You’ve just received a wedding invitation with a “black-tie optional” dress code, and you have no idea how to dress. Since ...

Black tie, that essential marker of an increasingly rarefied ceremonial style, is inspiring. Nothing coaxes men into upping the sartorial ante quite like reading those words on an invitation.

Black-tie invites might not arrive very often, but when they do they can present a sartorial challenge. For all its specific rules, this formal dress code is confusing and intimidating in equal ...