Gloves

White. They MUST be WHITE. Preferably of Kid Leather, but if one is not escorting a lady during the presentation, nylon is acceptable. Gloves are not to be worn while dining, and removal is acceptable while holding a drink.

Hat (Optional)

The proper evening headgear is a silk or badger top hat, and is infact so optional that I've never actually seen anyone wear one. The modern era reserses the use of the cane for those gentlemen that require the assistance of one to walk/stand.

Cloak/Cape (Optional)

Another item that is so optional that I've rarely ever seen one worn is a Cape or Boatcloak. But this may be due to the fact that down here in new Orleans it rarely gets cold enought that the short walk from car to building or building to building ever requires outwear beyond the tailcoat.

Cane (Optional)

A simple black cane with an unornamented gold or silver colored metal handle is the appropriate walking stick for eveningwear.

Pocketwatch/Chain (Optional)

I do occasionally see this one (at least once per white tie event). Gold or silver colored metal (typically matching the color of links and studs. attached to the center button/stud of the waistcoat.

• All Carnival Related Posts - a complete list(exhaustive and exhausting)
• Krewe by Krewe - a brief (sometimes) description of each of the New Orleans krewes that present debs (and a few others)
• Carnival A to Z - a fun list tour through the season in alphabetical order
• Costume de Rigueur - the proper attire one should wear at a Carnival Ball, and how to wear it
• Carnival Books - a list of books on the same topic as this post

As unlikely as it may seem that all of the info above doesn't cover any possible question, new unanswered (unanswered here that is) questions pop up all the time. In the case that it seems something is not covered above, please feel free to comment or use the contact form on the right.

Mardi Gras Books

I’m going to use my listing of books as an opportunity to publish a list that I've been meaning to publish for a while, Our List of Essential Carnival Books:

1. MISTICK KREWE: CHRONICLES OF COMUS AND HIS KIN
Perry Young

2. New Orleans Masquerade: Chronicles of Carnival
Arthur Burton with Stuart Omer Landry

3. Lords of Misrule: Mardi Gras and the Politics of Race in New Orleans
James Gill

Mr. Gill gives the history of a deep rooted, long tradition, leading up to the battle that irreparably alters it forever. During the telling of this history, Mr. Gill will inevitably offend the reader, whichever side of the battle the reader takes. The reader will take a side; it is impossible not to. 4. Marched the Day God: A History of the Rex Organization
Errol Laborde

5. If ever I cease to love: One hundred years of Rex, 1872-1971
Charles "Pie" Dufour

6. Mardi Gras in New Orleans: An Illustrated History
Arthur Hardy

7. The House of Dance and Feathers
Rachel Breunlin, Ronald W. Lewis, and Helen Regis

8. Mardi Gras . . . As It Was
Robert Tallant

9. Krewe of Proteus: The first hundred years
Charles "Pie" Dufour

10. Krewe: The Early New Orleans Carnival Comus to Zulu

Errol Laborde

11-15. The Collective Works of Henri Schindler

"What am I supposed to wear to the ball?" "Tails"

"A 7:30 PM Wedding? That's awful late, I suppose they must be wearing Tails?!"

"Her debut party was very nice. All the ladies were in evening gowns and the gentlemen in Tails"

The garment at gives it this name is, of course, the tail coat. The eponymous and iconic garment has many details, and rather than reinventing the wheel, I will direct you to the works of Peter Marshall author of the Black Tie Guide (and its associated blog).

Tailcoat Cut

What North Americans refer to simply as a tailcoat is correctly called an evening tailcoat or dress coat to differentiate it from the formal day tailcoat still worn by the British. The coats differ in that the evening coat is a (pseudo) double-breasted model with a sharply cut-away skirt and silk-faced lapels while the morning coat (or cutaway in American English) is a single-breasted model, has a skirt that tapers away gradually and carries self-faced lapels.

The evening tailcoat is further differentiated in that it must fit the torso snugly even though it is cut so that it cannot be closed or buttoned. This can only be accomplished by having it contour to the wearer’s body perfectly. Therefore, unless a man has proportions virtually identical to a pre-made tailcoat, he will need to invest in the considerable expense of dress suit that is custom made for his physique.

Whether pre-made or made-to-measure, a well-fitting tailcoat offers significant benefits to the wearer. “This garment can turn any many into an Adonis,” says dress historian Nicholas Antongiavanni, “be he short or gangly, fat or lanky” because its cut “accentuates every potential virtue while ruthlessly suppressing every conceivable vice.”

