Black Tie for Men: The Rules, and Where You Can Bend Them

What black tie actually means

Black tie is the evening dress code, and it is far simpler than its reputation. It means a dinner jacket, which Americans call a tuxedo, in black or midnight blue, with matching trousers, a white dress shirt, a black bow tie and black shoes polished to a shine. That is the whole of it.

The simplicity is the point. Every man in the room is wearing much the same thing, so the differences that show are fit, care and one or two good decisions. A man in a well-fitted dinner jacket and a properly tied bow tie will always look better than a man in an expensive one that does not fit.

Expect to need it more than once a year. Winter weddings, charity dinners, the firm's party and New Year's Eve all reach for the same dress code, which is the best argument for owning a dinner jacket rather than hiring one.

The jacket: why double-breasted works

A single-breasted jacket with one button is the traditional choice and never wrong. A double-breasted jacket is the confident one. It gives a stronger shoulder and a cleaner front, and because it is always worn fastened, it keeps its shape through dinner and photographs well from every angle.

The Alaric jacket (£159.00) is cut in that spirit: wide peaked lapels that sweep up towards a structured shoulder, a six-button double-breasted front and a waist suppressed just enough to give you shape. Wear it fastened at all times, including when you sit down. A double-breasted jacket worn open looks like a dressing gown.

Two points on fit. The sleeve should end where your wrist meets your hand, showing a little shirt cuff. And the trousers should break barely at all, just touching the top of the shoe, which keeps the line long and the look clean.

The shoes are not negotiable

If one thing gives away a man who does not usually dress for the evening, it is his shoes. Black tie asks for black, laced and shining. Brown shoes, suede and anything with a chunky sole are out.

A whole-cut oxford is the most refined choice there is: a single piece of leather with no seams across the top, so the foot looks long and sleek under the trouser. The Félix oxfords (£149.00) are made that way, with a burnished finish that deepens at the toe and a leather lining. Purists prefer a completely plain toe; the small brogued medallion here is discreet enough to pass in candlelight. Choose the black, and polish them the night before.

At a relaxed party a polished loafer is acceptable, and the Octave loafers (£149.00) have the shine to manage it. For a formal dinner, stay with the oxford.

The shirt and the bow tie

The traditional shirt is white, with a turn-down collar, a plain or pleated front and cuffs that take cufflinks. Wear it with a black bow tie you tie yourself. A pre-tied bow sits too neatly and everyone can tell; a hand-tied one is slightly imperfect in the way that looks right. Practise twice before the night.

A pocket square, if you wear one, should be white linen folded flat across the pocket. It is the one place on a black tie outfit where less is almost always more.

Where you can bend the rules

A strict black tie dinner is not the place for experiment. But many invitations now say 'black tie optional' or 'creative black tie', and most parties are relaxed enough to reward one considered risk. The rule is to break one thing, never two.

The first option is the shirt. The Léon shirt (£79.00) is black on black, with two columns of dense beading either side of a concealed placket that glints only when the light finds it. Worn with the collar open and no tie under a black dinner jacket, it is quietly bold and entirely appropriate for a creative black tie party. It is not appropriate at a formal dinner, and you should not try.

The second option is colour. The Thibault tuxedo (£159.00) has a high stand collar and a sweeping shawl lapel fastened with a single button, so it needs no tie at all. In red it is a jacket for the host, the groom's party or New Year's Eve, and only for a man who is comfortable being looked at all night.