Product Code Database
White tie, also called full evening dress or a dress suit, is the most formal wear evening Western dress code. For men, it consists of a black tail coat (alternatively referred to as a dress coat, usually by tailors) worn over a white dress shirt with a starched or piqué bib, white piqué waistcoat and the white bow tie worn around a standing wing collar. Mid or high-waisted black trousers with Galloon, a braid of trim consisting of two silk stripes to conceal the outer seams of the trousers, along with (British English) (pumps in American English) complete the outfit. Orders, decorations and in miniature may be worn. Acceptable accessories include a black top hat, white gloves, a white scarf, a pocket watch, a white pocket square, and a boutonnière. Women wear full-length ball gown or with evening gloves and, optionally, , jewellery, and a small handbag.
The dress code's origins can be traced back to the end of the 18th century. New fully black-coloured justaucorps styles emerged around the Age of Revolution, notably adopted by the bourgeoisie third estate of the Estates General of the Kingdom of France. Increasingly following the French Revolution, high society men abandoned the richly decorated justaucorps coats for more austere cutaway in dark colours, with cuts perhaps further inspired by the and of country gentlemen. Gradually replacing also breeches, lace dress shirts and jabots with plain white , shorter waistcoats, white cravats and , this became known as directoire style. By the early 19th-century Regency era, dark dress tailcoats with light trousers became standard daywear, while black and white became the standard colours for evening wear. Although the directoire style was replaced for daytime by black and bowties by mid-19th century, cutaway black dress tailcoats with white bowtie has remained established for formal evening wear ever since.
Despite the emergence of the more comfortable semi-formal black tie dress code in the 1880s, full evening dress tailcoats remained the staple. Towards the end of the Victorian era, white bow ties and waistcoats became the standard for full evening dress, contrasting with black bow ties and waistcoats or for black tie.
Following the social changes after the First World War and especially with the counterculture of the 1960s, white tie was increasingly replaced by black tie as default evening wear for more formal events. Since the late 20th century, white tie tends to be reserved for the most formal evening occasions, such as at banquets following , and audiences, in addition to formal balls and Festival such as the Vienna Opera Ball in Austria, the Nobel Prize banquet in Stockholm, Mardi Gras balls in New Orleans, Commemoration balls at Oxford and at Cambridge, and the Al Smith Memorial Dinner in New York. White tie still also occurs at traditional and church celebrations, at certain society and fraternity, as well as occasionally around some traditional European universities and colleges.
Over the course of the 19th century, the monotone colour scheme became a codified standard for evening events after 6 p.m. in upper class circles. The styles evolved and evening dress consisted of a black dress coat and trousers, white or black waistcoat, and a bow tie by the 1870s. The dinner jacket (black tie/tuxedo) emerged as a less formal and more comfortable alternative to full evening dress in the 1880s.
By the early 20th century, full evening dress meant wearing a white waistcoat and tie with a black tailcoat and trousers; white tie had become distinct from black tie.Jenkins 2003, pp. 888, 890 Despite its growing popularity, the dinner jacket remained the reserve of family dinners and gentlemen's clubs during the late Victorian period.
It also continued to evolve. White tie was worn with slim-cut trousers in the early 1920s; by 1926, wide-lapelled tailcoats and double-breasted waistcoats were in vogue.Schoeffler 1973, pp. 169–170 The Edward VIII (then Prince of Wales and later Edward VIII) wore a midnight blue tailcoat, trousers and waistcoat in the 1920s and 1930s both to "soften" the contrast between black and white and allow for photographs to depict the nuances of his tailoring. The late 1920s and 1930s witnessed a resurgence in the dress code's popularity,Schoeffler 1973, p. 170 but by 1953, one etiquette writer stressed that "The modern trend is to wear 'tails' only for the most formal and ceremonious functions, such as important formal dinners, balls, elaborate evening weddings, and opening night at the opera".Lillian Eichler Watson (1953). New Standard Book of Etiquette. New York: Garden Publishing Company. p. 358
The last president to have worn white tie at a United States presidential inauguration was President John F. Kennedy in 1961, who wore morning dress for his inauguration, and a white tie ensemble for his inauguration ball.
In London, it is still used by ambassadors attending the Christmas ball offered by King Charles III at Buckingham palace as well as the Lord Mayor dinner at Mansion House.
Notable international recurrent white tie events include the Nobel Prize ceremony in Sweden and the Vienna Opera Ball in Austria.
In Scandinavia and the Netherlands, white tie is the traditional attire for doctoral conferments and is prescribed at some Swedish and Finnish universities, where it is worn with a top hat variant called a doctoral hat. At the universities in Uppsala and Lund University in Sweden, it is still common for students to wear white tie at formal events. In Sweden and Finland, a black waistcoat is worn with white tie for academic occasions in the daytime. (2025). 9789023013815, H. J. W. Becht. ISBN 9789023013815 In the Netherlands, the attendants of the graduate student, called paranymphs, will also wear white tie.
Some fraternity such as and Odd Fellows wear dress coats to their meetings.Approved Masonic Dress, Aprons, Gauntlets, Collars and Jewels of Rank A Publication of the United Grand Lodge of NSW and the ACT, May 2012
/ref> The president and officers of the Oxford Union are still required to wear white tie at every debate but since the 1930s, other speakers are only required to wear black tie.
In the southern United States, white tie is sometimes referred to as "costume de rigueur", adapted from French language due to the historical background of New France. It is sometimes used in invitations to and Mardi Gras celebrations, such as the Mardi Gras in Mobile, Alabama,
When the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Met Gala in New York City announced a white tie dress code in 2014, a number of media outlets pointed out the difficulty and expense of obtaining traditional white tie, even for the celebrity guests.
The waistcoat should not be visible below the front of the tailcoat, which necessitates a medium or high waistline and often suspenders (braces) for the trousers. As one style writer for GQ magazine summarises "The simple rule of thumb is that you should only ever see black and white not black, white and black again". While Debrett's accepts double cuffs for shirts worn with white tie, most tailors and merchants suggest that single, linked cuffs are the most traditional and formal variation acceptable under the dress code. "White tie dress code" . Savvy Row. Retrieved 26 February 2015. Double cuffs are not frequently worn or recommended with white tie. Decorations may also be worn and, unlike Debrett's, Cambridge University's Varsity student newspaper suggests a top hat, opera cloak and silver-topped cane are acceptable accessories.
"Mardi Gras Terminology", Mobile Bay Convention and Visitors
Bureau, 2009, webpage:
[http://www.mobile.org/vis_mardigras_terms.php MG-terms] .
KbD "Le Krewe de Bienville". KrewedeBienville.com. 2011.. or New Orleans Mardi Gras, Louisiana, emphasising the white tie expectations for men and full-length for ladies.
Composition
According to the British etiquette guide Debrett's, the central components of full evening dress for men are a white marcella shirt with a wing collar and single , fastened with studs and ; the eponymous white marcella bow tie is worn around the collar, while a low-cut marcella waistcoat is worn over the shirt. Over this is worn a black double-breasted barathea wool or ultrafine herringbone tailcoat with silk faced peak . The trousers have two galon down the outside of both legs. The correct shoes are patent leather . Although a white scarf and evening overcoat remains popular in winter, the traditional white gloves, top hats, canes and cloaks are now rare. Women wear a full-length Evening gown, with the option of jewellery, a tiara, a pashmina, coat or wrap, and long white gloves.
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