At the recent White House Correspondents Dinner Tim Gunn was in attendance seated at a table with Sanjaya (of American Idol and ponyhawk infamy), Eddie Izzard and RFK JR. Wouldn't you love to have heard the small talk at that table!
Tim Gunn, of course, made evident his impecable taste and unimpeachable knowledge by wearing a shawl collar. And, why was this the most correct and obvious choice for our dearest Tim, boys and girls? That's right, Tim was attending a formal dinner (NB "dinner" in "White House Correspondents Dinner") and thus chose to wear a formal dinner jacket. How do we know that he wore a dinner jacket? Correct again, it had a shawl collar which is the traditional style on a dinner jacket. You see my dearest ones, this is the sort of occasion that calls for a shawl collar, not a formal wedding, not a chorus performance or any other formal ceremony or performance. You wear a dinner jacket for a dinner and nothing else; it's that easy. Tim not only chose the correct jacket to wear but notice also that he is wearing a turn-down collar and self-tied bow tie. Her Ladyship hardly thinks it nescessary to point out the folly of the pre-tied bow tie; anything that straps on is not appropriate in public. The turn-down collar for the shirt is appropriate because Tim is not wearing white tie and tails, a wing collar is worn with the more formal white tie, wearing it with a dinner jacket would be ostentatious at best.
Consider then this baffon, the lap dog of Satan, who reveals his lack of taste by wearing a wing collar and a little boy's pre-tied bow tie (apparentwy him can't tie his own shoes wike a big boy either) with a dinner jacket. Surely this is not the example one would choose to follow, after all, this is what he seems to consider acceptable public behavior:
Now then, what about our dear Sanjaya? Is this attire correct?
Well, hang onto your hats kiddies, it's not
incorrect. It may not be elegant or the epitome of style but Sanjaya is quite young and thus can be forgiven his choice of a common bussiness suit for a formal dinner. Given that he is neither hosting nor a guest of honor this choice is acceptable if disappointing to some such as her Ladyship. The suit is well tailored and fits him well. The choice of tie is very good and overall he is quite presentable. In this instance youth affords Sanjaya more lattitude than would be granted a more distinguished and
mature gentleman....like this one who is wearing a notched lapel, which as far as her Ladyship is concerned is a bussiness suit with inappropriately shiny lapels. Yes, yes, yes, everyone does it, Brooks Brothers sells it but that doesn't make it correct. If everyone else was jumping off a cliff... One supposes that this pampered Yale grad (barely) wishes to pass himself off as one of the common folk and thus chose this common looking tuxedo. This time , W you can truefully say, "Mission accomplished."
Warmest Regards,
Lady Prisspott
PS Sanjaya, her Ladyship has been calling and calling, she wants her signature hairstyle back!!!
Ladyship privately (again) it is indeed imposible to distinguish a pre-tied bow from a self-tied bow from the audience in a concert hall.
If you feel this marks you as a fopish dandy and that your manhood cannot tolerate this then do what you must for your deamons are not her Ladyship's deamons (and Lord knows we all have our own don't we) and she cannot therfore help you exorcise them...other than to refer one to Lord Whimsey who expounds on the perils of sportswear in his excelent tome, "The Affected Privincial's Companion"
