The evening times., 1899-02-04
DRESS DOCTRINE FOR MEN.
What They should Wear Morning
Noon and Night.

ming clothes this winter, the most notice
able being a slight shortening OF the skirts
ol the coat Early in the season there was
an attempt 10 introduce velvet collars. but
.r did not meet with the approval antici-
fared 10y the tailors. and The experiment
MAY be regarded as q failure. The coat
continues. Of course, TO be faced with satin
or gros grain six. and the buttons 10 be
covered with sir lasting.
There is something quite new i'll the
collar of The Tuxedo which. IS everybody
knows. is kind OF glorifed sack coat Tor
Informal evening wear. This coat has
heretofore been made only with rolling
collar. but this winter many men are
wearing Tuxedoes with notched collars
similar TO those on full-dress coats. though
the graceful rolling collar still continues
TO be the favorite. The only pocket in
the coat IS on the inside, opened by
perpendicular slit in the lining.
The waistcoat and tie worn with the
Tuxedo must always be black. the former
of The regulation evening cut. and the
latter narrow strip OF black satin, no
other tie being permissible. The old con-
troversy as to whether a tall hat should
be worn with a Tuxedo has finally been
settled in the affirmative, Tor While the
Tuxedo is certainly q sack coat still II is
not the kind OF sack coat with which the
wearing CT 4 tail hat is prohibited. There
has also been some disagreement as to the
. occasions on which one may properly wear
a Tuxedo. and il may be well 10 answer
3 that question row. a Tuxedo coat may
properly be worn at the theatre, at a din
ner party where there are no ladies pres
ent in the evening at home. and al ones
club.
The fashion of putting a cord or braid
down the outside seam OF the leg of even
4 ing trousers is gradually dying out. though
/ the stripe is still worn by some military
! men and a few actors There has been no
very recent change in either the length or
cut Of the trousers. Those worn with even
ing dress should never have pockets at the
! sides Most men have none al all. except
. a tiny watch poke. but if one insists on
4 having them the openings should be cut
/ diaeonaIlv tust below the waist band.
! The latest evening waistcoaJs nave only
I three buttons instead of four. and they are
preferably double breasted though few
! single breasted ones are seen But il
/ white vest is worn it should always be dou-
A.. bIe- breasted and fastened by plain pearl
buttons The finest evening vests are now
/ lined throughout. back and front, with
white satin. and have four pockets. TWO
in the usual place near the bottom and
]
holes. These pockets are mere slIts and
| have no flaps Last year there was an at
! TEMPT TO introduce flaps on these pockets
but the innovation did not meet with ap-
/ proyal and was finally abandoned.
The favorite materials for evening dress
| are whipcord and vicuna cloth, the latter
| being a very soft material with rough.
woolIv surface Broadcloth for evening
wear is quite out Of date, except for old
| men and clergymen. An effort has been
| made to introduce the custom. which IS
| steadily gaining ground in London OF
wearing evening clothes made OF dark gray
| whipcord. but so far the attempt has not
met with success in this country. lnver-
| ness overcoats Of this gray material are,
however. made to be worn with black even
! ing clothes. though the black inverness Is
! preferred by most men.
| The various accessories which go 10
/ make up the evening attire of well dress
ed man are of great importance. The
shoes should always be of patent leather
and laced. Sharp pointed toes are no
longer worn.
Gloves should be white with barely per-
| ceptibIe white stitching on the back. the
| broad stitching seen on evening gloves a
wear or two ago being entirely out of fash
| ion. Pearl gray gloves are barely per-
missible but are not looked upon with
favor by careful dressers. The handker-
| chief carried should be ot the nneSt llnen,
with a very narrow hemstitched border.
The high straight collar, overlapping in
front or with slightly bent corners, is the
correct thing for full dress. The corners
of the cuffs should be square, not rounded,
| The latter shane being considered in bad
taste.
The tie for full dress should be of lawn,
very narrow and square at the ends those
with pointed ends being out Of date. The
well dressed man never under any circum-
stances wears q ready made up evening
tie. always tying the bow himself. In Sc
| lecting tie one should take care to get
one OF the proper length, as the loops and
ends when tied should be short. 1t is very
important that the tie should be held firm
2 | ly down in front. aud there are several de-
! vices for efGecting this the best Of them
being little thing in gold wire, curved
| so as to slip under the collar button, ant
, having at each end sharp hook which
catches into the tie and holds it securely
4 ! in place.
8 The favorite evening shirt is open par
way down both back and front, the shir
, | opening all the way down the front no
| being generally satisfactory. because il
laundering they are apt to become stretch
, ed on cne side so that the stud-holes viii
not meet properly.
o The studs should be very small ones. o
, tiny pearls or of plain gold. Either tw,
or three studs may be worn, according t
the preference of the wearer. The cuff
must be fastened with links, which shoult
be very small and plain; and no other jew
elry Of any kind, neither watch chain no
| fob, should ever be worn with evening
| dress.