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Step 1
Opt for a white dinner jacket only in tropical climates, while on vacation or on a cruise. Limit the wearing of white formal wear to country club events only. Wear a white dinner jacket in the city only when "one has a napkin over his arm or a saxophone to his lips."
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Step 2
Choose a single-breasted or double-breasted design, but consider that a single-breasted jacket may be worn unbuttoned, which is cooler. Wear off-white, cream or ivory, rather than pure white, unless your complexion is very dark.
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Step 3
Select a dinner jacket in lined, summer weight worsted wool. Consider a well-tailored jacked in unlined cotton, linen or gabardine.
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Step 4
Pair a classic tuxedo shirt with a soft, turn-down collar and pleated front with tailored trousers in a warm-weather fabric in midnight blue or black. Wear white suspenders under a white dinner jacket.
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Step 5
Wear a cummerbund with a single-breasted dinner jacket. Choose a cummerbund in a black grosgrain or satin finish, or in a tasteful color or pattern, depending on the occasion.
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Step 6
Finish the ensemble with a bow tie that is the same fabric, though not necessarily the same color as the cummerbund. Add a white or colored pocket kerchief, subdued cuff links and classic footwear, particularly the formal evening pump.
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Step 7
Follow the same rules of etiquette for "warm weather black tie" in northern and western states, but choose a black jacket in summer-weight wool or gabardine. Save the white dinner jacket exclusively for "tropical" conditions.
