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A Tom Ford Tribute

October 7, 2014

Next to the James Bond franchise, menswear designer Tom Ford has been the most influential promoter of classic formal wear in the new millennium. Ford began his career in 1986 and just four years later joined the faltering luxury goods company Gucci which was then on the verge of bankruptcy. His early success in the fashion house’s womenswear line led to […]

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 […]

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 […]

Brooks Brothers Holiday Gift Book 2013

November 29, 2013

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Today is the start of the holiday shopping season in the US – and now in Canada too – so it seems like an appropriate time to highlight this year’s holiday catalogue from Brooks Brothers. I always look forward to receiving this in the mail knowing it will capture the black-tie elegance that used to […]

Reader Role Models: Open-and-Shut Case

October 30, 2013

Presented for the black-tie jury’s consideration is the case of Stephen Ozcomert, an attorney from Decatur, Georgia. To look his very best at formal affairs and when performing on stage as a part-time classical singer, Mr. Ozcomert employed The Black Tie Guide and the knowledgeable staff at Custom Clothing of Atlanta to commission a made-to-measure […]

Reader Role Models: Doubly Debonnaire

October 28, 2013

Probably the most common type of inquiry I receive from grooms-to-be is “I know it’s not technically correct to wear a tuxedo to my afternoon wedding but . . . “ But nothing. Reader Duncan Pike of Vancouver demonstrates precisely why traditional etiquette prescribes different time-specific attire for a daytime wedding followed by an evening […]

Up Close: Waistband Tabs

October 10, 2013

Judging by the requests I receive for more details of the tabs on formal shirts and waist coverings I didn’t do a very good job of explaining this in the Guide. So here’s a close-up look at everything you wanted to know – or didn’t want to know – about this interesting example of formal […]

Reader Role Models: Diplomatic Dash

September 18, 2013

A couple of years ago I was contacted by a trainee Foreign Service Officer in the U.S. Agency for International Development. (USAID officers work in partnership with governments around the world developing and managing foreign assistance programs for economic trade, the environment, democracy and governance, global health and humanitarian assistance among other fields.) The trainee, […]