White tie question for Molker
 

Molker,

My friend cannot find a traditional shirt to go with a tailcoat-- most of the stores in North America now only sell the tucked shirts to go with tuxedos, so I thought maybe it would be easier to buy a shirt after arriving in Vienna. The only men's wear store I know of near the hotel is Knize; are their shirts very expensive? If so, can you recommend any other stores nearby?

Tails ( or here- Frack ) is not imperative for this Ball if you attend the New Years Ball - needed for the Opera and Philharmonic Balls.. A tuxedo for New Years( here a - smoking )is fine.

Knize is one of the premier shops for formal wear in Vienna.. Nothing is inexpensive there. A shirt - very expensive.
Quite often numerous sizes not available and they like to make to order - of course even more expensive.
An alternative - why not rent one-


www.lambert-hofer.at
have a look or call direct - for certain someone there will speak english.

A shirt here is a hemd

the shirt for tails

a frackhemd.

They are not far from city center.

Again enjoy the visit and the waltz.

Thanks Molker. We're not going to the New Years Ball but the Philharmonikerball and the Pharmacieball later in January. My friend has already rented tails, but the rental shop is providing the wrong shirt.

Will you be at the Philharmonikerball?

You confused me as your other post mentioned the entrance to the Hofburg on the thread about the New Years Ball and of course the Philharmoniker at the Musikverein.
I do not attend this year as a family ski vacation has priority for a change

Sorry, I should have clarified on the other thread that it was for the Pharmacieball. I assumed all the balls at the Hofburg's Festsaal use the same entrance?

The Hofburg Balls normally use the festsaal and the rooms nearby to it.
For most, the main entrance is as described near the corner where the Neue Burg meets the old Hofburg portion of the Palace. I assume you could call it the main entrance as this is usually also used for seminars , antique shows and other singular events. A coat check to the right side as you enter - then to a large staircase that takes you the onre floor above to the Ball rooms.
This makes for a Grand Entrance.
As the New Years Ball has several entrance times , I have seen them use alternate door ways just adjacent to the main door sometimes to allow for this , but all lead to the same rooms eventually.

Brooks Brothers still sells the "Hamilton" shirt, with a pique front and a separate collar. Not all their stores have them in stock, but you can call their Madison Avenue, New York store, ask for their formalwear department (not their phone order department) and order it.

For the few times I wore tails, it was fine; I still wear it with black tie. Many of my older friends (especially those who go to the Russian Nobility Ball) do wear tails and swear by the Hamilton.

Thank you Marc. It does make sense that New York would have something, but although I live here, my friend lives in Canada. Since I'm already trying to pack one big ballgown in carry-on (arriving in Vienna the afternoon of the first ball and don't want to risk losing luggage), it would be hard to bring the shirt from here.