The swallow flies only by night: The evolution, variety, and eventual uniformity of male formal dress, 1790-1850

Over the course of the nineteenth century, male dress evolved into a uniform that has remained relatively unchanged to this day. In this paper, I investigate developments in the category of male attire that is most strictly codified -- formal eveningwear -- during the period of most intense change. From the end of the eighteenth century to the 1830s, standard day dress evolved from tailcoats and knee-breeches to frock coats and trousers; along the way as the tailcoat became more and more old-fashioned, it became established as the only appropriate style to wear for evening occasions. Along with this came the wearing of black and white as standard protocol for eveningwear -- a black tailcoat and trousers, black or white vest, white shirt and white tie, and remains so today, almost two hundred years later.;In this paper I focus on fashions in Britain, examining the evolution of these rules and their underlying implications, seeking answers to the underlying questions: why did these fashion shifts occur, and what about them spoke so accurately to the male sense of self that many of them still remain in place today?;Menswear tends to be overlooked in fashion studies compared with women's fashion, and the period between the heyday of the early Regency dandies and the high Victorian era in particular has not attracted much attention. Any detailed and scholarly look at the history of menswear can greatly benefit the field in general. This study represents an exciting opportunity to add valuable, unique research to the field of fashion studies.