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Which Tuxedo


eliana
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I'm taking black, white, and red velvet on Q737. One of the formal nights is between Gran Canaria and Lisbon so in warmer waters, the other two are on the way out and way back. In any case the formal dress code isn't actually Black Tie, that would cause all sorts of aggravation if applied and strictly enforced.

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White dinner jackets are appropriate for warm climates, usually summer in the Northern Hemisphere. If he has one of each he can clearly wear as appropriate, if he has only black, he will find a majority of gents will be wearing black. It would be more unusual to wear white in a cool climate or weather.

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According to my "Gentleman's Guide to Etiquette" :)

 

"The white dinner jacket's origin on cruises and at tropical resorts speaks to its specific role as a less formal alternative to traditional black tie. It is only appropriate at formal occasions in the tropics year round and in America during the summer season, typically at open-air social gatherings such as country club dances and yacht club parties.

 

While summer in the southern United States qualifies as being at least subtropical, the same cannot be said for the more temperate northern states and Canada. It is for this reason that numerous experts advise using discretion north of the Mason-Dixon line in order to avoid dressing for effect rather than for the occasion. Indeed, black-tie guests north of the 49th parallel would be wise to heed the example of their British cousins who do not consider the United Kingdom's temperate climate to be appropriate for white formal wear at any time of the year (with the notable exception of Last Night of the Proms).

 

And if a man is particularly serious about formal convention, a white jacket should never be worn “unless one has a napkin over his arm or a saxophone up to his lips” as Esquire once put it.

 

Don't forget that the white jacket is an alternative, not a directive. The black jacket is perfectly acceptable in any season and any locale and actually trumps the formality of the white version"

 

Or as PG Wodehouse wrote [about the white jacket]

Jeeves: I assumed it had got into your wardrobe by mistake, sir, or else that it has been placed there by your enemies.

Bertie Wooster: I will have you know, Jeeves, that I bought this in Cannes!

Jeeves: And wore it, sir?

Bertie Wooster: Every night at the Casino. Beautiful women used to try and catch my eye!

Jeeves: Presumably they thought you were a waiter, sir.

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Easy.

 

British ship (well Bermudian/American) from the UK. British rules apply

 

The British convention for evening dress whilst at sea is black d/j north of Gibraltar and white south of it. Same thing with officers Rig of the Day. On Med cruises when the corner (Gib) is turned, it's whites.

 

So for a Canary Island cruise, you should pack both a black and white d/j.

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I'm currently mulling a black velvet tux to add with my black standard tux for an up and coming QM2 cruise this month. I also think a red or blue velvet tux can also look smart. I would happily wear a white tux past NY to the Caribbean but unfortunately white doesn't suit me while on others it can look stunning.

Edited by robbie_3
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Easy.

 

British ship (well Bermudian/American) from the UK. British rules apply

 

The British convention for evening dress whilst at sea is black d/j north of Gibraltar and white south of it. Same thing with officers Rig of the Day. On Med cruises when the corner (Gib) is turned, it's whites.

 

So for a Canary Island cruise, you should pack both a black and white d/j.

 

Perhaps that is the answer - only wear white when the officers do.

 

I wonder how the officers view passengers wearing white around Iceland?

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When I was serving aboard RMS ST HELENA in 1990, we were still in southern "whites" (shorts and kneesocks, too) whilst calling at Tristan da Cunha in the furthest reaches of the South Atlantic and it... was sleeting at one point during the day!

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As we don't celebrate either Labour Day or Memorial Day it doesn't really apply.

 

I'm liking the idea of red velvet though.

 

Hattie, at one point (in the early '70s:eek:) I had a burgundy velvet Tux. Worn with a burgundy velvet bat tie, a pink ruffled shirt, and two tone cream patent leather/burgundy suede shoes I was quite the fashion statement. Add the period correct afro hair do and I am forever grateful that I never wore this rig on QE2! And am also profoundly grateful that photographic evidence of the spectacle has been somehow lost over the years.....:cool:

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As we don't celebrate either Labour Day or Memorial Day it doesn't really apply.

