How to Dress for a Warm Weather Black Tie Event

"Warm weather black tie" generally translates to "wear a white dinner jacket." There are several rules of etiquette regarding the wearing of white formal wear. The look is one of understated elegance and is limited to specific functions and locations. The look first appeared in the 1930s so that wealthy vacationers could dress formally but at the same time beat the heat.

Instructions

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."

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.

3. Select a dinner jacket in lined, summer weight worsted wool. Consider a well-tailored jacked in unlined cotton, linen or gabardine.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Tips & Warnings

• When wearing a boutonnière, choose only a white pocket handkerchief.