4. Read text b Daytime Formal Wear.

As the costume historian James Laver has pointed out, since the eighteenth century, all attempts to introduce color to male formal attire have failed or have been derided. A shiny, colorful, patterned male evening ensemble is unthinkable; such is the continuing power and influence of tradition.

Formal daywear is now found primarily in the world of sports, and especially of horse racing and boat racing. Royal Ascot, Goodwood, and Henley are social institutions where formal clothes are demanded and specific dress code requirements are imposed on all who attend.

Formal wear for Royal Ascot would be full morning dress (dove gray or black); the groom or the bride’s father at a formal daytime wedding would wear the same ensemble.

The coat is sometimes referred to as a cutaway coat (being a frock coat with the corners removed), not to be confused with a tailcoat, which is cut to the waist in the front, and has a pair of tails behind. A gray, or for the more fashion conscious, brightly colored and patterned silk waistcoat, is worn beneath and teamed with a tie, cravat, or some other individualistic neck wear—but never a bow-tie.

The origin of formal wear is open to discussion and challenge, but one name forever associated with formality, uniformity, and simplicity was Beau Brummell—king of the dandies and a one-time favorite of King George IV. He is often referred to as the “father of modern male formal costume” as he eschewed the brightly hued silken finery and powdered wigs generally worn at court for a sober suit of midnight blue-black with minimal jewelry (a signet ring was permissible), no wig, no perfume but plenty of shaving and washing—a well-scrubbed appearance being the natural partner to formal dress.

At weddings and funerals, formal clothes were obligatory and many other social situations demanded this “civilian uniform” as a means of maintaining a required ambiance, from balls and tea dances to memorials and visits to the opera. Just a hundred years ago, dressing for dinner in one’s own home could have meant having to wear full formal dress—even if it was just with family members. A visit to almost any vintage clothing fair or market will reveal several yesteryear formal garments for men—a clue as to how vital they were and perhaps how few the occasions for which they are needed in the early 2000s. Perhaps formal wear represents the last bastion of constancy in clothing with a conspiratorial nod to time, not trend.

5. Some useful words and phrases:

1. formal attire – офіційна одежа

2. to deride – висміювати

3. patterned – візерунковий 4. unthinkable – немислимий

5. dress code – дрес-код 6. morning dress – офіційний парадний костюм для ранкового і денного часу, візитка 7. dove gray – сизо-сірий

8. cutaway coat – пальто з розрізом

9. frock coat – сюртук 10. tailcoat – фрак

11. fashion conscious – відчуваючий моду 12. waistcoat – жилет 13. cravat – краватка, шарф

14. bow-tie – краватка-бабочка 15. uniformity – одноманітність 16. signet ring – каблучка-печатка

17. civilian uniform – громадянська уніформа

18. ambiance – обстановка,