Ah, a ball by the light of the August moon, with one’s loved one by one’s side! What man wouldn’t dream of the night, and rise to the occasion?

Sartorially, of course, this is the easiest event of all, for there is but one choice: black tie.

But gentlemen beware: Wear proper black tie, or send your regrets.

The origins of black tie go back to Victorian dinner attire, itself derived from Georgian sartorial conventions. A gentleman would dress up after dark, and the dress circle of the molto pittoresco Manoel harks back to the days when you would only be let into the first floor and best seats if you were properly attired. Black tie shows respect for your host, and an elegant nod to the ladies, for they are allowed to be creative with colours and textures, while the black and white gentlemen’s attire transmits decorum.

Indeed it is the decorum that maketh the outfit. Cocteau reminds us that it is the man who is remarkable and remarked upon, not the outfit.

Our Prime Minister has gone for standard black tie outfit, with a half-inch pleat shirt with semi-spread collar. I’d have gone for a wing collar.

The shirt is worn with a black cummerbund, and the jacket’s peaked lapels seem to be lined in a rather lovely satin weave silk. The jacket has twin vents and slant hip pockets.

And here we run into a snag. The only appropriate pocket for a black tie outfit is the double-besomed jetted version. Anything else is too bulky. I was tempted to suspect that the suit has been bought off the shelf. But then Muscat is a millionaire, so he will probably have had it made to measure, or even bespoken for. If we accept that as a working hypothesis, Watson, then this case rises from the commonplace to the truly unique. For who would ask for flap pockets on a bespoke suit? Flap pockets are used by suit manufacturers as a way of saving money by cutting the jacked off a standard pattern.

Then I whipped out my lens and looked closely at the jacket buttons. In the now famous photograph of the happy couple dancing the night away, a single button is visible. But it is positioned so far down, below the level of the pocket even, to allow me to conclude that this is in fact a two-button jacket.

Again, all the signs of a black tie outfit cut off a standard suit pattern. A single-breasted peaked lapel jacket should only have one button.

Then the bow. It looks to me like it could be – give me strength – pre-tied. However, I cannot theorise without more precise data, so I shall postpone the final verdict until some more photos come along.

As for the rest, the jacket seems to have been permanently unbuttoned. Given that the PM was either sitting or dancing, that’s fine.

We are also denied a view of the shoes. There was dancing aplenty here, so I hope to God our PM wore patent leather court shoes. Oxfords are for the office. Or the conference hall at LSE.

Iris must be a new self help group: Photogeezers Anonymous.

[Daphne – PLEASE.]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=91lPn2FxO1k

Doubt the menu had a strawberry entree’, Ciccio.

Ikel bnin Malti obviously. Naqa’ salad.