Julie Rath: Get this Party Started — What to Wear for Black Tie Optional and Creative Black Tie

There are few things more devastatingly dashing than a man in a  beautifully-fitted tuxedo. If you’ve received an invitation for an event calling  for “Black Tie Optional” attire, your best option is – you guessed it – Black  Tie. Why not take the opportunity to bring out the big guns? I promise, womens’ heads will turn, and the other guys not in tuxes will wish they had  opted otherwise. Check out this shot above from a recent photo shoot for my new  website (coming soon!). Pretty good, right?

Relatedly, designers have been showing formalwear looks deconstructed with  individual items worn as separates (as seen in my Fall style report). This gives you even more reason to  invest in a tux as well as some fun and interesting formalwear elements, which  will come in handy when you’re faced with a Creative or Festive Black Tie dress  code. Below are my top 5 picks for pieces that will help you mix up your evening  gear.

1) Acne Velvet Double-Breasted Tuxedo  Jacket — Acne made a splash with their fall lineup of swanky eveningwear  separates. This jacket speaks for itself, so keep the rest of the look simple  and classic.

2) Acne Jacquard Print Pants – These print pants are next-level style at its best. The trim cut calls for a  similarly tailored jacket.

3) Michael  Bastian Dinner Jacket – For evening wear with a festive twist, I am very  much into this tartan shawl collar dinner jacket. The beauty of this piece is  that you can wear it formally as shown above with ivory dress pants, but you can  also dress it down with a bowtie, denim dress shirt, boots and cords, as seen in  this excellent WSJ  article on the topic.

4) Alexander  McQueen Black and Gold Stripe-Skull Bowtie – Bring out your inner rebel with  this McQueen bowtie. Let it pop against a crisp white shirt, or give it a  moodier edge by pairing it with a black or dark grey shirt.

5) Boss  Black Contrast-Collar Shirt – Sport this mini-houndstooth shirt with a  straight black tie and a shawl collar dinner jacket (bonus points for a lapel  with contrasting color).

Even if you don’t have a formal event on the horizon, consider planning ahead  with some swanky evening style that will make things easy when that time comes,  which it inevitably will. For my full discussion on how to choose a tuxedo,  click here.

How do you like to amp up your evening wear?