The Story of the Guide: My Black-Tie Journey
The Dress for tonight is Formal: Tuxedo
(alternatively a dark suit) for gentlemen. Dress Codes
will be enforced in the Britannia and Grill Restaurants.
Queen Mary 2 daily programme, April 17, 2004
It all began with a ship.
In the summer of 2002 I
booked passage on the 2004 inaugural transatlantic crossing of the
Queen Mary 2, Cunard’s recently announced and highly
anticipated ocean liner. Knowing that this historic maiden voyage
would inevitably draw patrician travelers from both sides of the
Atlantic I could only imagine the opulent finery they would don for
the ship's formal nights. Having never been on a cruise before let alone attended an
upscale social event, my greatest fear was to arrive at my
first shipboard dinner looking like a forty-year-old prom date.
My suspicions of a
formalwear class system were confirmed a month later when I attended
my premier black-tie affair as a dry run for the
QM2. Although I rented a seemingly traditional tuxedo I noticed a
number of subtle differences between my attire and that of the more
well-heeled gentlemen in attendance. As I set out to
purchase an equally refined ensemble I looked forward to learning
about these elegant nuances from experienced retailers.
Much to my dismay I
discovered that whether in person or online these supposed
specialists regularly dispensed advice that was either contradictory
or completely inaccurate. Whenever I asked about conventional
etiquette the teenage clerks would glibly inform me that there were in fact
no rules and that I should instead opt for the latest formal fads
they assured me were “really popular”.
Determined to find the
truth, I scoured dozens of obscure online resources until I finally
stumbled across a couple of sites that offered educated descriptions
of classic black tie. Although the absence of illustrations
was frustrating, the written details were enough to help me purchase
a tuxedo that turned out to be more authentic than those of many
other passengers aboard the long-awaited
QM2 crossing. Best
of all, I had managed to do so on a reasonable budget. Little did I know that the conclusion of my ocean voyage was
just the beginning of the next phase of my black-tie journey.
Now that I owned a tuxedo I
planned to attend formal events as often as possible yet my initial
research had left many lingering questions about the finer details
of my outfit. It was
time to seek professional expertise the old fashioned way: in print. And so it was that over the next two years I discovered the
wonders of the Toronto Reference Library’s outstanding collection of
fashion histories and put together my own collection of modern
publications on classic menswear. At the same time, I was continuously browsing etiquette books
to find more black-tie traditions where I could sport my
ever-improving formal wardrobe.
The discovery process during
this time proved to be so rewarding that I was compelled to share
the results with the world. I wanted to encourage other young men to experience the same
sophisticated maturity that black tie had introduced into my life. I wanted to help them avoid the costly pitfalls of compiling
their formal wardrobe out of substandard garments, as some of mine
initial purchases had turned out to be. And I wanted to counter the extensive misinformation being
spread about black-tie customs so that future generations would not
be robbed of this noble tradition’s genteel pleasures. Thus in the spring of 2006 I
began to refine the outcome of my research and create the kind of
Web site I wished had existed during my
Queen Mary 2 preparations. Then I decided to get serious.
As I began assembling my
rudimentary site I became aware of an online community of
highly-knowledgeable menswear aficionados and realized the site
would never be truly authoritative if it simply reiterated the
teachings of other authorities. It was also crucial that a practical guide to such a visual
topic include extensive illustrations, a feature notably lacking in
most other resources.
What followed then was another two years of research which can best
be described as thesis-level study. Hundreds of hours were spent reviewing tens of thousands of
pages of vintage menswear magazines in major libraries from New York
to Vancouver. Hundreds
more hours were dedicated to combing through printed and online
resources for historical etiquette and contemporary attire
information. Rounding
out this academic research was my “field research” carried out at
opening night performances, fund-raising galas and even another
cruise. (Hey, it’s a
tough job but someone had to do it.)
After extracting the most relevant facts and most
descriptive illustrations from this new mountain of research
–
and
honing my amateur webmaster skills –
The Black Tie Guide
is finally complete.
I am extremely proud of the
final result and greatly pleased with the influence it is having on
readers. Every time I
receive a thankful e-mail from a newly converted advocate or an
appreciative longtime believer it makes all the years of hard work
worthwhile. I look
forward to a journey that I know will continue for the rest of my
life and I truly hope that finding this site will be the beginning
of yours.
Peter Marshall
Toronto, Canada
March 2008
Black Tie v2.0: The Second Edition
Who knew so many people were interested in tuxedos?
When I first
created The Black Tie Guide in 2006 I figured that a primer for such
a relatively obscure dress code would be of interest to only a
handful of people. I never dreamt that four years later it
would be drawing over 40,000 visitors per month.
I also had no idea of the reverence many of those people felt for
the tuxedo’s predecessor, the tailcoat. The Guide was intended
to be a practical tool for the average man which meant there was no
point in delving into an ultra formal dress code that in its heyday
was reserved for only the most elite members of society and is now
virtually abandoned by even those select few. Yet the longer I
researched the storybook-like history of evening wear and the more I
heard from passionate stalwarts of this tradition, the more I
realized that white tie was an integral part of the study of black
tie.
Because the white tie information would impact
a large portion of the Guide I decided to take the opportunity to
overhaul the entire site to reflect new information and insight
obtained since the first edition and to ensure consistency across
pages that were originally written over a span of two years.
And so after another fourteen months of research and
writing – including a five-month leave of absence from work – I am
proud to announce the revised and expanded second edition of
The Black Tie
Guide.
I think it is fitting that this enhanced tribute to evening wear's
timeless appeal is being published on the 125th anniversary
of the tuxedo's export from its British home to the world at large. I don’t know what the
future holds for the enduring Victorian dining suit
but I hope all of the Guide's readers will have a chance to
experience its sublime pleasures at some
point in their lives. And if you happen to see me at a gala
affair down the road please say hi. (I'll be the guy soaking
in every minute of the evening's experience.)
Toronto
March 2011
Acknowledgements
I would like to acknowledge the generous support of site
sponsors, past and present, for helping me to offset the Guide's
substantial research costs without having to clutter the pages with
distracting ads. In addition, the Guide has been selected by PokerListings as part of
their campaign to assist web sites in offering quality content
freely to their visitors. I would like to thank them for their
recognition and their financial contribution.
I also want to acknowledge the Toronto Reference Library's
invaluable role in the creation of the site. The Guide's
unparalleled History section, in particular, would not have existed
without the library's extensive collection of vintage materials and
its extremely accommodating staff.
Finally, none of this would have been possible without the
tireless support of my husband, Brandon Taylor. For years he
has not only allowed himself to be dragged to libraries across the
continent for ongoing research but has also provided extensive
technical assistance required to make the site efficient for me to
create and simple for readers to navigate. And he looks damn
good in a tuxedo.
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