A question for Etutee about summer formal.

[Arpey]

Etutee, I opened a new thread because I did not want to highjack you most recent Vol. II No. IV (April 06') Spring-Summer / Palm Beach AA one.

On a similar but distinct note is the following AA/Esky illustration of summer formal wear with the gentleman wearing a shirt with a button down collar under his DJ:



I have heard that Astaire would often wear button downs collared shirts with black tie but had not actually seen an example of it.
(On a side note, it goes against my upbringing of not wearing button downs in the evening because they were considered informal shirts)

My questions are:
What kind of shirt cuff would a button down formal shirt take?, i.e. barrel vs. French cuffs?
If a French cuff would it be fold over or a single thickness?
Would a button down collar be appropriate nowadays?
Any further information or comments?

Thanks in advance, RP.

[dopey]

Notice the text. The shirt is made up in silk, distinguishing it from the Brooks Bros. version of today. Also note the barrel cuffs depicted in the illustration (I added it here since the link didn’t work in your post).

I expect Manton will point to this as an example of AA/Esky reporting on a trend that while not “correct” appeared to be heading towards widespread adoption, but turned out, in retrospect, to have never made it.

If you asked my opinion, which you haven’t, I would say don’t do this. If you must, go for silk instead of cotton so it is clear you are wearing formal attire rather than forgot to pack your suitcase.

[Arpey]

Fair enough, Dopey, but if done in silk so to make clear that one is wearing formal attire wouldn't cuff-links even highlight this point further?, and why couldn't it be made of a extremely high fiber count cotton instead of silk?

[dopey]

Fair enough, Dopey, but if done in silk so to make clear that one is wearing formal attire wouldn't cuff-links even highlight this point further?, and why couldn't it be made of a extremely high fiber count cotton instead of silk?

This is not fair. It is like asking me whether you should kill your wife by drowning her in carrot juice or by bludgeoning her with a tuba. I don’t want to be your accomplice.

But since I started down this road, I guess I have to go where it leads. I would say that the idea was to take a non-formal shirt and give it a twist in one dimension to make it work as a formal shirt. Making a buttondown shirt out of silk seems to get it right. Maybe a fine cotton would also work, but I would guess the effect would be too subtle. It would probably appear to be a nice but ordinary button down. Cufflinks seem to just distort the shirt into something it isn’t rather than give the shirt a bit of a twinkle in its eye. Same for studs on the front instead of buttons.

Maybe none of this makes sense, but I “get it” in silk even if I don’t like it. The other variations don’t make much sense to me.

If you have the inclination, give it a try, but it seems like a bad idea and a waste of money to me. (Of course a plain button down in a high thread count cotton won't be a waste of money because you could use it elsewhere.)

[E. Tage Larsen]

Nice socks.

Gentlemen, please forgive my musing, but Dopey's carrot juice question caused my mind to wander. Considering the question at hand, i wonder if there's been any instances of either studs or links used in collars?