Body

The full-dress tailcoat’s design is particularly efficient at adding stature to shorter men through the raising the of the suit’s waistline. Like any tailored jacket, the tailcoat’s waistline typically mirrors the wearer’s natural waistline but unlike other jackets the coat fronts – and corresponding white waistcoat – end shortly below the waistline. And because the dividing line between the white waistcoat and the black trousers visually breaks the body into vertical halves, the deliberate raising of this line gives the impression of longer legs. Diminutive hoofer Fred Astaire employed a high waistline to great effect in his flawlessly tailored full-dress suits and it was also favored by the English in the 1930s for its dramatic aesthetics.

Other construction details of the coat’s front are also somewhat subject to changing fashions although the practices are described in a 1913 issue of Vanity Fair have been the norm ever since: “The front effect of the coat is best when well opened, exposing considerable shirt, the lapels rolling to a little below the top button of the waistcoat from where the line slants away to the edge which inclines slightly upward and rounds into the skirt.” As for the rear of the coat, Manual of Politeness dictated in 1837 that “Not a crease should be discernible in the back or tails” and this still holds true. In addition, the collar of the coat must fit snugly at the neck and rise just high enough to cover the shirt collar’s rear stud and the bow tie’s band while still allowing a significant portion of white to remain visible.

Sleeves

Fred Astaire’s famous tailcoats also incorporated the requisite high armholes that prevented the coat’s sleeves from pulling at the body no matter the position of his arms, a feature that is just as relevant to today’s formal dancers. Similar to the collar, sleeves should be cut short enough to reveal “a gleaming expanse of white linen at the cuff”, ranging from half an inch to one inch depending on the wearer’s height. Tailcoat sleeves are also relatively narrow, traditionally just wide enough to allow the shirt cuff to slip through.

Skirt (Tails)

A center vent that rises up to the waistline divides the coat’s skirt into two “tails” which originally inspired the nicknames swallow-tail coat and claw-hammer tailcoat. The tails generally extend down to the bend of the knee in a straight line with a gentle curve at the bottom.

Lapels

The peak lapel has been standard since the turn of the twentieth century. Not only is it the most formal style of suit lapel but its sweeping upward diagonal lines also create the impression of a powerful V-shaped torso.

Connoisseurs of vintage formal attire may occasionally stumble across a shawl-collared tailcoat from the interwar years and wish to adopt the style. If so, they should view it in context of an era when full dress was worn so frequently that gentlemen naturally sought an alternative take on the classic. Unless one’s social calendar is chock full of white-tie events, it is best to leave the shawl collar to the sartorial history books.

Some modern designers like to dress the ultra-formal tailcoat with the business suit's informal notch lapel. The only reason for choosing this paradox would be to ensure your fellow guests know that your clothing is rented.

Other Considerations

Most other aspects of a coat’s cut are purely aesthetic and therefore subject to changing fashions. This includes the amount of drape (fullness over chest and back), amount of shoulder padding and size and curve of the lapels. See Style Basics for guidelines that will help make a suit as timeless as possible.

Tailcoat Fabric

Black has been the norm for evening wear since the 1850s and midnight blue has been a correct and striking alternative since the 1920s. The most common fabric since the late Victorian era has been worsted wool with an understated finish such as barathea which is preferred by Britons. Mohair and wool blends have been an acceptable alternative since the late 1950s, favored for their ability to add a tastefully dull sheen to the suit.

The characteristics of midnight blue and worsted wool are discussed in detail in the description of Classic Dinner Suits.

Tailcoat Finishes

Lapel Finishes

The best lapel facings are made of pure silk, while less expensive ones contain a synthetic component. The silk can take the form of smooth satin or the dulled ribbed texture of grosgrain. Although the former is much more common in North America its shiny, somewhat theatrical finish is not as popular in Britain where the understated look of grosgrain is often preferred.

The left lapel should have a working buttonhole for a boutonniere (known in Britain, ironically, as a buttonhole). Quality formal coats will also include a stem holder on the reverse side of the lapel. This is typically a very small cord that keeps the stem in place so that the flower does not fall out of one's lapel over the course of an evening of dancing and dining.

Buttons

Because the double-breasted evening tailcoat has not been designed to close since the 1820s, the two rows of front buttons became purely decorative. There are three buttons in each diagonal row and their spacing is a matter of style. Sleeves buttons are also ornamental: there should be four of them spaced closely together beginning about half an inch from the end of the sleeve. Unique to the tailcoat are the two buttons found at the back of the waistline, a vestige of a time when the coat’s tails were folded up and buttoned to the back for convenience when riding on horseback.

All buttons are usually covered in the same facing as the coat’s lapels although black bone buttons were acceptable up until the 1950s.

Pockets

“In company, as little as possible should be borne in pockets of the coat ; indeed, a full-dress coat should be made without pockets”. The reasoning behind this salient advice from an 1837 etiquette manual is that the weight and bulge of loaded-down pockets will obstruct the graceful lines of the contoured dress suit. Thus, hip pockets are never seen on a tailcoat and a breast pocket (introduced in the Edwardian era) is left empty by the more fastidious dressers.

