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 I (Late '70s)

Classic Revival II (1980s)

Dress-Down Days (1990s)

Peacock Revolution: Informal Counterculture

The peacock has replaced the penguin and once-sacrosanct traditional formal wear has been assailed by startling fabrics, designs and colors.

GQ Nov 1969

• Mods and Dandies

In the early sixties menswear underwent its most dramatic change since Beau Brummell and it was not long before the impact was felt in formal wear.  A textiles exhibit in London’s Victoria and Albert Museum, located in the epicenter of this sartorial revolution, explains that for the previous 150 years clothing for men had been tailor-made in plain, dark styles that had been dictated by mature elite.  Now suddenly, young people with their newfound affluence were challenging the “staid rules of masculine etiquette” that had prevailed since Victorian times.  The clothes for the new generation were mass-produced, slim fitting and brightly colored, first appearing with the simple geometric shapes of the Mod look then flourishing into the frills and velvet characteristic of the flamboyant modern dandy in the latter part of the decade. 

In 1965 tuxedo manufacturer After Six reported that sales of their colored dinner jackets had gone “right through the roof” to the point where they could not keep up with demand.   Clearly, the so-called Peacock Revolution had not only landed on America’s shores by this time but was already having an influence its formal attire.

• Swinging Sixties

The Nehru

It was not long before the Swinging London look affected more than just informal summer jackets.  Debuting in America in 1966, the lapel-less, upright collar coat known as the Nehru made an immediate impact on daytime menswear.  By 1968 After Six was already featuring its own brocaded silk formal Nehru worn with a white turtleneck in an ad titled “The no black tie black tie.”  More than just a catchy marketing slogan, this caption heralded black tie’s surrender of longstanding fundamental principles. 

The Edwardian

When the Nehru fad began to dissipate (fairly quickly), it was replaced by the much more ornate but similarly unconventional Edwardian look.  While its name reflected its homage to turn-of-the-century men’s fashions, the trend was equally influenced by the nineteenth century dandy and his flare for the dramatic.  The result was a highly theatrical style of dress in which no self-respecting Edwardian gentlemen would have been caught dead, least of all after six o’clock.

The neo-Edwardian dinner jacket was distinguished by a double-breasted design with wide lapels, square shoulders, suppressed (tailored) waist and a deep center vent.   The cut of the jacket became longer as the years progressed, with four-button models elongating to six- and finally eight-button frocks.  The velvet and brocade materials used for the coat were fashioned not only in black but also in brown, royal blue, ruby red and emerald green.  Set against this kaleidoscope of color were contrasting black facings decorating not only the lapels but also the flap pockets that had recently emigrated from the less formal summer jackets.  Even the coat’s buttons were employed in adding flare, often appearing in a divergent color especially on white models such as the aptly named “Swinger”.  Complementing this newfound finery were trousers made from either matching hues or from differing materials such as white wool, red silk or blue velvet. 

Underneath these jackets formal shirts were becoming equally opulent.  The subtle embroidered lace front that had appeared in the late fifties evolved into understated columns of small ruffles in the early sixties then blossomed into an forest of oversized frills by the middle of that decade. Synonymous with these developments were the rise of lacy cuffs and the decline of the shirt stud which was being increasingly replaced by fly fronts or white buttons.  No longer content with understated white, formal tops also began appearing in every color imaginable including pink, apricot, avocado, copper and midnight blue.

The waistcoat’s return to favor in the earlier part of the sixties was made impractical – not to mention redundant - by the extravagant ruffled shirts and high-buttoning jackets of the later years.   When it did appear it was more likely to be a modernized version with a higher cut, much like the vest of a three-piece business suit.  The traditional alternative to the waistcoat did not fare much better due to the growing popularity of the wide, satin-covered trouser waistband designed to eliminate the need for what the May 1969 Esquire referred to as  “the unsightly scourge called a cummerbund".   

In order to effectively assimilate into such a baroque milieu, the Edwardian bow tie grew to titanic proportions.  Although it too was available in a multitude of colors, black remained the most popular choice - the sole link to the classic elegance of years past.  At the bottom of it all, typical neo-Edwardian formal footwear included buckled, square-toed black patent shoes although formal shoes could also be found in more dandyish colors such as blue, brown and burgundy.  

• Disco and Denim

The late sixties’ enthusiastic disregard for time-honored black-tie principles continued unabated into the 1970s.  Formal separates introduced by menswear magazines during the decade included jackets made of brown madras or silver and white paisley – the latter depicted with an open-collared black shirt no less.  Not to be outdone, formal trousers appeared in red and black checks, red and blue window pane patterns and a blue and magenta "tapestried paisley" among other designs. 

