It’s a fascinating thing to me to watch films of baseball games from the 50s and early 60s. People are sitting in the stands at baseball games wearing dress shirts and neckties, jackets and fedoras if the weather supported it. Now the discussion has turned to, “Do I have to wear a suit to a graduation / wedding / church?” It’s amazing to me.

I graduated from High School in 1990.

The way _I_ was brought up, a formal evening affair demanded white tie and tails, preferably white picque for the tie and waiscoat.

When I went to go rent said item for my senior prom, the person at the tux shop tried to present me a white tail coat.

Sigh.

I’ll admit, at my first wedding, i screwed up matching the attire – I wore my Army Dress Blues, and my groomsmen were in white tie and tails.

They were formal, I was semi formal.

IF I wear my uniform when I get married again, I will be able to either wear blue mess (short “bolero” cut) with black tie (which is a slight step UP from dinner jacket, but below white tie and tails, so, what should my groomsmen wear, then?) or evening blue mess, which is white tie and waistcoat with the same jacket.

But, were I to get married in the morning, and wear my uniform, what is the appropriate attire for my groomsmen – morning coats/cutaways?

Heck, what would be appropriate attire for ME in uniform during the day for a formal affair?

I could just cheat, and wear my kilt, but even then, a Prince Charlie is an evening jacket.

I’m proud to be in a jurisdiction where we require dinner jackets for Lodge officers, it gave me an excuse to own one.

Young men are essentially accessories. Which is, I suppose, as it should be, but I’d prefer to see it done a bit more classically. It really is so much more economical to buy than rent a dinner suit if you’re going to wear it more than three times. Coupled with the fact that you can have your own tailored to fit properly, it’s an investment that should be strongly considered.

That is a very interesting addendum, Andrew. I knew Lorillard was a Mason, I didn’t know about the Master insisting on greater formality. Good to know!

I never went to a college prom, but I did to to the formal dance each semester of my fraternity (Delta Sigma Phi). The tux also let me get a job as a wine steward at an upscale restaurant during my senior year, and it was more convenient to wear when I performed as a magician than the white tie and tails I had been wearing. The tails were soon retired.

I doubt that many high school graduates today have such discussions!

Brent

When, in 1951, my parents were planning their wedding, they were on a fairly tight budget. My father, who was in the Navy, planned to be wed, quite appropriately, in his dress whites. (And very spiffy he looked, too.) But he tried to come up with something his groomsmen could all wear that would match reasonably well (the days of totally matchy-matchy weddings were not yet upon us) and wouldn’t have to go out and purchase new. He told his mother that he knew they all owned their own tuxedos. Couldn’t they just wear their tuxes to the wedding?

His mother, a woman of great breeding, proud background, and impeccable manners, looked at him, shocked to the core, and said, “John, they might just as well wear their pajamas.”

They quite properly wore dark business suits, and matchy-matchy be damned.