Black Tie - History

History

When the dinner jacket (tuxedo in American English) first came into fashion in the Victorian era, it was used as a less formal alternative for the tailcoat which men of the upper classes wore every evening. Thus it was worn with the standard accompaniments for the evening tailcoat at the time: matching trousers, white or black waistcoat, white bow tie, white detachable wing-collar formal shirt and black formal shoes. Lapels were often faced or edged in silk or satin in varying widths. Dinner jackets were considered from the first less formal than full dress (cutaway) and etiquette guides declared it inappropriate for wear in mixed company.

During the Edwardian era, the practice of wearing a black waistcoat and black bow tie with a tuxedo became the convention, establishing the basis of the current black tie and white tie dress codes. The tuxedo was also increasingly accepted at less formal evening occasions such as warm-weather gatherings or intimate dinners with friends.

After World War I, the tuxedo became de facto evening wear, while the evening tailcoat was limited to extremely formal or ceremonial occasions. During this interwar period, double-breasted jackets, turndown-collar shirts and cummerbunds became popular for black-tie evenings as did white and colored jackets in warm-weather.

In the decades following World War II, black tie became special occasion attire rather than standard evening wear. In the 1950s, colored and patterned jackets, cummerbunds and bow ties and narrow lapels became very popular; the 1960s and 1970s saw the color palette move from muted to bright day-glow and pastel, as well as ruffled-placket shirts as lapels got wider and piping was revived. The 1980s and 1990s saw a return to nostalgic styles, with black jackets and trousers again becoming nearly universal. In the 2000s (decade), midnight blue once again became popular, lapel facings were sometimes reduced to wide edging and long ties were often substituted for the iconic bow-tie. Black or colored shirts were more frequently worn.