The trousers are identical with full dress ones except that braid, if used at all, should be narrow.  “Cuffed” trousers are not good form, nor should a dinner coat be double-breasted.

Fancy ties are bad form.  Choose a plain black silk or satin one.  Wear a white waistcoat if you can afford the strain on your laundry bill, otherwise a plain black one.  By no means wear a gray one nor a gray tie.

The smartest hat for town wear is an opera, but a straw or felt which is proper in the country, is not out of place in town.  Otherwise, in the street the accessories are the same as those already given under the previous heading.

=THE HOUSE SUIT=

The house suit is an extravagance that may be avoided, and an “old” Tuxedo suit worn instead.

A gentleman is always supposed to change his clothes for dinner, whether he is going out or dining at home alone or with his family, and for this latter occasion some inspired person evolved the house, or lounge, suit, which is simply a dinner coat and trousers cut somewhat looser than ordinary evening ones, made of an all-silk or silk and wool fabric in some dark color, and lined with either satin or silk.  Nothing more comfortable—­or luxurious—­could be devised for sitting in a deep easy-chair after dinner, in a reclining position that is ruinous to best evening clothes.

Its purpose is really to save wear on evening clothes, and to avoid some of their discomfort also, because they can not be given hard or careless usage and long survive.  A house suit is distinctly what the name implies, and is not an appropriate garment to wear out for dinner or to receive any but intimate guests in at home.  The accessories are a pleated shirt, with turndown stiff collar, and black bow tie, or even an unstarched shirt with collar attached (white of course).  The coat is made with two buttons instead of one, because no waistcoat is worn with it.

=FORMAL AFTERNOON DRESS=

Formal afternoon dress consists of a black cutaway coat with white pique or black cloth waistcoat, and gray-and-black striped trousers.  The coat may be bound with braid, or, even in better taste, plain.  A satin-faced lapel is not conservative on a cutaway, but it is the correct facing for the more formal (and elderly) frock coat.  Either a cutaway or a frock coat is always accompanied by a silk hat, and best worn with plain black waistcoat and a black bow tie or a black and white four-in-hand tie.  A gray silk ascot worn with the frock coat is supposed to be the correct wedding garment of the bride’s father. (For details of clothes worn by groom and ushers at a wedding, see chapter on weddings.)

Shoes may be patent leather, although black calfskin are at present the fashion, either with or without spats.  If with spats, be sure that they fit close; nothing is worse than a wrinkled spat or one that sticks out over the instep like the opened bill of a duck!