Red Carpet Black Tie: Celebrity Lessons

Ever since the emergence of "creative black tie" in the 1980s, celebrities can always be counted on to teach us the pitfalls of opting for eye-catching fashion over timeless style. To be fair, though, many have learned from their mistakes while a select few have always known better than to follow the herd into sophomoric obscurity.

• Academy Awards

The best of 2008 included classy men who knew how to let their ladies shine.
Jason Bateman in a Dolce and Gabbana	Steve Carell in a custom Domenico Vacca	Patrick Dempsey in a narrow lapelled Versace
Sean Combs in a mixture of his Sean Jean label and Dolce & Gabana	Best & Worst: George Clooney in a shawl lapel with girlfriend in chintz curtains	Best of the Best: Forest Whitaker in another custom Domenico Vacca (and he even shows cuff!)
Worst of 2008
What were Spike Lee and Wesley Snipes thinking?	Lou Gossett Jr. didn't get the memo that the 90s are over. Way over.	Brown suede shoes and red lapel piping?
Josh Lucas gets a head start on the morning-after look.	Viggo Mortensen in custom-made hideousness.	Phillip Seymour Hoffman: great actor, lousy dresser.
LESSONS FROM THE PAST .
Long tie versus bow tie: no comparison
Peter Sarsgaard: from "dude" to gentleman	2006	2007
Steve Carell: from actor to star	2006	2007
Jake Gyllenhaal: from boy to man	2005	2006
Proper black tie flatters every age
It makes young men look mature . . .	2007	2003
. . . and mature men look stunning.	2003	2004
More blasts from the past
Some people never learn. (In fact, they worsen.)	2004	2005
There is a good reason that formal attire requires a cummerbund or waistcoat to cover the waist.	2003	2004
Garth Brooks put to shame by an 11-year-old Haley Joel Osment.	2000	2000
Unfortunately the mod undertaker look just won't die.	1998	2007
Too cool for bow ties.	1998	2001
Keep in mind: people thought this stuff was cool at the time.	1997	1997
Too cool for any ties.	1995	1998
And lest I be accused of automatically naysaying anything that isn't classic
Pearce Brosnan and Morgan Freeman have enough experience with the classics to know how to tastefully modify them.	2004	2006

• Cannes Film Festival

2007: Textbook classic vs. contem-porary: While all three men are quite handsome in their outfits the actor on the right is attired like an admin assistant and the director on the left looks like he forgot his cummer-bund at the hotel. Mr. Pitt, meanwhile, is dressed like Hollywood royalty.

Details of Mr. Pitt's outfit as provided by canyon-news.com:

Brad Pitt wears a made-to-measure black wool peak lapel three piece tuxedo, white piquet [sic] plastron shirt, black velvet bow tie, diamond studs and cufflinks, and black leather patent [sic] shoes, all from the Tom Ford Menswear Collection, to the premiere of ‘A Mighty Heart’ at the Cannes Film Festival on May 21, 2007.

• Venice Film Festival

2007: Mr. Pitt once again shows his contemporaries how it's done. (Note the black waistcoat peaking out from underneath the jacket - a unique touch.)

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