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Formal wear...

I heard formal wear is frequently worn at Oxford and I can buy those clothes cheaply here in the US. Is it actually necessary to have formal wear available or is it just another stereotype.

Reply 1

bochis

If you plan on attending any of the college balls you should probably consider getting one. At least, that's what I know from friends that are currently there.

Reply 2

Cirsium

19

At some point (or several) you will probably need to wear one, and in many cases it's cheaper to buy than rent. Essentially, you could avoid tux-wearing if you particularly wanted to but as a general rule
* college dinner-dance
* college balls
* union balls
* subject dinners
* society / sports dinners (e.g. for winning Cuppers)
* schools dinner
Are all black tie. Now you might be the sort of person who would never set foot in a ball, or who doesn't mind skipping subject dinner (although that's free at my college so I wouldn't!) But chances are within 3 years you WILL want to and you'll either miss out or need to rent. So personally I would - within your life you are going to need a tux at some point so it's not like if you are anti-social for 3 years it'll be a complete waste!!

Reply 3

tillhm

OP

Ok, I'm going to get one. I simply wasn't sure whether you needed one. Here in Germany no-one would ever wear a tux at university.

Reply 4

Cirsium

19

Well they generally wouldn't much at other UK universities - it's just that being divided into colleges there are more small social events throughout the year and it's feasible for college to pay to give us free formal meals :biggrin:

Reply 5

history_geek

Linking vaguely to the OP's topic, academic dress for undergraduates is worn only at matriculation, exams and (I assume) graduation, right? Is it worth buying or renting it in that case? How much do they cost exactly?

Reply 6

ninaabbey

you'd only need one for special occasions, and even then you wouldn't need a tux, only something like a shirt, tie and smart pants. here we don't wear a tux at uni either, through the day you can wear what you like.

Reply 7

Cirsium

19

history_geek

Linking vaguely to the OP's topic, academic dress for undergraduates is worn only at matriculation, exams and (I assume) graduation, right? Is it worth buying or renting it in that case? How much do they cost exactly?

Yes it's only worn then - but your gown, which is the main cost really, is also worn at many colleges for formal hall, and for chapel. You also have to wear full subfusc if you want to go to the finalists' recitals in Trinity (because it's technically an exam). All the shops selling formalwear do a deal for about £30 for your gown, bow tie / ribbon and mortar board - it's very little to pay unless you're on a super-tight budget so I don't know anybody that's rented rather than bought.
In terms of suit / tie you can wear whatever you like as long as it's dark so it's no major expenditure really.

Reply 8

Sinuhe

8

tillhm

I told my host-parents in the US that I had been accepted by Oxford and they really want to get me a tux now. Is it actually necessary to have formal wear available or is it just another stereotype.

As others have said, you probably are going to need to wear black tie at some point in your Oxford career, although it's up to you if you want to own it or hire it when needed.

You should bear in mind that what is called a tuxedo in the US is *not* exactly the same thing as black tie in the UK. OK, so the differences are minor - it's mainly just designed in a slightly different way, especially the lapels -, but the most important difference is that in Europe black tie means your trousers need one satin/silk stripe, and white tie two, whereas in the US it's zero and one, respectively.
If you're getting it in Germany, it should be all right though; black tie = der Smoking. (Which is a bit confusing perhaps, because a smoking jacket is something quite different in the UK.)

No one is going to mind even if you wear a US dinner jacket I'm sure, but I just thought I'd point out the difference.

Reply 9

GraveMentor

A dinner suit is a really good investment. If you think you are going to need to wear one 2-3 times, you will end up financially better off owning a dinner suit as opposed to hiring one.

Depending on how often you wear it, you will also get use out of your tux long after your undergraduate days. Indeed, I am going back to uni in a little over a week and will be taking the same dinner suit I purchased as an undergraduate. Mind you - I'll need to hit the gym pretty hard if I'm going to fit into it as comfortably as I did when I bought it :smile:

Reply 10

thomasjtl

9

you'd only need one for special occasions, and even then you wouldn't need a tux, only something like a shirt, tie and smart pants. here we don't wear a tux at uni either, through the day you can wear what you like.

