Is this ignorance or just 2025?

We had a couple of black tie events every year at uni (nearly 20 years ago) and tbh I think at least half the boys just wore suits.
Is a tuxedo and a dinner jacket the same thing, I remember my housemate had a tuxedo. DH I'm pretty sure wore his old sixth form suits.

I was an undergrad at Cambridge of all places and went to exactly two black tie events. Never had any growing up. They just aren't particularly common outside of a very particular social circle. I'd associate them more with grey-haired men at a fancy club than anything teenagers might be involved in.

I’ve been invited to one (a ball!) through a club one of the kids is part of. I’ve declined because I don’t have a clue what one is really, or what to wear or how to behave.

I am university educated (two post grads etc.) but from a working class background.

This!

I’m 40 and haven’t been to a black tie event and didn’t know that DJ = dinner jacket. I haven’t just crawled out from under a rock. Plenty of people won’t know this and that’s fine.

Is it ignorance?
Is it 2025?
Is it the parents?

Mix of all maybe?

Who he anyway?

I’m in my 30s, went to a RG uni, from Home Counties but never been to a black tie event. I don’t think it’s that common!! I definitely wouldn’t be surprised at a 22 year old not knowing. I also think a lot of people don’t follow proper black tie outfit rules to black tie events these days.

A DJ is someone who mixes music. A dinner jacket is a dinner jacket. Never heard of DJ as an acronym for a jacket and I'm old.
So no, not just the young. Must have been used very local to you OP. Maybe something just you and your friends made up?

I am 63 and don't really know what "black tie" actually involves, but I am aware of the phrase, mainly through novels and TV dramas.

What I do know is that if DH or I were invited to a black tie event, neither of us have anything remotely suitable in our wardrobes - other than the black tie DH has worn to a few funerals.

Exactly. This is such a weird thing to post about your own son. The op hasn't ever exposed him to this and is then surprised he didn't know about it.

OK I was completely baffled why your son didn't know what a DJ (disk jockey) was!
Now you have said you mean dinner jacket I can only assume its an outdated term for a tux.
I've been to a few black tie events and have never once heard the term DJ referring to a black tie suit. It seems like there's a big generational gap between you.

Have you ever taken him to a black tie event? Has he been seen you go to one? If not, then that explains it, surely?

My DS25 didn’t know when I asked him. I think it’s the norm to be honest. He went to Uni but it was during Covid so no fancy do’s for any of them.

Im in my late 30s never been to a black tie event when you said DJ I assumed you meant the person playing music and if I was invited to a black tie event id be doing some googling to find out what is and isnt appropriate

Surely dress and etiquette is something you cover in the family home.
We discussed suits etc. each grad season, so the boys would see the various style options.

I don't think it's that surprising that a young man of 22 hasn't been to a black tie event yet.

Something a bit mean-spirited about this. OP starts a thread asking if "he" is a bit odd. Who's "he" - the cat's mother? I gather it's your son?

I'm 46 and if you asked me if I had a 'DJ' for an event, I'd be wondering why you thought it was my responsibility to supply the entertainment. . I also went to a 'good' uni, not Exeter or Durham either, nearly 30 years and still struggle to unravel the mysteries of terms like 'smart casual'.

I'm 58 and have never been to a black tie event in my life.
It wasn't a thing where I grew up and there weren't balls, formals or anything similar by a different name at my uni.

It doesn't seem at all odd to me that a 22 year old wouldn't know about dinner jackets.

🤣

Did you think that at the age of 22 he had bought himself a dinner jacket? Really? Surely you would know if he had one. Surely you would know, too, if he had been to events like that.

How did you find out?

Different people have different experiences. I remember the priest tying one of the groomsmen's ties at my wedding in the 80s. He had never worn one before that needed to be knotted. He was in early 20s.

My kids know because their school leavers ball aged 18 was black tie. We live in London if that makes a difference. I can’t believe you have posted this; I would not waste a single brain cell worrying about it!

I'm in my 60s and I've never been to a black tie event. And I've been to university twice. A DJ is the person spinning the records 😎🎶🤘

I’m 50 and not posh. The only black tie event I have been to was at university. No work event was ever black tie. None before I went to university. I think a typical 22 year old doesn’t know what a dinner jacket is.

It is certainly gone more casual over the years. Our Christmas do at work now is a hoodie and jeans event.

This is MN so more likely Dear/Darling Jacket