Moratorium: Black Tie

[chasea]

Weddings, award shows, high-society charity events, high-society jewel heists.

Those are the broad strokes.

Sure, something might slip through. But we, as a society, have not only turned our back on the whole black tie thing; we've embarrassed it to death. Ever groan at the way people have gotten "creative" with the whole black tie thing at events like The Grammys? Ever stop to consider exactly which "creatives" we're celebrating at events like The Grammys? We've done it to ourselves.

There was a time when you couldn't get a table because you weren't wearing a dinner jacket. We no longer even refer to them as dinner jackets. We are a no shirt/ no shoes/ no service society.

And. It's. Fine.

It's who we are. It's what we've become.

Cocktail Attire, Business Casual, Casual Friday, Hawaiin Shirt Day. Only one of those is absolutely clear, and it involves a Hawaiin shirt!

So please, don't be like any of the modern day, cubicle-dwelling, "lets be classy, wouldn't that be fun?" idiots who threw a party I had to attend on Saturday. Having people to your home is a nice thing. It's a gathering. It's not an event. You couldn't even be bothered to leave your home. I can certainly skip the black tie.

/rant

[maunahaole]

It is called Aloha Friday. However, I wear one to work every day.

And there are important differences between aloha shirts. Certain ones don't fly on Bishop St.

[Christian Fox]

Ever groan at the way people have gotten "creative" with the whole black tie thing at events like The Grammys?

Groaning has happened here. Well executed Black Tie looks so good, it's painful to see the awful creativity it's sometimes subjected to. A good tailor can make any schlub look good in a dinner jacket; don't fuck with it. It's like creative "jazzy" renditions of the Star Spangled Banner...ooof.

[corko]

Black ties are for funerals

Formal events are formal events, Real formal events are white bow tie events and we pass the port from right to left.

Thats where i come from anyways.....

[RickM]

Restraint is dead.

[boxerboxer]

The black tie party has been replaced to some extent (in my corner of the world) by the Mad Men party, which almost always turns out even worse. It amounts to nothing more than black tie party + drinking what Don Draper drinks instead of drinking what you like.

[C.Dyer]

Ever groan at the way people have gotten "creative" with the whole black tie thing at events like The Grammys?

Attachment 52548
Groooooooaaaaaaaannn.

Timely, Chase. Good one.

[Christian Fox]

The black tie party has been replaced to some extent (in my corner of the world) by the Mad Men party, which almost always turns out even worse. It amounts to nothing more than black tie party + drinking what Don Draper drinks instead of drinking what you like.

ahh...the Mad Men party, where a million fedoras have silently wept. People are still having those?

[brunop]

i've never been to the grammys. but i went to my high school prom in a corduroy "tux". and i got laid. by a pretty girl.
so there.

[boxerboxer]

ahh...the Mad Men party, where a million fedoras have silently wept. People are still having those?

I'm dead center Midwest so I assume this all came and went on the coasts 3-5 years ago like any other trend.

[davids]

So please, don't be like any of the modern day, cubicle-dwelling, "lets be classy, wouldn't that be fun?" idiots who threw a party I had to attend on Saturday. Having people to your home is a nice thing. It's a gathering. It's not an event. You couldn't even be bothered to leave your home. I can certainly skip the black tie.

/rant

Remember that week when Irony died?

I think asking people to dress to the nines for an in-home dinner party is all about creating ironic distance, so the hosts don't have to acknowledge that, yes, this is the real life they're leading. They're having their friends over for a nice dinner. People they care about, want to hang around with, and want to treat well. Because that's so corny, so lame... So they hide it under an ironic cover.

Hey, irony is a lot of fun and can even be effective. But it's a crap way to live your life.

[Ben]

Groaning has happened here. Well executed Black Tie looks so good, it's painful to see the awful creativity it's sometimes subjected to. A good tailor can make any schlub look good in a dinner jacket; don't fuck with it. It's like creative "jazzy" renditions of the Star Spangled Banner...ooof.

Spot-on analogy. For every brilliant "reinterpretation," there are ten thousand that deserve to be smothered with a pillow. This goes for "creative" black tie and "creative" national anthems.

Marvin Gaye is the exception that proves the rule.


Actually, maybe that should be the entire decision tree for "creative reinterpretations."
ARE YOU MARVIN GAYE?
YES -> GO FOR IT
NO -> DON'T BE A DORK