This lack of pockets presented a dilemma for nineteenth century gentlemen who were expected to remove their otherwise mandatory dress gloves when dining. In typical English fashion, Regency dandy Beau Brummell had his tailor hide pockets in the inside folds of the coat’s tails and this remains a feature of better tailcoats to this day.

The Brooks Brothers Waisstcoat

The United States Marine Corps uses this particular garment in its evening dress uniform for officers; the uniform regulations give a very good description of how the waistcoat should be composed:

The white pique waistcoat is backless with adjustable neck and back straps; single-breasted with shawl-type lapels, and V-shaped opening. The front fastens with three [small buttons] set closely together on the right side, with corresponding buttonholes on the left. It has two welted outside pockets, one on each lower part of the front. The front edges of the waistcoat, from bottom of lower button to bottom of waistcoat are cut away to form an inverted "V."

I personally prefer waistcoats that button behind the neck rather than having elastic or a sliding buckle. I've yet to see a good means of securing at the back of the waist, and have thus modified mine to use elastic and velcro.

The Brooks Brothers version of the proper shoe.The standard shoes to wear with this rig are black patent leather (or corfam) balmoral or closed lace oxford shoes; they are to have no broguing whatsoever. Although not technically formal enough, blucher or open lace oxfords without any broguing are often seen and are considered by many to be acceptable, particularly if they are standard issue black military dress shoes.

A true traditionalist might prefer Opera Pumps which are patent leather and lace-less, with a satin or silk bow (to match the trouser stripe and lapel facing). The daring gent may venture to wear velvet slippers, but embroidered slippers are not appropriate for such a formal occasion as one would wear white tie. Also the latter two types of shoes may be inappropriate for the wetness that seems to pervade in the seasons when one tends to wear white tie, as the elements may be a bit too harsh for such a gentle shoe.

That is it. There is very little else to know about these trousers.

As for the suspenders (or Braces for those from the UK and Ireland), they should be white and secure to the buttons on the inside of the waistband. The kind that clip to the trousers are not acceptable as they will damage the wool. Stick to the button on kind even if they're $20 instead of $15 for the clip kind; its worth the extra for the price you paid on the pants (plus they last longer).

If one does choose to be daring with his jewelry, he should do so, without deviating too far from that norm. In this case, knot studs or studs that contain a both onyx and mother of pearl may be acceptable (These are particularly utilitarian deviations, as each of these would allow one to have a single set of studs for both black and white tie dress). If one must add a personalized touch, the cufflink is the perfect place to do it. Patriotic cufflinks at a state event? Why not? Crowns or masks during Carnival Season? Sure. Organization cufflinks at a debutante presentation or krewe dinner? Of Course! In other words, your cufflinks are the perfect place to add a bit of personal flair on what is an otherwise uniform style of dress.

Shirt with detachable collarThe important basics to remember about the shirt are that it needs to have a wing collar and a pique bib (and of course be entirely white). Turndown collars and pleated fronts are completely unacceptable. Also, the shirt ought to have single cuffs (typically stiff pique barrel cuffs) that secure with links; French Cuffs are not traditionally acceptable, and button closing cuffs are certainly not de rigueur.

All of that makes a fine shirt, but if one wants to adhere to the dress code in its strictest sense the details of the shirt become increasingly important. The first of such details that one might seek in his formal shirt would be a detachable wing collar. It may sound old-fashioned in the day of modern dry cleaning, but it provides several benefits that shirts with an attached collar cannot:

1. The detachable collar is more traditional.
2. The detachable collar is the correct height, and conveys the proper proportions.
3. The detachable collar can be laundered separately to produce a properly starched, very sharp look.
4. The detachable collar allows for replacement of a soiled or stained collar when the rest of the shirt is serviceable.
5. The detachable collar allows for the removal of the wing collar, and replacement with a turn down collar to make for a shirt that is perfect for black tie attire.

Another detail one might want to keep an eye out for is a slit on the side of the chest that allows one to stick his hand inside the shirt to access the rear of the stud holes. Many of the highest quality tails shirts also have a small flap with a button that allows the shirt to button to the inside of the trousers or waistcoat to prevent the shirt from untucking/riding up. One detail serves a very useful function, and that is the strap to keep the waistcoat from riding up from behind the tailcoat and becoming visible.

Hopefuly this description of what may have been just a mere shirt to you is not overwhelming. Hopefully also yoru shirt has some or all of these details that make for a fine shirt. If it doesn't, do not fret though, so long as you have all of the basics covered, then you'll be fine.