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Black Tie

When an invitation specifies "black tie" or "black tie", the man wears the tuxedo. The classic and strict elegance of black-white now allows a great diversity in terms of cuts and fabrics.

Cartoonists have always had it easy: soldiers wear uniforms, nobles wear tailcoats, and capitalists wear tuxedos. But the manual of masculine elegance prescribes: "The tuxedo is the evening dress of the man." For writer Thomas Mann, the day was even divided into two parts: before and after smoking.

The "tailless tailcoat", a not quite correct designation for the tuxedo first mentioned in England in 1894, was a comfortably cut jacket, often of velvet and brocade, that gentlemen wore when they were with each other, in the gaming room, at club parties or in the smoking room.

We will also appreciate the custom according to which, when the men left the smoking room, they changed their jackets – the tuxedo, precisely – to prevent the smell of tobacco from upsetting the ladies. But as in England everything is different, the tuxedo is called there "dinner jacket".

To complete the versatility of men's evening wear, it should still be mentioned that the cropped tailcoat is called the "correct cut" and, in its current shorter form, it is a spencer. In Germany, for events organized by the state, we also wear the mid-length and dark striped tailcoat, also called "Stresemann".

Meanwhile, the effective birthplace of the tuxedo would be the Tuxedo Country Club in southwest New York. It was there that on the occasion of the autumn ball of October 10, 1886, we would have seen for the first time Griswold Lorillard, sportsman and heir to a tobacco empire, wearing a scarlet jacket with silk lapels.

This is where the American name “tuxedo” or “tux” comes from. An anecdote runs about the American billionaire Benjamin Guggenheim: to be properly dressed during the sinking of the Titanic, he would have put on a tuxedo.

Because, like the best addresses in hotels and restaurants, on liners we always attach importance to such a piece of clothing, especially when we are invited to the “Captain’s Dinner”.

The tuxedo is suitable whenever an invitation mentions "black tie", on the other hand neither the white tie nor the white bow tie which are reserved for the tail coat. Or the sommelier in a tuxedo.

In addition to the dark suit, the tuxedo is par excellence the company dress. But a "society" dress of course requires the company of like-minded and elegant people. It is therefore a sign of belonging and is worn with a certain nonchalance. The traditional style, in this matter, is not an indication of a lack of fantasy but rather that of courtesy.

These gentlemen in tuxedos are the dark backdrop against which the women shine. Women have the right to attract attention, the man in the tuxedo is just content to look well dressed.

Still, the tuxedo appreciates the limelight. Its golden age was in the 1920s and 1930s in Paris, New York and Berlin. Clark Gable, Cary Grant, Leonardo DiCaprio, George Clooney: the tuxedo remains the gala uniform of movie stars. “And the winner is…”: A man dressed in a tuxedo opens the Oscars envelope.

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Cole Porter, George Gershwin, Brian Ferry or Lang Lang: the tuxedo reveals nothing of the music genre of the wearer. It is simply in harmony with the black and white keys of the grand piano.

The tuxedo is timelessly elegant, but it does not go out of fashion. The cut and accessories change. But whoever wears it must have only one objective: style. Perhaps the fact that no hat is prescribed for it is linked to its origin as a simple comfortable lounge jacket.

It's up to everyone to choose their favorite headgear. But this is again a question of style and daring to be incongruous is not recommended. Yet even a straw hat is allowed: in Deauville or Biarritz.

While in the past the rule of elegance in black and white was de rigueur, nowadays only the details count. With one stripe or two stripes, with silk lapels or shawl collar, the tuxedo must in any case be black. Or midnight blue if you want to be a bit eccentric.

Everything else is just the result of a lack of taste imported through American series. The variegated tuxedo, possibly even in indestructible synthetic fiber, worn with a frilled shirt, has become the uniform of the future groom in the United States. -

But it is true that, over there, the padded tux has always been the work clothes of those who thought they were crazy, variety artists like Michael Douglas in the film Liberace.

The white tuxedo is of the same inadmissible taste. Somerset Maugham considered only two occasions to wear it: for Pomeranian tea with the Viceroy of India or in Casablanca around midnight. When Humphrey Bogart at Rick's Bar whispered in the miner's ear, "Look me in the eye again," he was suitably wearing a white dinner jacket with black trousers.

The tuxedo jacket has lapels or a shawl collar with silk lapels. Whether the lapels are cut at angles or in the round, boldness is in fashion. But what should not be missed is the buttonhole in which the director Ernst Lubitsch always stuck a gigantic chrysanthemum.

With that, pants with side satin bands, obviously without cuffs and necessarily black. Even though the fabric of the jacket can afford to sport some structure, the pants should still be smooth. With this, black silk socks and lacquered shoes of the same color are worn. Especially not "lackpumps" with buckles: they are reserved for tailcoats and bullfighters.

Choose a tuxedo with a single row of buttons or a double button? It all depends on whether you prefer the vest or the scarf belt (cummerbund). The cummerbund can be worn with both and must be of the same material as the bow tie. The tuxedo waistcoat originally had a row of buttons.

But these days, both cotton piqué vests and silk brocade vests are accepted. The best address for this type of garment is Charvet, place Vendôme in Paris, while for the classic tuxedo – if it is not custom-cut by Reto’s und Frenzer in Zurich – you have to go to Lesley & Roberts in London or with contemporary designers such as Armani, Boss, Hackett or Zegna.

The breviary of the well-groomed man recommends, with a jacket with one row of buttons, a tailcoat shirt with a rigid plastron and in bright white.

A loose shirt with a stiff collar or turn-down collar is permitted. Young people in tuxedos favor this form of collar. If the tuxedo shirt buttons are not concealed by a blindfold – as etiquette requires – they should at least be made of the same material as the cufflinks.

The trickiest part is the bow tie. While it has always been black, a burgundy red or even bottle green silk bow is no longer sacrilege. Even a black tie is allowed. (Actually, Curd Jürgens preferred crumpled banknotes to curry favor with the bouncers at Chez Régine in Paris.) Ah, one more word: when you wear a tuxedo, the watch is proscribed: the time does not matter then.

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