Introduction: Gold Standard

Defining Classic Black Tie
Classic Jackets
Classic Trousers
Classic Waist Coverings
Classic Shirts
Classic Neckwear
Classic Footwear
Classic Accessories
Classic Outerwear
Warm-Weather Black Tie

Classic Alternatives

Classic Waistcoat and Cummerbund

The wearing of a waistcoat or cummerbund with formal attire is not so much about adding an extra garment as it is about enhancing the underlying apparel.  Author Alan Flusser explains this principle of proper formal wear in Dressing the Man:

The underpinning of high-class dinner clothes was originally designed to be invisible.  Dress studs hid the evening shirt’s stud holes, and silk bands covered the formal trousers’ outside seams.  Following in the tailcoat’s footsteps, the single-breasted dinner jacket requires the services of the dress vest or cummerbund to conceal and smooth over the edges of the shirt’s bosom and the exposed trouser waistband.

Black tie’s original waist covering was the evening waistcoat used by its full-dress progenitor.    Then, in the 1930s, the dinner suit adapted a slightly less formal alternative to call its own: the cummerbund.  Although this dressy sash was initially appropriate only for warm-weather evenings, it has been acceptable year-round since the fifties.  Consequently, both garments are considered authentic and correct.  

Either covering may be paired with either style of dinner jacket lapel, but the expert consensus is that the formality and pointed tips of the waistcoat harmonizes best with the angularity of the peaked lapel while the informality and curved outline of the cummerbund best complements the streamlined shawl collar.

The dinner jacket’s model, however, offers less flexibility in choice of waist covering.  Because a double-breasted coat is always worn buttoned up there is no need for an additional garment to cover the trouser waistband.  Consequently, waistcoats and cummerbunds are only worn with single-breasted jackets.

• Waistcoat

The obsequious high-buttoning formal vests available from today's formalwear retailers are essentially glorified three-piece suit vests and as such are definitely not classic.  Rather, the traditional evening waistcoat is distinguished by a low-buttoning design that is intended to conceal the trouser waist (thus its name) and the suspenders without obscuring the formal shirt’s elegantly decorated bib.   It is also notable for being dressed with lapels. 

The classic formal waistcoat is acceptable in either single- or double-breasted models.  In the former case the bottom of the vest typically ends in two points that can be angular or rounded. 

Evening waistcoats can have either a full back or they may be the more common backless variety introduced by the Duke of Windsor as another of his contributions to eveningwear comfort. 

The body is constructed from the same material as the dinner jacket or is made entirely from silk.  The waistcoat’s lapels have bottom edges that can be square cut or rounded.  The type of silk used in the waistcoat would logically match the dinner jacket facings.   

Single-breasted waistcoats take three buttons while double-breasted models take four.  In either case, the grosgrain covered buttons can be replaced by studs specifically designed for this purpose.

Finer quality models will feture a tab that buttons to the trousers in order to keep the waistcoat from riding up and exposing the waistband.  Also, buttons will be used to adjust the neck strap on backless versions rather than metal buckle.

• Cummerbund

According to the Encyclopedia of Men’s Clothes, the cummerbund was brought to England from India by the British officers serving there.  It was originally a long, brightly colored sash that was tied outside a tunic and called a “Kamarband“ (Hindustani for “loin band”).  Although it covered the trouser waist as effectively as the waistcoat, its comparative simplicity designated it as a less formal alternative.

The most traditional material for cummerbunds is black silk in a satin or grosgrain finish to match the facings of the dinner jacket lapels.  However, this overlay’s informal nature makes it an ideal mechanism for introducing tasteful color into black tie.

Pleats are worn facing up, the vestige of a time when dress trousers did not have pockets and gentlemen would often carry their opera tickets tucked into their cummerbund.

Better quality models are distinguished by a gentle curve along its top line, a small hidden pocket for storing tickets or cash and, like the formal waistcoat, an elastic loop for fastening to the trousers.