I have been to a few black tie events, also to a few white tie ones and what struck me first about everyone there ( but me for reasons I'll explain in a moment) is how seemingly uncomfortable they seemed. I don't mean that their clothes didn't fit or anything of that sort, but that none of them seemed unable to act in a relaxed and natural manner. People were far too worried with either getting their clothes damaged in some fashion, or they were overly concerned with how thier chosen uniform ( if you have everyone at an event wearing tux's and such it might as well be a uniform IMO) was being recieved by the rest of the crowd.

Here is what I wore at the last black tie I attended; from the bottom up.
Black highly polished shoes
Black hose with red flashes
my Lionheart kilt
Dark grey, almost black 3 button waistcoat, it tied in with one of the colours of the kilt
Black Shirt with a black tie with silver accent, to tie in with another colour of the kilt
Black Argyll jacket

My attire certainly broke with traditions, but I'm not one for a lot of traditions especially when it comes to how I dress.

My dress that night allowed for a few things. It allowe me to feel comfortable and relaxed, it opened up a great many conversations which in turn gave the folks I was chatting with the chane to relax aswell, and it also let me show that I am rather individual in my approach to convention. LOL. Not once did anyone tell me that I was improperly dressed, or not dressed to the appropriate level since everyone else was either in a tux or mess dress.

I guess my very long winded point here is that I feel that at one time dressing to that high level was more a way to show your status, and had little to do with relaxing and enjoying the encounter. Today IMO you can dress well, present yourself very well through interpersonal skills, and certainly as a kiltie stand out in any crowd.