Vintage Gallery
Sometimes a picture says more than a thousand words. Hence we decided to create a small gallery with vintage black tie and white tie illustrations and photos here.
Monte Carlo Inspired Reverse Warm Weather Black Tie from 1939 Note the gold buttons and opera pumps
The Same Reverse Combination again
Maroon and navy bow ties for warm-weather tuxedos.in off-white and beige.
Despite the fact that these gentlemen are wearing mess jackets, the man at left illustrates that a burgundy cummerbund can work well with a black and off-white ensemble.
Other than the jacket itself, most details of black-tie dressing in warm weather remain the same as with the standard code.
Off White Dinner Jacket Styles Black Tie 1939
Off-White dinner jackets had their origins in attire worn for cruises and at tropical resorts.
Be aware that off-white jackets are most appropriately (though not necessarily exclusively) worn in more equatorial regions, where the climate is warmer.
1930s Vintage Patent Leather Oxfords with evening shoe laces and pumps or court shoes with a deep cut vamp opening and silk bow
Frank Sinatra in a shawl collar tuxedo
1960s French take on a striped tuxeowith shawl collar and cummervest, which can be buttoned in the middle
Late 1960s Chartreuse Dinner Jacket with Continental Tie, Cummerbund and Studs
1960s bold silk horse pattern dinner jacket with shawl collar
Late 1960s German shawl collar dinner jacket with slim, long bow tie with pointed ends
Late 1960s British take on the shawl collar tuxedo
1960s slim lapel tuxedo with silk emroidered piping
1960s Shirt Fashion with wide pleats, contrast piping and diagonal contrast pattern
1960s Jet Age Sparkly tuxedo with shawl collar and slim bow tie note the sleeve faux cuff piping
1960s Shawl Collar white tie tailcoat ensemble
1960s brown dinner jacket with satin faced lapels
1960s French Continental Tie bow tie tucked under the shirt collar and dinner jacket with black satin faced shawl collar
Late 1950s tuxedo with collar piping in satin
Late 1960s French shal collar dinner jacket with accentuated pleats
German 1960s ad with a textured dinner jacket
Late 1950s German Bronze Dinner Jacket with shawl collar
1950s Tuxedo – often double breasted with turndown collar and thinner bow tie, here with pointed ends of course the cigarette is a must
The Rat Pack in Black Tie – note only sinatra has french cuffs
Francois Poncet in DB tuxedo with wing collar, patent leather shoes and galon stripe in 1950
1950s Dinner Jacket in purple with matching cummerbund and thin bow tie – note the cuffs
Black Tie in the US Jan 1945 – note the wide rib grosgrain lapel facings and carantion boutonniere with studs and turndown collar
Black Tie with Wing Collar – Germany 1942 Note teh rounded waistcoat on the white tie ensemble and the high wing collars
1942 Fashions Germany – Tuxedo on the left and Stroller Stresemann on the right
1940s Tuxedos from Germany Formal left and semi formal on the right
Summer 1938 – typical white tie and black tie ensembles with full cut, wide lapels, drape and shoulder padding
1930s Black Tie ensemble with white tie influences of shirt, collar and waistcoat – note 3 cuff buttons and captoe shoes
London UK evening fashions 1935 black tie and white tie not the gloves and chapeau claque on the right and Homburg left
Relaxed 1930s Black Tie evenit with black waistcoat, wing collar and boutonniere as seen by Laurence Fellows
Typical 1930s full cut for evening wear
Black Tie with wing collar and white DB vest and white tie with single galon – Germany Summer 1938
Monocle worn with white tie – at the end of the twenties, cuts got fuller as you can see in the trousers – note the white gloves, cane and top hat
Typical 1930s full cut for evening wear
US November 1938 – Formal Black tie with wing collar on the left, semi formal in midnight blue DB Tuxedo and turndown collar on the right by Leslie Saalburg
London UK evening fashions 1936 black tie and white tie
London UK Black Tie Style Winter 1939 – note the silk braid galon on the trousers
DB shawl collar jackets – US 1930s in midnight blue unfinished worsted wool with jetted pockets and 3 cuff buttons
1934 London Style White Tie and Black Tie – full cut and formal
1930s Equestiran Evening Attire – note the black tie ensemble of the lady on the right – highly unusual
Evening Overcoat, Black Tie and White Tie in Germany Fall 1929 – note the pointed DB waistcoat closure and tall detachable wing collars
Evening Wear in Germany 1890 – note the galoshes with the tailcoat -at that time it was not uncommon in Germany although the chap in the back does not wear them
The transition between tailcoats and tuxedo jackets was nearly complete
Neckwear in April 1874 – note the gentleman on the left in a black tie outfitwith a shorter jacket and a top hat – very similar to the dinner jacket we would get to know in the 1880s
Evening Attire in 1873
Pants and Pantaloons Fashions in the 1870s
Victorian Menswear in June 1871
Die Deutsche Elite 1920s – note the fur collar on the left and silk lapels on the right – all men wear captoe shoes and you can see a DB tuxedo with notched lapels and a Tautz lapel
Victorian Outerwear in February 1871 – also note the pattern of the pants
Stylized Jazz Age Black Tie Tuxedo Outfit from 1925
Evening Overcoat, Black Tie and White Tie in Germany Fall 1929 – note the pointed DB waistcoat closure and tall detachable wing collars
English playwright, director, actor and singer Noel Coward starring in his short play We Were Dancing.
Midnight-blue double-breasted dinner suit as seen at the exclusive Colony Club in Palm Beach in 1935.
Illustration of both styles of mess jacket showing the pointed back and the high waisted pocket-less trousers.
By the 1930s, depictions of gloves with white tie had also become rare, even in the context of dancing.
1940 dinner jacket styles from a US woolens wholesaler publication.
Fred Astaire circa 1936 wearing the popular white pearl shirt stud and the periods novel black waistcoat studs.
Artist J.C. Leyendecker s ads for Arrow dress shirts have become iconic.
1833 American waistcoat with colored under-waistcoat.
Humphrey Bogart
Vintage Evening Wear Black Tie and White Tie with evening overcoats 1920
Perhaps obviously, evening wear is meant to be worn in the evening.
The Idea of the Black Tie Guide Emerges
Edwardian evening fashions from 1904
Black Tie Worn at a club in the 1930s – Classic Black Tie Ensemble with single button peaked lapel jacket with grosgrain faced lapels and wing collar. Note the server is wearing white tie with a striped vest to distinguish himself from the attendees.
Two dinner jackets, one with peaked lapels, the other with a shawl collar, c. 1898.
Full evening dress in the late Victorian period
An American take on full evening dress, c. 1890. The more comfortable dinner jacket would soon supplant the tailcoat in some contexts.
Black Tie and White Tie Evening Waistcoats in 1934 ad
Mess Dress Jacket with burgundy cummerbund on the left and warm weater DB off white dinner jacket on the right – London UK 1938
Catoir Grosgrain ad from 1933 – Illustration by Robert Goodman
1940s – White Tie becomes the exception, BlackTie the rule
After Six ad from the 1930s showing a DB shawl collar buff DB dinner jacket with straw hat, red boutonniere, pocket square and bow tie