The Strange World of Axel Fendersson

Since I started dancing, I’ve attended several events at which Black Tie is, although not compulsory, quite commonplace. After the first of these, at which I dressed informally, I decided to adopt this mode of dress myself at future events.

I was aware at that time that Black Tie was a fairly precisely defined dress code, but only roughly knew what it entailed, so the first step was to educate myself on exactly what was required. Many websites contained useful information, but none covered the subject in anything like as much depth as the appropriately named Black Tie Guide, which described in great detail not only the on-paper requirements of the dress code, but also details of style, etiquette, history and more.

Armed with this information, I then set about acquiring my own dinner suit. I started by getting an outfit that, although fairly cheap, followed the rules correctly and looked pretty good for the money I’d spent on it. I wore this to the next event and thought myself fairly dapper. A couple of minor upgrades followed shortly afterwards (a nicer cummerbund, better shoes). But although it didn’t look bad, there were still a few issues I had with it. The fit wasn’t perfect. The trousers were a little bit tight and the waist was a little bit on the low side. And the sleeves of the jacket had a strange habit of riding up my arms so that they appeared far too short.

Then, while looking for something else, I came upon an evening waistcoat at The Ballroom in Oxford. A proper low-cut evening waistcoat with a full back. Perfect fit. £12. So I bought it.

But now I had a problem. With a waistcoat, the low waist of my trousers was potentially a problem. Although all was well when everything was on straight, the waistcoat only needed to ride up slightly or the trousers slip down a little and I would start showing shirt between the two. Also, the waistcoat was clearly made from a better material than the cheap wool/polyester blend that the jacket and trousers were cut from, making them look shabbier in comparison.

So I upgraded, buying vintage jacket & trousers from Savvy Row. The trousers were a perfect fit (and are in all respects the most wonderful pair of trousers I have ever worn), but the jacket needed a little adjustment. So now I have a superb dinner suit in lovely barathea wool, which I wore for the first time in its entirety to Ceroc‘s ‘Spinderella’ ball.

And while I was there, I noticed something. Most guys nowadays do black tie really badly. In fact, there was not a man there wearing black tie with whose outfit I could not find fault*.

In a distinguished few cases, the faults were minor; wearing waistcoats that were high-cut like those worn with three-piece suits, for example. Sure, a proper low-cut evening waistcoat would have looked better, but it isn’t strictly wrong and does still look pretty good. Far more common were those who wore no waist coverings at all, or, even worse, wore waistcoats that failed to reach the waistbands of their trousers. One particularly strange example was the double-breasted jacket (which would not normally require a separate waist covering) that was worn undone with a cummerbund for a particularly odd effect. Other common faults were ugly jackets (of which step collars were among the less offensive features), belts and bad shirts, particularly wing-collar shirts with narrow collars and tiny, pathetic-looking wings.

The strange thing being that none of this would have particularly registered with me before. It’s not that I would have thought it looked good or anything. I just wouldn’t have paid any attention at all. But somehow, in researching and learning how to look good in Black Tie myself, I have now made myself aware of how bad it can look when the mistakes I have learned to avoid are made by other people.

*I have to include myself in that as well, unfortunately. My jacket has grosgrain facings on the lapels, which means that my satin bow tie no longer fits. Also, the fabric on my waistcoat doesn’t quite match that of my jacket and trousers, although it requires careful inspection to spot this. In my defence, I believe these are comparatively minor offences compared with many, and I intend to rectify the former. Grosgrain bow ties are prohibitively expensive, but apparently silk barathea is an acceptable alternative (although it doesn’t have the same pattern, the textured weave gives it a similarly dull finish), so I have ordered one. The waistcoat is nice enough in all other respects that I think I can get away with ignoring the slightly different weave on the fabric.