If it says black tie, you're probably gonna be expected to wear black tie.

I'd recommend getting one, especially if someone's offering to buy one for you. I got mine second hand for about £40- there's no need to go to any great expense over it.

Reply 11

Hoofbeat

14

Bekaboo

Yes it's only worn then - but your gown, which is the main cost really, is also worn at many colleges for formal hall, and for chapel. You also have to wear full subfusc if you want to go to the finalists' recitals in Trinity (because it's technically an exam). All the shops selling formalwear do a deal for about £30 for your gown, bow tie / ribbon and mortar board - it's very little to pay unless you're on a super-tight budget so I don't know anybody that's rented rather than bought.
In terms of suit / tie you can wear whatever you like as long as it's dark so it's no major expenditure really.

Also gowns can be worn for other things at some colleges such as collections at the start of term (Univ have to wear them, but I know at Lincoln we don't) and rector's/principal collections were you get your termly(or yearly depending on your college) report read out to you, usually at the end of term. Although at some colleges they only have formal hall a few times a week, some places like Lincoln have it every night and as our formal hall is the same price as first hall sometimes it's just convenient to go to the later dinner so a gown is definitely required and it would be such a hassle to constantly borrow one from someone...as Boo says, a lot of shops do special deals at the beginning of the academic year.

Reply 12

Derek_the_Sheep

8

thomasjtl

I got mine second hand for about £40- there's no need to go to any great expense over it.

So did I. Generally, whatever it is, if you don't think you'll need it in the first week or so in Oxford, don't buy it in advance and especially don't buy it new. (Unless you're pretty wealthy in which case, do what the hell you like...). You will easily find out what you really need once you're here, and there are lots of places to pick stuff up cheap / secondhand.

DtS

Reply 13

thomasjtl

9

^^^ while i would normally agree with this, for dinner jackets if you see one going cheap in your size i'd get it there and then.

Reply 14

tillhm

OP

Do any of you have a picture of typical formal wear? I suppose buying clothes here is much cheaper than in the UK (because of the weak Dollar). Is "sub fusc" what you would typically wear?

Reply 15

SolInvictus

11

tillhm

I told my host-parents in the US that I had been accepted by Oxford and they really want to get me a tux now. Is it actually necessary to have formal wear available or is it just another stereotype.

I am not sure, but I gather that in my parents days a fair bit of Oxford life occured in formal dress.

To be honest, I find that it is a sound investment to buy a black tie dinner jacket suit by this time, as the number of occasions can be a bit high, and rental fees can easily be 15% or more of the price of a tux. Its cheaper in the end to buy one.

Of course, that assumes that you will attend a fair number of balls, which I did at my first uni stint.

Reply 16

SolInvictus

11

tillhm

Do any of you have a picture of typical formal wear? I suppose buying clothes here is much cheaper than in the UK (because of the weak Dollar). Is "sub fusc" what you would typically wear?

Subfusc is different to a dinner jacket. You should be able to go to any major department store and ask for a black-tie outfit.

Reply 17

j_w

Just to clear something up (it seems there might be a little confusion from the OP? apologies if theres not!)

Everyday wear is just normal clothes, same as every other uni in the UK. Examinations, some formal college events, etc. may require 'sub fusc' (black suit, white shirt & bow tie, gown). Black tie events such as balls, formal dinners, evidently require black tie... there are a lot of these in oxford and generally they are worth going to, so yes it's probably worth buying.

Reply 18

Athena

6

SolInvictus

Subfusc is different to a dinner jacket. You should be able to go to any major department store and ask for a black-tie outfit.

Not necessarily. Sub fusc is, strictly speaking, a dark suit (I've seen brown, navy and charcoal) which may actually be a dinner jacket, with a white bow tie and gown.

Reply 19

Athena

6

Actually, if I can find a picture I can crop the faces off, I'll post some of my friends in their matric stuff (male and female) so you can see what it looks like.

Formal wear...

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