The one invitation you can't improvise.

Almost every dress code gives you room to improvise. Black tie does not, and it always arrives with about three weeks' notice.

Vladimir Riche in a peak lapel dinner jacket, black bow tie and white pocket square.

It comes by email. A wedding, a gala, a company anniversary. Two words sit at the bottom of the invitation: Black Tie.

So you do what most men do. You search for a rental shop. You let someone hand you a shiny polyester jacket with a notch lapel, you clip on a pre-tied bow, and you spend the whole evening quietly aware that you look like the staff.

There is no improvising your way out of black tie. The rules are narrow, they're old, and everyone in the room can feel when they've been broken, including the people who couldn't name a single one of them.

I ran a live workshop on exactly this. Two hours, head to toe, questions from the room and all. This is the full recording.

Two hours, head to toe

The difference between a tuxedo and a suit, and the satin details that define one
Single-breasted or double-breasted, peak lapel or shawl, and when each belongs
Black, midnight navy, or a white dinner jacket, and which one the room expects
Shirt fronts: pleated, plain or pique, and whether the placket should be covered
French cuff or plain cuff, and the studs and cufflinks that go with them
Trousers: the braid down the leg, and whether to cuff them
Cummerbunds and waistcoats, and whether your waist has to be covered at all
The bow tie: satin silk or grosgrain, and why it is the star of the show
The three shoes I recommend, opera pump to wholecut, and the case for satin laces
The finishing details: white pocket square, black silk socks, and the right watch

Included

The 31-page shopping list

Knowing what a dinner jacket should look like and knowing where to buy one are two different problems. The second one is where most men give up and walk into a rental shop.

So the workshop comes with the list. 31 pages of specific pieces, with links. Not categories. Actual items you can open in a tab and buy.

The Black Tie Workshop Replay

Two hours, head to toe · 31-page shopping list with links

$97 Get instant access

One payment. Lifetime access, on any device, as many times as you like.

A word on why this one

Most men will wear black tie fewer than a dozen times in their life. Which is exactly the problem. You never do it often enough to get good at it, and every single occasion is one that mattered enough for somebody to specify a dress code.

Get it right once and you have it for the next thirty years. The rules haven't moved since your grandfather's day, and they aren't going to.

Vladimir Riché