Hate the trend popularized by Barack Obama of a suit, white shirt, no tie.
No apologist for President Obama, but I'm not sure he set any pace as much as reflected the wave already. I remember an Oscars award show where some big dog appeared with no tie, and perhaps even a fancy tee shirt under a jacket, maybe a solid and upscale fabric, but still a real dress down for such an honor. When millions of viewers see that, they perceive that it really all doesn't matter any more.
This isn't the one, but similar, and featured in GQ no less:
The decline of formal dress has been observable for far longer than the Obama presidency. And, I personally believe it is part of a continuum of selfish behaviors that embody the rejection of society, of outside expectations, of communal standards. Men don't like the work it takes to go full formal, and young men especially resent the dry cleaning invariably required.
You commented on infrequent wedding or funeral attendance. Having gone to many, I can tell you they look like a geometry graph, and the slope is headed down. Not only do guests not observe the forms of etiquette any longer, the family doesn't either.
And both rituals are largely religious based, so it isn't any wonder that dress is declining as "mainline" churches of the past continue dying out and are replaced with non-denominational pseudo-charismatic megachurches, where formal attire is eschewed and the clergy are working hard to lower the bar so that everyone not only feels welcome, but feels comfortable not going to any bother to attend.
On top of all that, with the rampant obesity problem in America, neckties are untenable, as men rarely keep up with shirts that still fit at the collar, and when they do, they still look like their clothes are choking them.
All that to say, I fear we are on a long arc of seeing formal dress disappear from the masses. And when this generation dies out, I suspect formality to attend concerts and operas will entirely perish.
