Everything about The Tuxedo totally explained
The
tuxedo is a man's dress
suit of clothes in the
semi-formal,
black tie evening dress convention. A traditional tuxedo jacket is woolen and single-breasted. The jacket has peaked, shawl, notch, or trick lapels (which includes Mandarin and other non-conventional styles), traditionally covered with
satin, and more modern styles are trimmed in
grosgrain or wool. The buttons should be satin-covered. Trousers should be in the same wool as the jacket, with the side seams decorated in an inch-wide satin ribbon matching the lapel. The shirt is white with linked
cuffs. The shirt may be pleated with a turn-down collar and French or barrel cuffs, or have a pique bib front with either a turn-down collar and French cuffs or a wing collar and barrel cuffs. Tradition dictates a black
bow tie complementing the lapels,
cummerbund or low-cut 3-button waistcoat, and
patent leather Oxford shoes appropriately accessorize the tuxedo. More contemporary fashions often feature a full 5 or 6 button vest matching the color of one's partner's dress, with a matching bow tie or
four-in-hand-knotted tie of the same color.
The tuxedo is what is worn when black tie attire is specified. In recent years, the American tuxedo has distanced itself from the English dinner jacket and black tie conventions. Tuxedos are now commonly seen with notch lapels and 2 or 3 buttons. These have become more common as they're easier for manufacturers to produce since they use the same pattern as a business suit and are more accepted in mainstream America. Full-back vests have become more commonplace as well due to the incomplete look of the traditional bib style, open back, 3 button vests when the coat isn't worn. Many recent popular tuxedo styles are merely three piece suits with notched collars, flap pockets, high cut vests, and long ties. Only the fabric of the suit, not the cut or style, differentiates the modern tuxedo from a business suit.
Etymologically,
tuxedo,
tux, and
dinner jacket are the American words for this semi-formal evening dress. The former are the mainstream and colloquial usages, the latter is specific to the Anglophile Northeast U.S. — all three denote and connote the complete suit of clothes.
Dinner jacket and
black tie are the
British English equivalents.
History
The tuxedo's history dates from 1860, when
Henry Poole & Co. (Savile Row's founders), created a short
smoking jacket for the Prince of Wales (
Edward VII of the United Kingdom) to wear to
informal dinner parties. Per sartorial legend, in spring of 1886, because the Prince fancied Cora Potter, he invited her husband, James Potter, a rich New Yorker, to Sandringham house, his Norfolk hunting estate. When Potter asked the Prince's dinner dress recommendation, he sent Potter to Henry Poole & Co., in London. On returning to New York in 1886, Potter's dinner suit proved popular at the
Tuxedo Park Club; the club men copied him, soon making it their informal dining uniform.
Linguistically, the word
tuxedo predates
dinner jacket by two years, according to the
Oxford English Dictionary. It has been
inaccurately used to denote any form of
formal dress or semi-formal dress including
white tie,
morning dress, and
strollers.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Tuxedo'.
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