Editing Black tie (section)

=== British origins in the 19th century ===
[[File:Dinner Jackets, 1898..jpg|thumb|left|Illustration of British peaked lapel and [[shawl collar]] dinner jackets, 1898. As substitutes for [[tailcoat]]s, dinner jackets were originally worn with [[white tie|full dress]] accessories, including white [[waist coat]].]]
In the 1860s, the increasing popularity of outdoor activities among the middle and upper classes of the UK led to a corresponding increase in the popularity of the then [[casual wear|casual]] [[lounge suit]] as a country alternative to the more [[formal wear|formal]] day wear [[frock coat]] that was traditionally worn in town. Men also sought a similar alternative to the formal evening [[tailcoat]], then known as a "dress coat", worn every evening.<ref name="auto" />

The earliest record of a tailless coat being worn with evening wear is an 1865 [[midnight blue]] [[smoking jacket]] in [[silk]] with matching trousers ordered by the [[Prince of Wales]], later [[Edward VII]] of the United Kingdom, from [[Savile Row]] tailors [[Henry Poole & Co.]]<ref name="Henry Poole">{{cite web|url=https://henrypoole.com/hp/history-of-henry-poole-tailor-of-savile-row/the-tuxedo|title=The Tuxedo - Henry Poole|website=henrypoole.com|access-date=6 March 2019}}</ref>  The smoking jacket was tailored for use at [[Sandringham House|Sandringham]], the [[British Royal Family]]'s informal [[country estate]].<ref name="auto" /> Henry Poole never saw his design become known as a dinner jacket or cross the Atlantic and be called a tuxedo over there; he died in 1876 leaving behind a well-respected business to be run by his cousin Samuel Cundey.

Other accounts of the Prince's experimentation appear around 1885, referring variously to "a garment of many colours, such as was worn by our ancestors" and "short garments coming down to the waist and made on the model of the military men's jackets". The suit jacket with tailcoat finishes, as is most commonly known, was first described around the same time and often associated with [[Cowes]], a seaside resort in southern [[England]] and centre of British [[yachting]] that was closely associated with the Prince. It was originally intended for warm weather use but soon spread to informal or stag winter occasions. As it was simply an evening tailcoat substitute, it was worn with all the same accoutrements as the tailcoat, including the trousers.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://blog.blacktieguide.com/2013/11/08/tuxedo-origins-english-beginnings/ |title=Tuxedo Origins: English Beginnings |date=14 November 2018 |website=Black Tie Blog |access-date=10 January 2019 |archive-date=8 November 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131108053935/http://blog.blacktieguide.com/2013/11/08/tuxedo-origins-english-beginnings/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> As such, in these early days, black tie, in contrast to formal [[white tie]], was considered [[informal wear]].<ref name="Safire 436">{{cite magazine |last=Safire |first=William |date=5 May 1985 |title=On Language; Come as You Are |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1985/05/05/magazine/on-language-come-as-you-are.html |magazine=The New York Times Magazine |access-date=1 March 2017 |page=436}}</ref>

In the following decades of the [[Victorian era]], the style became known as a dinner jacket: a fashionable, formal alternative for the [[tailcoat]] which men of the [[upper class]]es wore every evening. Thus it was worn with the standard accompaniments for the evening tailcoat at the time: matching trousers, white or black waistcoat, white [[bow tie]], white detachable wing-collar formal shirt, and black formal shoes. [[Lapel]]s were often faced or edged in silk or [[satin]] in varying widths. In comparison with a full dress such as a cutaway tailcoat, etiquette guides declared dinner jacket inappropriate for wear in mixed company, meaning together with ladies.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.blacktieguide.com/History/04-Victorian_Late_Etiquette_&_DJ.htm |title=History: Late Victorian Era |website=Black Tie Guide |access-date=2 February 2017}}</ref>

During the [[Edwardian era]], the practice of wearing a black waistcoat and black bow tie with a dinner jacket became the convention, establishing the basis of the current black tie and white tie dress codes. The dinner jacket was also increasingly accepted at less formal evening occasions such as warm-weather gatherings or intimate dinners with friends.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.blacktieguide.com/History/06-Edwardian.htm |title=History: Edwardian Era |website=Black Tie Guide |access-date=2 February 2017}}</ref>

[[File:Coctail party - 1936.tif|thumb|Cocktail party in 1936]]
After [[World War I]], the dinner jacket became established as a [[semi-formal]] evening wear, while the evening tailcoat was limited to the most formal or ceremonial occasions. During this interwar period, [[double-breasted]] jackets, turndown-collar shirts and [[cummerbund]]s became popular for black tie evenings as white jackets were experimented with in warm weather.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.blacktieguide.com/History/07-Jazz_Age.htm |title=History: Jazz Age |website=Black Tie Guide |access-date=2 February 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.blacktieguide.com/History/08-Depression_Era.htm |title=History: Depression Era |website=Black Tie Guide |access-date=2 February 2017}}</ref> Since then, black tie is often referred to as being semi-formal.<ref name="Wright USAF Ret. 202">{{cite book |last=Wright USAF (Ret.) |first=Col. Stephen E. |date=15 July 2014 |title=Air Force Officer's Guide: 36th Edition |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KpHyAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA202 |publisher=Stackpole Books |page=202 |isbn=9780811713771}}</ref>

In the decades following the [[World War II]], black tie became special occasion attire rather than standard evening wear. In the 1950s, some experimented with coloured and patterned jackets, cummerbunds and bow ties. The 1960s and 1970s saw the colour palette move from muted to bright day-glow and pastel, as well as ruffled-placket shirts as lapels got wider and piping was revived.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.blacktieguide.com/History/09-Post_War.htm |title=History: Postwar Period |website=Black Tie Guide |access-date=2 February 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.blacktieguide.com/History/10-Jet_Age.htm |title=History: Jet Age |website=Black Tie Guide |access-date=2 February 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.blacktieguide.com/History/11-Counterculture.htm |title=History: Counterculture Era |website=Black Tie Guide |access-date=2 February 2017}}</ref> The 1980s and 1990s saw a return to traditional styles, with black jackets and trousers again becoming nearly universal. Some insist the 21st century has seen increased variation and a relaxation of previous strict standards; midnight blue once again became popular and lapel facings were sometimes reduced to wide edging.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.blacktieguide.com/History/14-Millennium.htm |title=Millennial Era: Black Tie Optional |website=Black Tie Guide |access-date=2 February 2017}}</ref>