A November 1970 GQ article appropriately entitled "Only the Black Tie Remains the Same" identified floppy bow ties, broad lapels, narrow waists and shorter jackets as uniquely seventies tuxedo traits.  Other period manifestations of what the magazine labeled “urbane elegance” included evening suits made of brown knit wool, black corduroy and even blue denim, many of which featured trousers cut in the now iconic flared bottom silhouette.   Rounding out the stylish disco-era options was the "formal jumpsuit" which the writers claimed not only removed the need for a separate vest but could even stand alone at less formal affairs.

• Etiquette: Caveats

Attire

While the late sixties and early seventies witnessed a revolutionary change in tuxedo stylings, black-tie etiquette remained surprisingly faithful to pre-peacock standards at first.  In its 1966 “Fashion Guide for All Occasions” Esquire advised readers that despite all the recent innovations in evening wear, “There is very little leeway here.  The concepts of formality are narrow indeed and tradition is practically binding.”  The Encyclopedia of Etiquette (1967), The New Emily Post’s Etiquette (1969) and Amy Vanderbilt’s Etiquette (1972) all offered advice that was virtually identical.  Essentially, the black or midnight blue dinner suit was the first choice in the city whether in winter or summer.  While a white dinner jacket with black trousers remained taboo in the city “unless one has a napkin over his arm or a saxophone up to his lips” it was common in warm weather at resorts, in the suburbs and on shipboard.  Weddings continued to be held to the highest black-tie standards while at the other end of the spectrum the authors acknowledged that there was increasing latitude for colored and patterned jackets and bow ties at relatively informal affairs.

By the early seventies black-tie etiquette issued by Esquire and rival periodicals was becoming noticeably more liberal.  The February 1972 GQ "Fashion Handbook", for example, offered generally conservative guidelines but concluded with a lengthy caveat typical of the times: “while the rules surrounding formal wear aren’t being broken, they are being subjected to a considerable amount of bending.”  Specific examples included the increasingly popularity of brown in winter tuxedos, formal bow ties appearing in blue, brown or deep red and pocket squares being permitted with ruffles or patterns.  “And at the bottom of it all, the ascent of patent leather and similar looks as everyday footwear has resulted in an abundant array of shoes equally suitable for formal wear.”  Yes, this included the platform shoe. 

Published in 1973, Esquire’s Fashions for Today offered almost identical advice as the handbook issued by its competitor.  It was particularly tolerant in its advice for warm-weather black tie, albeit with a word of caution:  “In short, the choice is now wide open but a wise man will inevitably choose carefully, bearing in mind that the extreme fashion all too often carries its own built-in obsolescence.” 

Occasion

When it came to black-tie tradition, authorities such as Mrs. Vanderbilt were forced to make much more significant indulgences than they did for its attire.  Among other contemporary trends, the author noted that men were now attending the opera in clothes as informal as tweeds and sweaters and that many public dinners had adopted a “dress optional” code which allowed guests to completely dispense with white tie in favor of either the dinner jacket or the even less formal dark suit.  

• Formal Wear Reassessed

It is notable that the Encyclopedia of Etiquette categorized its tuxedo advice under the heading “Formal Evening, Black Tie”. In the minds of most Americans, black tie’s previous “semi-formal” status was no longer adequate as the white tie tradition receded further into history and the dinner jacket inherited its mantle as the most formal type of attire most men would ever don. 

Unfortunately, "formal" had become a tough sell for tuxedo manufacturers by the close of the sixties.  The concept of adhering to established customs was anathema to a young generation that defined itself by its opposition to any type of uniformity.  In response, formal wear companies focused more on being fancy than on being formal and over the course of the sixties they transitioned from merely tweaking tradition to turning it on its head.

Menswear magazines applauded this movement away from what GQ described as "the formal formula of monotonous anonymity".  As the periodical noted in Nov 1969, “The peacock has replaced the penguin and once-sacrosanct traditional formal wear has been assailed by startling – but more elegant than ever – fabrics, designs and colors.” 

The more conservative Esquire, however, cautioned that swinging the formal pendulum too far in the liberal direction was no better an option than being stubbornly conventional. The December 1968 issue explained that the true merit of evening wear's peacock revolution lay in its alternatives to the traditional black and white color scheme and not - as many mistakenly assumed - in its banishment of the scheme all together: "All that the peacock revolution does, really, is to stir men to dress as they please, not as some [popular arbiter of men's fashions] says they should.  It's okay to refuse to wear a Nehru or a turtleneck.  Just wear what pleases you and what becomes you, to hell with conformity."

By the early seventies it seemed that fashion designers had taken to heart Esquire’s sage advice and were beginning to rein in the excesses of the times.  Showing up alongside the unorthodox black-tie garments during this period were more conservative trends that hinted at an emerging return to formal tradition, most notably the gradual re-emergence of traditionally dark colors on the otherwise modern velvet, satin or gabardine suits.   This dichotomy of old and new would become ever more pronounced with the approaching dawn of an all-new Classic Age.