When the Oscars saw a tux-gown hybrid and a beanie hat in 2019, the news was all but confirmed: men's black tie had changed. The sack-like suits and puddling sleeves of the late nineties were gone. Nor, crucially, did everyone look identical. Instead, Hollywood's finest had reset the rules of the red carpet: some went white, some relaxed, some headed far left-field.
This liberation of the stuffiest of dress codes doesn't start and end with Tinseltown, either. It's open to all of us. Whether it's a particularly posh wedding, a banquet with the boss or your industry's own version of the Oscars, there are more ways to explore and experiment and, hopefully, find something that chimes with your own taste.
We've compiled the most stylish ways to enjoy the newfound wriggle room. Maybe leave the knitwear to Mr Jonas, though.
There is, and always will be, a place for the classic tux. Unlike the shapeless blobs of decade past, however, your penguin suit should be sharper, more fitted, but still very much on the James Bond end of the spectrum.
Mix things up with your front. While a shawl collar is an easy win, peak lapels - the bigger, the better - are an eighties power move back in vogue. Feel free to try a three-piece, too.
The midnight blue tux - so dark it's almost black - is an easy but impactful way to start to do things a little differently. A shade of blue is a subtle way to stand out from the all-black crowd.
A bold move, yes, but fortune favours it for a reason: the colourful tux is a standout style move. With Calvin Klein and Tom Ford but two advocates of black tie in candyland, a safer option lies in a vibrant jacket anchored with simple monochrome elsewhere. The future's bright. Or pastel, at the very least.
A cut above blocks of colour, the showman tux does exactly what it says on the tin: bright, usually metallic, and as bold as it gets. Paul Dano did it at the Oscars. Barry Keoghan did it at the MET Gala. And, with multiple ways to break into the trend, you've a green light to follow suit - just expect to pay a little extra.
The white dinner jacket, once the battle armour of club pianists disdainful of the cheap seats at the back, is now fair game. This year's Oscars saw a slew of famous men turn to all white, and it's slowly become a sharp way to mix-up black tie.
All of the same rules still apply: ensure you keep things fitted, and avoid head-to-white. You're not in residency at Ronnie Scott's.
Get comfortable: there are ways to dial down on the rigidity of the classic tux. Opt for the air tie - that enduring move that gets rid of neckwear in its entirety - and you've successfully upgraded formalwear. Or simply sub in a printed shirt, rollneck, Mandarin collar, or something a lot like the below.