegance”. Based on the getup shown in the photo I’d say that description is half right. Thanks to dhermann for originally posting this travesty on The Fedora Lounge boards.

Hall of Shame: Alber Elbaz

May 12, 2012

Here’s proof positive that wealth and status don’t necessarily have anything to do with knowing how to wear a tuxedo, courtesy of renowned designer Alber Elbaz of the Paris fashion house Lanvin. Who knew that deliberately making oneself look fat and frumpy was considered stylish? Thanks to reader Bruno Gontier for alerting me to Monsieur […]

From Romania with Regret

April 17, 2012

A (dismayed) reader from Romania recently alerted me to what passes as formal wear in that country. He describes Alexandru Ciucu tailors as Romania’s “most authoritative, most appreciated voices in menswear”, a claim seemingly backed up by the fact that they operate by appointment to the Royal House of Romania. Here’s a sample of this […]

Flashback: The Powder Blue Tuxedo

November 10, 2011

When researching the tuxedo’s history for the Guide I thoroughly enjoyed reviewing vintage menswear magazines and observing the tuxedo’s elegant evolution through the decades. However, once I got to the late 1950s the research became somewhat nausea-inducing. Each year the formalwear pictorials and advertisements featured progressively more awful tuxedo separates (ostensibly for summer or less […]

A Bad Situation: Jersey Shore Tuxedos

November 1, 2011

For those fortunate readers unfamiliar with the Jersey Shore reality TV series, let me summarize the tawdry details. The show follows the day-to-day exploits of a group of lewd, vain, self-centred, semi-literate, spray-tanned New Jersey friends as they go about preening, binge drinking, brawling and trolling for one-night stands. Rather than being dismissed as tasteless […]