The tailcoat

The tailcoat is also known as a white tie. This outfit exists of a knee-length coat with a half-open front with 'tails' reaching the knee-holes. In the front, it would get to hip-height. You'd wear this outfit only on formal occasions. Officially you have to wear it over a piqué shirt, a piqué vest combined with a piqué bow tie. Piqué refers to the weaving style. This is the only type of shirt you can wear underneath a tailcoat.

There are a few accessories you can wear with a white tie outfit. You can find the most used and approved accessories below. Keep in mind that you should always wear black patent leather shoes, combined with your white tie outfit and, the waistcoat needs to cover the waistband.

White waistcoat

The white waistcoat is worn on official occasions like your graduation or when you are a doctoral candidate. When you are a ballroom dancer, but also at weddings, formally you only can wear a waistcoat after 5.30 p.m. not many people know that. The white waistcoat is frequently worn at galas and weddings, and they start earlier. Always leave the bottom button open. Make sure your waistcoat embraces your torso. It needs to fit your body closely to keep all the fabric of your white dress shirt firmly in its place.

Black waistcoat

A black waistcoat is worn on many different occasions. It is the same waistcoat as the white one, but this vest is not made in piqué. At Suitable, we sell it in a more shiny fabric, flat woven. At some lodges of the Freemasons, it is required to wear a black waistcoat. Apart from this specific occasion, the black waistcoat is worn at very formal funerals, and some butlers would wear a black waistcoat aswell. We offer them in sizes medium to XXXL.

Evening gloves

At Suitable, we offer three colors of evening gloves, white, black, and grey. These evening gloves are made of 100% cotton. It has a soft touch and feels very comfortable. White is mainly worn at white-tie occasions of black-tie occasions. You could go for grey or black whenever you think white is a delicate color and gets dirty quickly.

Top hats

The top hat is formally used in Western dress codes. The primary colors of a top hat would be grey or black. The top hat model is tall and flat. From 1960 it seems the top hat disappeared, but not completely. We still see the top hat at weddings and galas. The top hat gives people the impression that it is only worn by the upper-class or high society, probably because it was associated with capitalism, such as Monopoly and Scrooge McDuck. You should wear the top hat straight on your head, and it should be removed when entering a building or indoor space.

Boutonniérre

This is a floral decoration that goes on the left part of the lapel. Usually, the floral decoration would pin into the buttonhole. Nowadays, the pin is under the buttonhole. The Boutonniére is a single flower and is worn on special occasions like a wedding, for example.

Pocket square

At first, before the pocket square, there was a handkerchief. They would use this to dry the forehead or to wipe their noses. The handkerchief was made out of a small square-shaped piece of white cotton, which men put inside the chest pocket. Later on, men would put the handkerchief in an inside pocket en use the pocket square as a fashion accessory from around 1920 until 1960. Then it disappears till 2000 when it reappeared in movies and series. Pocket squares are often made of silk, linen, wool, or cotton. You have many ways to fold a pocket square, very discrete or flamboyant.

Order, decorations en medals

An order is an awarded medal given by the state or the monarch to a person that gets recognition, and it frequently comes with an emblem. These medals are worn on the left part of the jacket, under the pocket square.