Recent Updates:

June 30, 2008:
Somehow I deleted a section of information on black-tie weddings during recent updates.  It has now been restored.  I have also added links to detailed discussions of classic White Tie and Morning Dress on the appropriate pages.

June 16, 2008:
The Firefox compatibility updates are more than half finished.  I have also put White Tie and Shopping information in their own sections so that they are easier to find at the present and can be properly fleshed out in the future.

May 29, 2008
I took a look at my site traffic stats recently and noticed that about 30% of visitors are using the Firefox browser.  While Explorer forgives all kinds of sloppy HTML programming, Firefox shows my site for the technical mess that it is.  I have therefore started to clean up the site's programming so that it looks as professionally formatted in Firefox as it does in Explorer.

March 25, 2008
A supplemental page about Decorations has been added.

March 23, 2008 (Easter Sunday)
All primary pages have been edited for writing style consistency and typographical accuracy which means that after five and a half years of work the site is now officially launched!   While I will occasionally add new tidbits of information and I will eventually post the remaining supplemental pages, I now consider everything that is currently posted to be as accurate and presentable as possible.  Time to crack open the Veuve Clicquot!

March 19, 2008:
The Glossary has been expanded.

March 12, 2008:
The Introduction section has been revised to expand the Story of the Guide to include developments since the topic was first posted 18 months ago while the rest of the section has been condensed in light of the fact that the web site is no longer an unknown and therefore does not require readers to be convinced of its credentials.  For the same reason I have renamed the site from The Essential Black Tie Guide to simply The Black Tie Guide.  I have also added Ladies' Black Tie and cleaned up page formatting throughout the entire guide. 

March 3, 2008:
The Contemporary Black Tie section has been overhauled and enhanced in a similar manner to the revised Classic Black Tie section.  Additionally, a related Red Carpet Black Tie page has been added to the Supplementary section. The home page has been cleaned up (readers' comments and author's introduction are deleted, updates are moved to this separate page) in anticipation of site finalization within the next week.

February 11, 2008:
The Classic Black Tie section has been overhauled to provide a cleaner look and to raise the bar by adding more images and details pertaining to higher quality garments and accessories.   As part of this enhancement, I have also posted the beginnings of a page devoted to White Tie (as many readers have requested!)

January 22, 2008:
The Black Tie Basics section has been overhauled to provide significantly more background on black-tie tradition and dress codes.

December 2, 2007:
After months of additional research, writing and editing I have finally finished revising the History section.  Most significantly, the tuxedo’s history is now divided up by distinct eras in its development rather than arbitrarily being broken up into decades.  Also, the information has been enhanced with facts and illustrations from numerous additional sources, most of them first-hand.  I have also posted the beginnings of the Vintage section in order to provide extensive supplementary information for the History section. 

Upcoming Updates:

• Add minor enhancements to existing Supplemental pages
• Research, write and post remaining Supplemental pages (Buying vs Renting, Fit & Care, White Tie and Morning Dress, Black-Tie Equivalents)