What Is black Tie?

So what is meant by a black tie event and what should you wear. Here are a few helpful tips that may make the experience a little easier.

First off you don’t have to wear a black tie, it is just the traditional way of describing a dinner suit and a dinner suit is normally worn with a bow tie. Many years ago the only option would have been black for the bow tie with a dinner suit but over the years this changed to now include any variety of colour, pattern or design. There is really no right or wrong on colour or pattern. For those unaccustomed to these events the plain black bow is usually the way to go as it still the most popular by a long way.

However, for those that attend these events more frequently and want to ring the changes more often they usually have many different bows as it is a simple and fairly inexpensive way of changing the look. Plus, if you are really adventurous you could even get a bow you tie yourself, not a pre tied option. The other look that is now increasing in popularity, particularly with younger people is a plain black skinny tie, not a bow tie. What you are supposed to wear though, is a dinner suit. Now sometimes you may attend an event where someone doesn’t have a dinner suit on. Fine, that is up to them but if it says black tie or dinner suit then that is what they intend the dress code to be.

So what is a dinner suit? Traditionally it was a black suit that had a satin fabric on the collar and the same satin as a stripe down the outside leg of the trouser. Like many things, over the years this has changed slightly and now a few variations are available mainly in the colour as you can now get dark navy dinner suits for something a little different. The other common options would be either a white jacket, worn with the same dinner trousers, for someone who wants to stand out a little more and the newest option on the scene would be the dinner trousers without the satin stripe down them, for those that prefer a more conservative attire.

All these options can be covered by either buying, or for those that don’t use them very often hiring but as you can see there are numerous options you can go for, sometimes it would depend on how traditional the event was. Other times it would be based on your personal preferences but either way, if the invite says black tie then the dinner suit is the way to go. At www.mens-suits-online.co.uk we find the traditional dinner suit with a black tie is the most popular by miles, you just can’t go wrong with a classic look, plus it is timeless.