You don't need to be an 'investor' to invest in Singletrack: 6 days left: 95% of target - Find out more
So Mrs B has got a table this year at a friends fundraiser ball, and I'm increasingly going to events that want a little dressing up for. Bored of hiring, would like to get something a little more interesting than that probably to buy (but hire options, South of Englandshire, also interesting) - what do STW have in the seemingly never defeated locker of advice?
Dinner Suit.
Kilt.
You'll thank me later
Kilt.
You’ll thank me later
Before or after I take a beating from an angry Scot for cultural appropriation?
Thank you, Ned.
well...... black, with a peaked lapel will never be out of style.
Bond wears midnight blue. Just sayin'
We'd need to work our way through millions of Americans and Chinese first.
You can't move in Edinburgh for tourists buying full highland dress evening wear.
Try it. You'll never feel better dressed in your life and it will improve your experience of any night out.
I'll leave it you to find out why.
Dinner Suit? It starts after 5 and I like satin-y bits. And my spell checker replaces s with z an awful lot.
I'm actually all over the 'physical comfort' angle of the kilt, but wouldn't be comfortable in it myself. Maybe there's some kind of temporary license that could be issued 😀
Before or after I take a beating from an angry Scot for cultural appropriation?
Well that'll just show how uneducated the Scot is in that case as the Irish & Welsh can also wear them. It just the plaid that determines whether it's Scottish or not
Before or after I take a beating from an angry Scot for cultural appropriation?
Just use the secret password.
"mah dah wuz fae errdray"
He'll buy you a drink instead.
Bond wears midnight blue. Just sayin’
That's because he's on film. A gentleman would wear black.
Learn to tie a bow tie.
You're a bit late to the (terribly sophisticated) party, around Christmas time everywhere is selling dinner suits. I got one from M&S, it's fine.
My dad has beautiful Yves Saint Laurent dinner suit that would flatter James Bond. My mum picked it up for a tenner at the Oxfam shop she was volunteering in at the time...
Chad Hogan?
M & S is the default choice amongst my friends. They tend to have a good choice of cuts and sizes to suit.
Don't forget to factor in a nice shirt, bow tie (people will moan if its a clip but tell them to go away), decent shiny shoes and some cufflinks to finish it off.
I picked up mine from Slaters, not expensive, looks fine and they do free adjusts to fit me lanky frame. I'm sure it's not the finest dinner suit but for twice per year it does the job.
I have extensive Welsh heritage and a chunk of Irish, but not aware of any kilt wearing (though I know where you're coming from). Will take a look at Slaters, ta, M&S were pretty limited (probably better in a bigger city) and an awful lot of places I thought I might be able to browse have closed down :-/
There's different levels of traditional-ness, but for goodness sake, don't wear a wing collar, or a coloured and/or pre-tied bow tie.
Peaked lapel and marcella shirt with fastening studs is generally the way to go IMO. Shawl lapels also fine, but notched lapels just look naff as far as I'm concerned.
If in doubt, have a look at the royals.
Don't wear a kilt unless you're Scottish.
The best way to differentiate yourself is to have a reasonable quality dinner suit/Tux that fits well (the latter being most important).
Most people at this sort of function have either rented - in which case it almost always looks shit, or are wearing the one they bought 10 years ago, which now doesn't fit properly and is probably accompanied by a colored/patterned cummerbund and bowtie combination from the early 2000s
Personally - I would be going for something mid-range and traditional at M&S that fits well, nice shirt, decent shoes, and spending a bit of time learning how to tie a bowtie so it looks good. You'll look better than 98% of the people there.
I read this thread title as tux e did and thought it was a about windows Linux subsystem.
I bought mine at TM Lewins after a rushed look for one, nicer than M and S and handy to get a decent shirt, studs etc in one hit. Midnight blue is acceptable and looks quite good in a sea of black but will cost more - if the shop I tried one on in had my size I would have gone for blue.
(people will moan if its a clip but tell them to go away), decent shiny shoes and some cufflinks to finish it off.
No need to moan you can spot it a mile off, though keep going with its it makes those of us who made the effort look better.
Anyway found a nice Jeff banks jacket in the sales a while back that still fits well
“mah dah wuz fae errdray”
He’ll buy you a drink instead.
Nice drop of buckie
You could spend a fortune on a tailored dinner suit, or you could quickly come to the realisation that every just gets pissed at these things so it doesn’t matter what you wear
M&S £99 dinner suit
I had an ex-rental from one of the hire firms for ages, last time I used it, I fell over and skinned the knee so had to buy a new one.
M&S did me proud.
If you want to stand out*, go "Hollywood" - dress shirt with normal collar + normal black tie.
Learning to tie a bow tie is a skill you'll need once a year or so and is not difficult...
Don't wear a wing collar unless you went to Eton and want to remember your old school days or you're at a white tie event.
*not necessarily in a good way.
Don’t wear a wing collar unless you went to Eton and want to remember your old school days or you’re at a white tie event.
Good advice, but they don't wear wing collars at Eton.
but they don’t wear wing collars at Eton.
Some senior boys do...
True, but I would associate the winged collar with another school where it is worn by all the boys.
Thirded or fourthed on “don’t wear a wing collar”. When I lived in the Mess, I used to have a queue form outside my room to tie bow ties before a do, and I never understood why; it’s just a neat shoelace knot! Black tie, not a colourful one, go fun on the cummerbund instead and remember the pleats point up!