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A man never looks better than when he’s wearing Black Tie.

The most elegant of dress codes, it invites the wearer to embrace a bygone era of elegance and sophistication, clad in a barathea dinner jacket with grosgrain facings and covered buttons, a fine voile evening shirt and, more often than not, silk bow tie to match.

But despite the moniker, it’s a common misconception that Black Tie must by default be black.

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In fact, it’s often better if it’s not.

When it comes to evening dress, the world’s best known Black Tie aficionado, Ian Fleming’s , often chooses to wear anything but black, both in the books and the films. In ’s Dr No, the first scene in which we see a celluloid Bond, Sean Connery wears a midnight blue shawl collar dinner jacket – setting a trend for many non-black Black Tie appearances for Mr Bond.

Twenty years earlier still, in , another dark-haired, mysterious figure can be seen