 

I'm liking the idea of red velvet though.

You do, you just call them "Spring Bank Holiday" and "Summer Bank Holiday (a week early at that). The US holiday names try to convey a hope that it's more than "a day off."
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I think, this subject has been well covered, as it were. Red and Black Velvet, I think we're getting into smoking jackets here. one question will you wear a Fez with it?

 

I was thinking of wearing a black velvet tux jacket in the lounges after dinner but without the fez :p

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Perhaps that is the answer - only wear white when the officers do.

 

I wonder how the officers view passengers wearing white around Iceland?

 

In the days before a dress code was published in the ship's daily bulletin, the Union-Castle Line made it easy to determine the appropriateness of white or black DJs - and indeed as to which nights were traditionally formal or not. The "rig of the day" was published and it said: The captain and officers will be wearing navy mess dress or white mess dress or navy uniforms or white uniforms. My recollection of my three voyages on Union-Castle was that no gent wore a white DJ when officers were in navy and a black DJ was always acceptable even if the officers were in their white mess dress. (I have never had a white DJ.)

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According to my "Gentleman's Guide to Etiquette" :)

 

"The white dinner jacket's origin on cruises and at tropical resorts speaks to its specific role as a less formal alternative to traditional black tie. It is only appropriate at formal occasions in the tropics year round and in America during the summer season, typically at open-air social gatherings such as country club dances and yacht club parties.

 

While summer in the southern United States qualifies as being at least subtropical, the same cannot be said for the more temperate northern states and Canada. It is for this reason that numerous experts advise using discretion north of the Mason-Dixon line in order to avoid dressing for effect rather than for the occasion. Indeed, black-tie guests north of the 49th parallel would be wise to heed the example of their British cousins who do not consider the United Kingdom's temperate climate to be appropriate for white formal wear at any time of the year (with the notable exception of Last Night of the Proms).

 

And if a man is particularly serious about formal convention, a white jacket should never be worn “unless one has a napkin over his arm or a saxophone up to his lips” as Esquire once put it.

 

Don't forget that the white jacket is an alternative, not a directive. The black jacket is perfectly acceptable in any season and any locale and actually trumps the formality of the white version"

 

Or as PG Wodehouse wrote [about the white jacket]

Jeeves: I assumed it had got into your wardrobe by mistake, sir, or else that it has been placed there by your enemies.

Bertie Wooster: I will have you know, Jeeves, that I bought this in Cannes!

Jeeves: And wore it, sir?

Bertie Wooster: Every night at the Casino. Beautiful women used to try and catch my eye!

Jeeves: Presumably they thought you were a waiter, sir.

 

 

damn....wheres the like button when you need it...:D

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I cannot believe the timing of this post. I was just trying to convince my husband tonight to add a white D/J to his repertoire, though he does mix it up a but with a few different bowtie designs. And - thankfully - no pre-tied ties for him, though I hear the occasional consternation coming from the area in front of the mirror when he ties it. When he has to squeeze into a strapless gown & stilettos, I'll care.

Alas, our next voyage is QE Alaska, so no white dinner jacket. I read him the paragraph above from the Gentleman's Etiquette..it ended like this -

 

ME: You will look like Humphrey Bogart in Casablanca. He wore a white Dinner Jacket - it looks so handsome!

HIM: Morocco is south of the Mason-Dixon line.

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If I was going to take one tuxedo I would take Black.

 

Once in awhile we do take both on cruises (on our sailing on QM2 I took just the black).

 

I do feel the same way as Keithm. I do get nervous though with the white dinner jacket of stains so I have never taken a white one only on a cruise.

 

Keith

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Howdy,

 

Black or dinner jacket white or any color is a personal choice. Kind of like Church you do not wear things to get noticed..or do youall?

 

FYI:

 

The Tuxedo is an american invented suit.

 

Tuxedo and Tuxedo Park , New York.

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