uck waistcoat made to order. It may
fit you perfectly, but yet again it may not look a whit better than the
ready-made which you can purchase at a haberdasher's for from three to
five dollars.

A Tuxedo or dinner coat, as explained in another chapter, is almost a
necessity. It is really a saving. If you can not afford to have an
entire suit of this kind made you may simply have the jacket, which will
cost from twenty-five to forty dollars, and wear it with the trousers
and waistcoat, and keep it to be part of your informal evening dress.

I have known men to have their black sack coats or old black diagonal
cutaways or old evening coat changed into a Tuxedo by the cutting off of
tails, the substitution of a silk collar, or some other alteration. A
sack coat is easily arranged, and any little tailor around the corner
will make the metamorphosis for three dollars. Suppose you have had one
of your old coats transformed into a Tuxedo. You can purchase, if you do
not wish to have made, a pair of black trousers of the same material for
a very few dollars, and an old black waistcoat, which went with the
original coat, can also be altered. Remember that a Tuxedo dinner coat
has not to be of a certain material. It must be black and have a silk
collar. It is really _neglige_.

You should start with a capital of at least six evening shirts. If you
are a wealthy man these will cost possibly, made to order, as high as
fifty-six dollars, but you can also have excellent ones for nine
dollars. It is considered smart to have the collars attached, but not
necessary. The cuffs, however, should be always a part of the shirt.

White ties are twenty-five to thirty-five cents a piece. Always state
the number of collar you wear when purchasing evening ties, and you
will never have cause to complain of the length.

Black patent-leather pumps, made to order, are from eight to nine
dollars. You can get them much cheaper ready made, but the only trouble
with them is that they are not usually good fits, and that in future
years you will have cause to regret this economy. Of black silk
stockings, of which you will need two or three pair, you can have a
choice from a dollar and a half to six dollars a pair.

I would advise the purchase of two business or lounge suits a year for
the first three years. In making this estimate I can hardly suppose that
you are in the state of Adam, and I would advise you to wear your old
suit in winter especially,