--- title: "Black Tie Season: The Velvet Dinner Jacket, the Rate Rise and Your Party Plan" description: What black tie means, M.J. Bale's £649 velvet dinner jacket, your party season budget after the rate rise to 4% and how to stay well until New Year. author: Dr Marina Nani (Editor-in-Chief) date: 2026-11-06T17:28:05.785Z updated: 2026-11-06T17:33:38.988Z canonical: https://www.richmanmagazine.com/article/black-tie-season-velvet-dinner-jacket-party-plan image: https://cdn.nanimediahouse.com/mj-bale-ruby-velvet-jacket.webp categories: Lifestyle content_type: Feature region: United Kingdom publication: Rich Man Magazine schema_type: Article about: - type: Organization name: M.J. Bale description: M.J. Bale is an Australian menswear brand founded in Sydney in 2009 by Matt Jensen. It makes tailoring, tuxedos, knitwear, outerwear and casualwear from natural fibres, including single-source Merino wool, and opens its first UK store on Jermyn Street, St James's, London, in November 2026. url: https://www.mjbale.com/ foundingDate: 2009-01-01T00:00:00.000Z industry: Menswear --- The invitations have started to arrive. Between now and New Year's Eve, you may need black tie three or four times: a charity dinner, the company Christmas party, a friend's winter wedding, the last night of the year. The same eight weeks bring the year-end deadlines, the Christmas bills and, this year, the first interest rate rise in more than three years. Black tie season rewards the man who plans for it. Here is how to dress for it, pay for it and come through it rested. ## What Black Tie Means Black tie means a dinner jacket, which Americans call a tuxedo, with matching trousers, a white dress shirt, a black bow tie and black shoes. The jacket is black or midnight blue, with lapels faced in satin or grosgrain, and the trousers carry a matching stripe down the outside leg. You wear no belt: side adjusters or braces hold the trousers up. The words on the invitation tell you how far you can go: - **Black tie:** the full dinner suit, nothing less. - **Black tie optional:** a dinner suit is welcome, and a dark suit with a tie is acceptable. - **Creative or festive black tie:** the classic outline with one personal touch, such as a velvet jacket, a coloured bow tie or embroidered slippers. - **Lounge suit or cocktail:** a dark suit and tie, with no dinner jacket required. When in doubt, dress up. A man in black tie at a lounge suit party looks like the guest of honour. A man in a lounge suit at a black tie dinner looks as if he did not read the invitation. ## The Velvet Dinner Jacket A velvet dinner jacket is the one piece that covers every invitation on that list. It is correct at a formal dinner and relaxed enough for a party at home, and it works at all of them with the same black trousers, dress shirt and bow tie. The jacket on our November cover is the limited edition Ruby Velvet Jacket from M.J. Bale, in black, at £649. It is single-breasted with one button, peak lapels faced in satin and flapped hip pockets. Our cover star wears it with a pleated dress shirt, a black bow tie and a white pocket square edged in pink. Matt Jensen founded M.J. Bale in Sydney in 2009. He grew up on a sheep farm in New South Wales and worked as a banker in London before he started the brand. M.J. Bale is the official tailor to the Wallabies and the Australian Test cricket side, and its first UK store is due to open this November on the corner of Jermyn Street and Duke Street in St James's, London. 'This street has upheld the highest standards in menswear for over three centuries,' Jensen has said of Jermyn Street. You can already buy M.J. Bale online in the UK. Velvet needs care. Hang the jacket on a broad wooden hanger, brush it in the direction of the pile after each wear and never iron it: steam it instead. For daytime, our guide to [Harris Tweed, Prince of Wales check and Balmoral tartan](https://www.richmanmagazine.com/article/harris-tweed-prince-of-wales-check-balmoral-tartan-british-cloths) takes you through the rest of winter, and our [five raincoats worth owning this November](https://www.richmanmagazine.com/article/mens-raincoats-november) keep your tailoring dry on the way. ## Your Party Season Budget After the Rate Rise On Thursday 5th November the Bank of England raised Bank Rate from 3.75% to 4%, its first rise since August 2023. If you have a tracker mortgage or carry a balance on a credit card, your costs rise with it, and markets put [another rise on 17th December at even odds](https://www.richmanmagazine.com/article/uk-interest-rate-predictions-bank-of-england-december). Set your budget before the first invitation, not after the last. Add up the costs you can already see: tickets for charity dinners, travel, a dinner suit if you need one and the presents you have promised. Then decide what is left for everything else. One well-made jacket that you wear to five events costs less per evening than five outfits you wear once. There is good news if your party season takes you abroad. On the same Thursday, [the pound reached its strongest level since the Brexit vote](https://www.richmanmagazine.com/article/pound-to-euro-sterling-strongest-since-brexit-vote), and £1 now buys just under €1.20. If you plan [a luxury escape before Christmas](https://www.richmanmagazine.com/article/luxury-destinations-before-christmas-2026) or an evening at [one of Europe's underrated Christmas markets](https://www.richmanmagazine.com/article/underrated-christmas-markets-europe-2026), pay for the large items in euros while the rate is in your favour. ## Your Party Plan The busiest fortnight of the year arrives sooner than you expect. A plan made in November keeps December under control. - **Choose your evenings:** accept the invitations that matter to you, your family and your work, and decline the rest within a week, with thanks. - **Book your journey home:** arrange a taxi or a lift before the evening starts, and never drive after drinking. - **Eat before you drink:** a proper meal slows the alcohol down. The NHS advises no more than 14 units a week, spread over three or more days. - **Alternate your drinks:** have a glass of water between drinks, and leave at a time you set before you arrive. - **Protect your mornings:** keep the same wake time, even after a late night, and get outside in the daylight. When the diary fills, [the NHS's own advice on stress](https://www.richmanmagazine.com/article/how-to-stress-less-year-end) helps you reach the end of the year rested, and our guide to [lowering your cholesterol this winter](https://www.richmanmagazine.com/article/lower-cholesterol-winter) helps you balance the rich dinners with what you eat at home. ## Black Tie Etiquette Good manners make a good guest. - Reply to the invitation within a week. - Arrive within fifteen minutes of the time on the card, and never early. - Introduce the people you know to each other, and talk to the guests on both sides of you at dinner. - Keep your phone in your pocket. - Send your host a note of thanks the next day. [Plan the season now](https://www.richmanmagazine.com/article/editor-s-letter-black-tie-season-starts-early-this-year), and every invitation becomes a pleasure rather than a pressure. **About M.J. Bale** M.J. Bale is an Australian menswear brand founded in Sydney in 2009 by Matt Jensen. It makes tailoring, tuxedos, knitwear, outerwear and casualwear from natural fibres, including single-source Merino wool, and opens its first UK store on Jermyn Street, St James's, London, in November 2026. [Website](https://www.mjbale.com/)