Bespoke Black Tie -- Trousers and Shirt Details

[alden]

1. Plain buttons. (Studs are white tie garb)

2. Simple oval cufflinks in 9-14 kt gold with initials in English script. Try to avoid wearing new ones. Better to get your grandfathers or someone's grandfathers set as used as possible.

3. Either p square (in white linen) or boutonnière (red) but not both. Wearing both is akin to wearing a belt and braces together. (Yes, I know Windsor used to do it, but none of us is him.)

Golden rule (though not a rule) in black tie dress...keep it as simple as possible.

Cheers

[culverwood]

Wearing both is akin to wearing a belt and braces together. (Yes, I know Windsor used to do it, but none of us is him.)

Would that have been to draw attention to his face and away from his lack of height?

[Luca]

Sorry, as opposed to?

Well, buttons?

I wouldn't. Really.
Not with black tie.

[Concordia]

In spite of its uniform quality, black tie can go two different directions. You have the substitute for white tie, in which peak lapels, stiff collar/shirtfront, vest, and so on make their appearance. In Gaudy Night, for example, when quizzed about whether her guest was hard- or soft-boiled, Harriet was able to say "hard" with some confidence.

Then you have the DOW variants, which are a way to dress up the daytime flannel DB suit, or perhaps put some structure and grace into one's silk pajamas. I still prefer studs with that version also, although one should take even more care than usual to keep things discreet. Buttons on the front could also work, as long as they don't appear to be orphaned or left over from one's business trip.

Prince Michael seems to be straddling both of those categories, in ways that I don't really care for. Of course, I've never understood his collars and kipper ties, so maybe that's inevitable.

[culverwood]

I must be soft boiled as I have never cared for studs, I used to wear fly fronted shirts but I now wear a buttoned silk shirt.

[hectorm]

Golden rule (though not a rule) in black tie dress...keep it as simple as possible.

Keeping it simple should mean refraining from unnecessary complications while not substracting those key elements which maintain it within the boundaries of formal dress. To keep the formality, a DJ requires a dress shirt and not a business shirt. The former will come with stiffer collar and bib front. Studs should be worn with it. Period. In this case, IMO, forgoing studs is not keeping it simple; it´s downgrading formality the wrong way. My SBDJ is to be worn with a low cut vest. Sometimes I do downgrade its formality (and increase my comfort) wearing a plain shirt but, MoP buttons (it shows three of them) look a bit lost in the front V (more like an U). So I still would wear studs that go well with my onix cufflinks. Formal enough.
With my more informal and soft DBDJ a simple shirt with double cuffs feels more at ease. I can still play it up or down with the studs. I get to wear them only a few times a year so that encourages me to opt for them. It´s like "structuring silk pajamas" as Concordia would say . No shame on that.