Preface: A Timeless Appeal

Formal wear's black and white outward simplicity is elegant beyond improvement.

Dressing in the Dark

It is astonishing that as a Victorian symbol of penultimate formality black tie has survived the declining strictures effected by two World Wars, a counterculture revolution and today’s institutionalized overfamiliarity.  More astounding yet, it has done so while remaining largely true to its original form.   This triumph over a century of tremendous adversity would never have been possible for a superficial fashion borne of a specific era.  Instead, black tie has survived because it embodies principles of style so fundamental that they transcend time and place.  

Indeed, the classic tuxedo has become an icon.  Hollywood first etched its mythic status into our collective consciousness when it designated the swank evening suit as the emblem of high society, class and elegance in the silver screen classics of the twenties and thirties.  Since then this symbolism has been only enhanced by advertisers' perennial use of tuxedo-clad models to elevate a product’s sense of prestige and romance.  Today its timeless appeal is evident in the fact that the word can simultaneously conjure up images of urbane 1930s bon vivants Cole Porter and Noel Coward, suave ‘50s hipsters Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin and debonair modern playboy James Bond.    

The basis of black tie’s iconic status and ongoing allure is a simple truth: despite the tired clichés about waiters and penguins, history has proven irrefutably that conventional formal wear remains unparalleled in its ability to transform a man and inspire an evening. 

When donning a classic tuxedo a man can not help but become a part of the rich tradition of civilized decorum inherent in this last remnant of upper-class attire.  This tradition begins the moment he arrives at a black-tie event by signaling his unspoken respect for the host’s desire to instill a sense of the exceptional.   In the words of men’s style author Marion Maneker, “A tuxedo says, ‘I’ve come to spend the evening with you, and I would look inappropriate anyplace else right now.’   It’s an outfit that makes you feel different, above the usual rule of having to get home early so you can get up in the morning.  That’s why it’s considered formal wear.” 

The same complement applies to the woman on the man’s arm because his tuxedo’s intentionally understated styling allows her finery to shine in comparison.  On a more sensuous level, his being dressed in black from neck to toe makes her exposed shoulders and back that much more arresting in comparison. 

But more to the point, the traditional tuxedo remains the most flattering civilian attire that a man can wear for himself, short of a tailcoat.  As Mr. Maneker puts it, when it comes to the formal palette “black and white’s outward simplicity is elegant beyond improvement.”  Consequently, the classic tuxedo has been described by authorities as a “sartorial safety net” that covers a multitude of sins.  Explained a 2004 Wall Street Journal editorial, “Even the very undistinguished look better when cloaked and framed in formal black. That rule applies as much to the fresh-faced 18-year-old trying to impress his date as to the paunchy middle-manager attending a charity ball on behalf of his firm. Nature created men unequally; tuxedos were invented to even the score.”

In a way, the dinner jacket is also a transition to manhood.  While wearing a suit and tie may generate a sense of maturity for young men, it cannot compare to the feeling of accomplishment and status evoked by donning a classic tuxedo. 

Sadly, opportunities for wearing either type of suit are becoming rarer every day thanks to modern culture’s ongoing apathy towards formality and tradition.  Particularly ominous for the future of black tie is the current predilection for protracting adolescence well into adulthood.  However, the demise of the tuxedo is not a foregone conclusion: the paradoxical 1990s boom in formalwear sales amidst the same decade's embracement of “business casual” suggests that we are not yet ready to strip our lives of all sense of occasion.   As long as this remains the case then the unrivalled merits of black tie may yet see it through another century.