History's Relevance

19th Century Origins

Edwardian Era (1900s, '10s)

Jazz Age (1920s)

Classic Age (1930s)

War & Post War ('40s, '50s)

Jet Age ('50s, '60s)

Peacock Revolution ('60s,'70s)

Classic Revival (Pt 1: late '70s)

Classic Revival (Pt 2: 1980s)

Dress-Down Days (1990s)

Jazz Age: The New Standard

A dinner-jacket used to be the sign of extreme informality in the evening.  Now it has become so usual an evening garment that, except on most ceremonious occasions, most young men wear it habitually. 

Vogue’s Book of Etiquette (1925)

• 1920s Etiquette

As mentioned, the formality and rigid hierarchy of the Edwardian class system did not survive World War I.  Thus the formerly de rigueur tailcoat ensemble became relegated to extremely formal functions while the previously informal dinner jacket which had been considered too vulgar for female sensibilities was promoted to standard evening attire.  As Emily Post advised in the 1922 first edition of her definitive Etiquette series, “To a man who can not afford to get two suits of evening clothes, the Tuxedo is of greater importance. It is worn every evening and nearly everywhere, whereas the tail coat is necessary only at balls, formal dinners, and in a box at the opera.”

The New Etiquette, another period guide, described how the dinner jacket’s transition affected both its role and its appearance: 

Immediately after the World War, formality was pushed aside with a barbaric shout.  Men defied their wives and their tailors and stiffened out like stubborn babies in their cribs, refusing flatly and noisily (not to say, profanely) to don tails and white ties.  They grudgingly consented to wear dinner clothes with black waistcoats and black ties.  The shawl collar of the dinner coat of that time was changed to a peaked lapel to make it more fitting for a lady’s gaze.  Then some of the more sensitive among them began to feel a little shamefaced and made a gesture toward the old formality by wearing a white waistcoat with the dinner coat. 

Because the white and black waistcoats were still interchangeable, the only distinctions between informal and formal evening wear during the early part of the decade were the cut of the coat and the color of the bow tie.  Although the braid on the dinner suit’s trousers had recently become narrower than the one on its full dress counterpart this differentiation was optional.  And so evening wear remained much the same as it was prior to the war until the late twenties when it was once again revolutionized by a young Prince of Wales.

• 1920s Evening Fashions

David, Prince of Wales

After the death of Edward VII in 1910, his son George V worked diligently to restore the formality and discipline that his father had let slide at Court.  However, George’s own heir shared more than his grandfather’s name (see sidebar). The new Prince of Wales also enjoyed the elder Edward’s preference for sartorial style and comfort over stuffy tradition and beginning in the 1920s this maverick’s impeccable fashion sense would influence menswear for years to come. 

By regularly opting for the dinner jacket over the tailcoat the future Duke of Windsor and his aristocratic circle of friends played a pivotal role in its elevation to standard evening wear.  The adoption of the practice in the United States was then only a matter of time since style-conscious Americans were greatly influenced by British trends during this period.  Numerous changes in evening fashions would soon follow as the Prince and other British trendsetters skillfully set about to improve formal attire’s comfort and enhance its panache.   

Midnight Blue

One of the first evening wear innovations championed by the Prince of Wales was an alternative to its standard black shade.  Midnight blue was a choice worthy of Beau Brummell in that it is appropriately muted for formal attire yet appears darker and richer under artificial light because it does not have black's tendency to give off a greenish cast.  The Prince’s alternative color choice received the blessing of etiquette experts as early as 1922 and its popularity would continue to grow over the decade eventually reaching its peak in the 1930s.  Although rarely seen in formal wear today, it remains a perfectly acceptable substitute for traditional black.

Waistcoats

The white waistcoat which had dwindled in popularity during the previous decade was now making a comeback.  Because it required more laundering and starching than the black version it was considered to be more a formal option.  Consequently, etiquette authorities often recommended its use when the dinner jacket was being worn to formal affairs that had previously required a tailcoat.  In April 1924 Men’s Wear reported that its adoption by such fashion leaders as the Prince of Wales and Lord Mountbatten had made it widely acceptable in London and that a survey of formal wear worn in Palm Beach showed that half of waistcoats observed were of the white variety. 

Around the same time another waistcoat innovation was rapidly gaining in popularity: the backless model.  Yet another contribution from His Royal Highness, this design replaced the back of the waistcoat with two small straps that held the front in place, resulting in a cooler variation that was particularly ideal for tropical climes.

Double-Breasted Jackets and Soft-Front Shirts

Two Men’s Wear surveys from 1928 revealed that while most men continued to favor wing collars and stiff-bosom shirts, some of the younger generation had taken to wearing negligee shirts with soft attached collars.  The magazine’s editors were not impressed with this new fashion:

This style mirrors the quintessence of informality, in fact, these men could hardly adopt any more radical style and still be “properly” dressed.  This trend toward greater informality is emphasized by the increase in popularity of double breasted dinner jackets which are usually worn without waistcoats.

Etiquette experts of the day agreed with the periodical’s disapproval and advised readers that the appropriateness of both the new jacket and soft or pleated shirts was strictly limited to summer evenings and other equally informal occasions.

Other Trends

The changes to informal evening wear during the 1920s extended to even the smallest of details.  In 1926 Men’s Wear reported that America’s new riches had given it the confidence to not just dress in finery but also to add color and jewels to evening wear unlike Britain which had given that up after the war.  Also noteworthy was the arrival of the formal pocket square a couple of years later thanks to the recent addition of breast pockets to dinner jackets.

A much more striking innovation of the late twenties was a relatively new accessory called the cummerbund.  A 1928 issue of Men’s Wear explained to readers that this was a black silk sash used as a replacement for the waistcoat on warm evenings. While it may have made a slight gain in acceptance among the fashionable Palm Beach set that year it would remain largely confined to the sidelines until the following decade.

• Dawn of the Golden Age

The popularity of soft shirts, backless waistcoats, double-breasted jackets and the novel cummerbund would only continue to grow in the next decade.  These trends were symbolic not so much of a move towards informality – despite what the Men’s Wear editors may have felt – as they were a shift towards comfort.  And far from being transitory fads, such developments would culminate in the apex of black tie élan in the following decade when the tuxedo would be bestowed with the honorific title of “semi-formal.”