Black Tie Optional, Creative Black Tie and Cocktail Attire: What Each Dress Code Means

From the middle of November the invitations start to contradict each other. One says black tie optional, one says creative black tie, one says cocktail, one says festive. The phrases are used loosely here, and the guest is left to work it out at six on the evening itself.

Here is the plain reading of each, for men and for women. Black tie proper is a longer subject, set out in what the black tie dress code actually means.

Black tie optional

The commonest phrase on a Los Angeles invitation and the most misread. It does not mean black tie is discouraged. It means the host would like a room full of dinner jackets and has decided not to ask it of a man who does not own one.

If you have a tuxedo, wear it. If you do not, wear a genuinely dark suit, charcoal or midnight rather than mid grey, with a white shirt, a plain dark tie and black shoes on a thin sole. A navy suit with a patterned tie reads as a man straight from the office.

For a woman the code covers a floor length gown, a long or midi dress in a substantial cloth, or a dinner suit. The dinner suit is what we are asked for most often now: midnight wool with satin at the lapel, over a silk camisole or nothing at all. The women's bespoke suits page covers how we cut them.

Creative black tie

This keeps the architecture of black tie and permits one considered departure, nearly always of cloth or colour rather than cut: a midnight velvet jacket, an ivory one for a warm evening, bottle green or claret with black silk at the lapel, a patterned facing instead of a plain one. The trouser stays black or midnight and the shirt stays white.

One departure, not four. Velvet with a coloured bow, a patterned shirt and brown shoes is not creative black tie. The restraint is what makes the single change register as a choice. Women read this as the freest of the formal codes, and it is where most of our evening trouser suits are cut.

Cocktail attire

A step below: the gallery opening, the office party in a restaurant, most private parties in December. The evening is standing and talking, not a plated dinner.

For a man, a suit, and a good one: dark grey, navy, or mid grey if the party starts early. A jacket with odd trousers passes at the relaxed end, and it is where we fit a good many bespoke jackets, with an odd trouser at $450. A tie is optional, a pocket square is no substitute for one, and a dinner jacket here is overdressed. For a woman, a knee length or midi dress, a well cut trouser suit, or separates in a dressy cloth.

Business formal

Not an evening code at all, but it appears on evening invitations when the event has a professional element: an awards dinner, an industry gala, a board dinner. It means your best suit worn the way you would wear it to court. Dark, plain or quietly patterned, two piece or three. White or pale blue shirt. A tie, not optional here. Polished black oxfords. The difference from cocktail is the tie and the discipline. Our two piece starts at $1,795, the three piece at $2,045.

Festive, or holiday party

A host asking you to look as though you are enjoying yourself. Read it as cocktail attire with one seasonal note: a green or burgundy tie, a velvet jacket over dark trousers, a check you would not wear to a meeting. The same licence with colour and texture applies to a woman, which is why December is our velvet month. One seasonal element worn with conviction beats four worn hopefully.

White tie, briefly

The only code above black tie, and rare enough here that a man may never meet it. A black tailcoat with a cutaway front, black trousers with two lines of braid, a white marcella shirt with a detachable wing collar, a white marcella waistcoat, a white hand-tied bow, black patent shoes. None of it is optional and none of it overlaps with a dinner jacket, so tell us when you book: a tailcoat is a six to eight week job.

What we would make for a season of these

Given four invitations across four of these codes we would not make four garments. We would make a dinner jacket and a very dark suit. The jacket covers black tie, black tie optional and, with the lapel silk chosen thoughtfully, creative black tie. The suit covers business formal and cocktail, and takes festive on a change of tie.

Both are full canvas and fully bespoke, cut from a pattern made for one person and sewn by hand by Max in our atelier in Southern Brittany, as every garment this house has made since 2010. A custom tuxedo starts at $1,795, the same as a two piece suit, because only the cloth differs. What sits underneath it is set out in the shirt, studs and bow tie; a custom shirt is $295.

Allow four to six weeks in domestic cloth and six to eight in imported. Fittings are unlimited, a year of complimentary alterations is included on anything we make, and we take fifty per cent at cloth selection. If the evening is a wedding, the wedding suits page sets out timings, and wedding parties take twenty per cent off.

A consultation takes an hour and costs nothing: about thirty measurements and three photographs, with Robb or Ben. We are at 221 Culver Blvd in Playa del Rey, free parking front and back, open Monday to Sunday by appointment. You can book a fitting here, see what the hour covers on the book a fitting page, or call 310-503-3592.

Questions we are often asked

Does black tie optional mean I can wear a dark suit?

Yes, and you will be correctly dressed. The phrase exists so that a man without a dinner jacket is not kept away. Make it genuinely dark, midnight or charcoal rather than mid grey, with a white shirt and a plain dark tie.

What is the difference between cocktail attire and black tie optional?

A tuxedo is welcome at black tie optional and overdressed at cocktail. Black tie optional has a floor of a very dark suit. Cocktail allows mid grey, a jacket with odd trousers, and no tie.

Can a woman wear a tuxedo to black tie optional?

She can, and it is now one of the more common choices. A dinner suit in midnight wool with satin lapels is as formal as a long gown and easier to wear for a long evening. The women's bespoke suits page covers fittings.

What counts as one departure at creative black tie?

A change of cloth or colour in the jacket, or in the silk at the lapel: velvet, ivory, bottle green, a patterned facing. The trouser, shirt and shoes stay as at black tie. Two or three changes at once dissolve the code rather than interpret it.

Do I need a second tuxedo for creative black tie?

No, in most cases. One well cut dinner jacket covers all three, with the interpretation carried by the bow, the waist covering and the shoes. A velvet or ivory evening jacket is a pleasure rather than a necessity.

How late can I order for a December party?

For a party in the second half of December, the last comfortable week to start is the first week of November in imported cloth and the third week in domestic. After that we are into a rush charge at twenty-five per cent and, more to the point, losing a fitting.