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Review: Indochino Tuxedo

August 6, 2014

Overall Rating: Price: good Style & Options: good Ordering & Customer Service: excellent Fit: very good Quality: very good Vancouver-based, Shanghai-made online tailors Indochino have been in business since 2007, making them veterans in this relatively young industry. They were founded by two university classmates frustrated at the lack of quality suits available at affordable prices. The fact that […]

Toronto Tuxedo Tailors

April 24, 2014

Recently I’ve received a number of enquiries about where to buy custom-tailored tuxedos in my hometown of Toronto. As I have never had a tuxedo made here I figured this was a good excuse to visit some local providers to find out what they offer and how much they charge. Considering the vast number of custom […]

Going Classic on a Budget

April 9, 2014

Reader Jay from San Jose, California shares the challenges and discoveries encountered during his quest to assemble a classic formal kit at an affordable cost. While many in the world associate Californians with surfing and a laid back liberal culture, my wife and I enjoy dressing up just as much as anyone else. For those rare […]

Advanced Cravatology

March 25, 2014

Despite being such a simple accessory – or perhaps because of it – the bow tie is offered in a dizzying array of options. I describe the various shapes, models, and materials on the Black Tie Guide’s Classic Neckwear page but there are a few more interesting insights I’ve gleaned since then. Fabric Having recently purchased […]

Spotlight: The Marcella Shirt

March 19, 2014

The Marcella shirt is a uniquely British compromise between the formality of the traditional full-dress shirt and the comfort of the American black-tie shirt. The term evolves from Marseilles in reference to that city’s production of quilts with distinctive raised patterns beginning in the early 18th century. In the latter part of the century, Lancashire […]

Spotlight: The Albert Slipper

February 21, 2014

The Albert slipper aka Prince Albert slipper aka house shoe is a luxe slipper typically defined by velvet uppers that often have an embroidered design on the vamp, quilted linings, and leather soles. (It is also sometimes called a Churchill slipper but that term is more commonly applied to leather casual slippers.) Variations include an unadorned […]

Review: Black Lapel Tuxedo

February 17, 2014

Overall Rating: Price: very good Style & Options: excellent Ordering & Customer Service: excellent Fit: very good Quality: very good (later downgraded to unsatisfactory – see Postscript below) Black Lapel is a New York-based China-made online tailor founded in 2011 by, appropriately, two Chinese-American men. The philosophy of owners Derek Tian and Warren Liao is […]

Profile: Paul Stuart Formal Wear

February 11, 2014

Over the years that I’ve searched for classically inclined formal wear I’ve found only a handful of American brands that seemed to rival the elegance of the British: Brooks Brothers, Ralph Lauren, Robert Talbott and Paul Stuart. As part of my wardrobe upgrades for my most recent black-tie outing I took the opportunity to investigate […]

Formal Fashion: Harrods Holiday 2013 Lineup

December 10, 2013

Representatives of Harrods recently asked me to write a paid post about some of the formal menswear on offer from the luxury department store and I figured it was about time I ventured into the realm of formal fashions. While I will always champion traditional style over contemporary fashion, it seems like a good idea […]

Formal Fashion: Express Tuxedo Separates

November 28, 2013

Right in the heart of downtown Toronto is this six-storey high illuminated advertisement featuring a very smart looking tuxedo. To me, it’s as much a promotion of the concept of classic black tie as of the featured suit. Thank you Express! On their Web site Express describe themselves as a “must-have sexy, sophisticated fashion […]