Black Tie Optional featuring Ra-Re Donna
Black Tie Optional
'...people must be very distinguished to look well in black...' -Edward Bulwer-Lyttonn, 1828
One of our favorite (and omnipresent) trends on the Fall 2008 catwalk was menswear(ish) pieces for the girls, specifically, plays on the formal dress, such as the tuxedo and its sharp lapels.
The tuxedo was born in the 1920s; it was a double-breasted reincarnation of the 1880s dinner jacket tailored to the tastes of then Prince of Wales. When the fashion traveled from Europe to America, it landed in Tuxedo Park, the millionaire playground of New York, where the new double-breasted formal wear was sported at small dinner parties. Pierre Lorillard popularized the tailless dinner jacket and named it the 'tuxedo' at an autumn ball. more...