Black Tie Dress Code: Black Tie, Black-Tie Optional and Creative Black Tie

What does black tie mean?

Black tie began as the informal option. Henry Poole's records show the Savile Row tailor cutting a short blue silk smoking jacket for the Prince of Wales, the future Edward VII, to wear at private dinners at Sandringham in 1865: 'an informal alternative to the white tie tailcoat'. Debrett's notes that 'only a couple of generations ago white tie was standard evening dress and black tie was considered informal', and credits Edward VIII and his brothers with spreading it in the 1930s. The American name comes with a story. The Village of Tuxedo Park says that at its Autumn Ball in October 1886, Griswold Lorillard and friends appeared in tailless dress coats and scarlet satin vests, then calls the tale 'the creation myth of choice'. Emily Post, whose father was the park's architect, spent her childhood summers there. Eighty years after the Tuxedo Park ball, Yves Saint Laurent showed a women's tuxedo, Le Smoking, in his autumn-winter 1966 collection and his couture clients snubbed it: the Musée Yves Saint Laurent Paris says only one was sold. Today the Emily Post Institute calls black tie 'the most common formal dress code for events such as weddings, proms, formal dinners, and theatre', one step below white tie and more formal than business attire.

Where black tie sits on the ladder

Black tie for women

1. 
   01

   Navy silk floor-length evening gown

   First on Emily Post's black-tie list, and the safe pick at an American wedding or gala: Who What Wear's 2019 guide called floor-length appropriate and a darker palette preferred. Navy reads as formal as black without the sombre note at a wedding.

2. 
   02

   Sapphire velvet knee-length cocktail dress

   Emily Post lists a 'Dressy cocktail dress', and Debrett's said in 2023 that knee-length cocktail dresses are 'the most popular choice' at British black tie. Velvet, a fabric Zola says leans black tie, supplies the formality a shorter hem gives up.

3. 
   03

   Black satin little black dress

   Emily Post's third option is 'Your dressiest little black dress'. Satin and a structured bodice move it past the cocktail party; with long earrings it holds its own beside floor-length gowns.

4. 
   04

   Black palazzo evening trousers

   For creative black tie only: Debrett's lets women choose 'tailored or palazzo style evening trousers' there, and Emily Post allows dressy separates at black-tie optional. At strict black tie, wear a dress.

5. 
   05

   Black satin-lapel tuxedo jacket for women

   Saint Laurent's Le Smoking (autumn-winter 1966) is the precedent: a women's dinner jacket over palazzo trousers turns creative black tie into a suit. Satin lapels mark it as evening wear, not a work blazer.

6. 
   06

   Silver beaded evening clutch

   Who What Wear's 2019 guide says heels and an evening bag are 'still appropriate' even at black-tie optional, the least formal black-tie code. Beading catches candlelight that a leather bag absorbs.

Black tie for men

1. 01

   Black tuxedo

   Emily Post: 'Black tuxedo jacket and matching trousers.' Debrett's specifies a black wool single-breasted dinner jacket with no vents, silk peaked lapels or a shawl collar, and covered buttons. In summer, in the tropics or on a cruise, Emily Post swaps in a white dinner jacket.

2. 02

   White piqué or pleated-front shirt, studs and cufflinks

   Emily Post's list, with shirt studs in place of the buttons a business shirt shows. The piqué or pleated front is what sits in the open V of the jacket all evening.

3. 03

   Black bow tie with a cummerbund or vest

   Silk, satin or twill, says Emily Post, with the cummerbund matched to the tie. A long black tie in place of the bow is one of Debrett's creative black-tie swaps.

4. 04

   Black patent shoes and black dress socks

   Emily Post closes the black-tie list with them, and adds 'No gloves'. Brown shoes break the all-black line the rest of the list builds.

5. 05

   Dark suit, for black-tie optional only

   Emily Post's alternative: 'Dark suit, white dress shirt, and conservative tie.' The tuxedo still comes first on the list: it is what the hosts asked for.

Black tie in winter and summer

Winter. New York's December averages 7°C/45°F by day and 1°C/34°F at night (NOAA). Vienna in February, when the 69th Opera Ball takes place on 4 February 2027, runs 6°C/43°F and 0°C/32°F (GeoSphere Austria). Plan a long dark coat that covers a floor-length hem, and a wrap for the room. If the card says festive instead of black tie, as Emily Post says holiday and New Year's parties often do, the cocktail rung applies.

Summer. New York's July averages 29°C/84°F by day (NOAA). Emily Post's summer swap: 'In summer, in the tropics, or on a cruise: White dinner jacket, black tuxedo trousers plus other black tie wardrobe.' For women, a knee-length dressy cocktail dress, the length Debrett's said in 2023 is most popular in Britain, is cooler than a floor-length gown and still on Emily Post's list.

Reading the invitation

• “Black tie” — A tuxedo for men, required at a formal evening wedding in Emily Post's table; a gown, a dressy cocktail dress or your dressiest little black dress for women.
• “Black-tie optional” — Tuxedo or dark suit; gown, cocktail dress or dressy separates. Emily Post: men 'are requested to wear a tuxedo, but can opt for a dark suit'.
• “Black tie preferred” — Who What Wear (2019) says treat it like black tie and 'opt for the most elegant dress (or suit) you own'.
• “Creative or bohemian black tie” — The black-tie base with colour, texture and accessories: a coloured bow tie or velvet smoking jacket for men, evening trousers or a short dress for women.
• “White tie or full evening dress” — The rung above: tailcoat and white bow tie, floor-length gown. Debrett's says it's 'inevitably announced on an elaborate invitation several weeks before the event'.
• “Festive” — Not black tie. Emily Post says it's 'often the choice for holiday or New Year's parties' and means cocktail attire with a holiday touch.

A suggested look — navy silk floor-length gown, gold drop earrings, black strappy evening sandals.

What to avoid

• an open collar and loafers at black-tie optional — Emily Post's alternative to the tuxedo is a dark suit, white dress shirt, conservative tie and leather dress shoes
• trousers at strict black tie — Emily Post lists dressy separates only at black-tie optional, and Debrett's allows evening trousers only at creative black tie
• a tailcoat and white bow tie — that's white tie, the rung above, which Debrett's calls the rarest code
• brown shoes with a tuxedo — Emily Post's list ends in black patent shoes and black dress socks
• assuming New Year's Eve means black tie — Emily Post says festive, a cocktail-level code, is 'often the choice for holiday or New Year's parties'