not one in 10 milllion men owns a full evening kit and the cost of renting one is outrageous, ...

Certain situations call for laying out great lashings of cash. There are standards that must be maintained!

not one in 10 million men will ever look anything remotely like Fred Astaire. Most look like a penguin, nothing sillier than a dancing penguin.

Nonsense. White-tie-and-tails, properly fitted, give any man a certain panache, a je ne sais what.
White-tie-and-tails enhance a man, his bearing and his manners!
And if that weren't enough, consider that women ohhh and ahhh over penguins, dancing or stationary.

I'm with *you, Jackie!