What is a Tuxedo

What is a Tuxedo

A tuxedo is an elegant western ceremonial suit for gentlemen.
It has a long history, with enough literature to understand it as much as one wants. This small essay attempts to capture all that you need to know very quickly.
The hallmark of a tuxedo suit is the play of satin (or sherry) fabric along with the usual wool or blended (nowadays) suit cloth. Can there be a tuxedo without satin? Well, there can be, just like there can be jazz music without bass, but for the starters, let us assume that a tuxedo and satin go hand in hand and not without each other

There are three elements to a complete Tuxedo Suit; Dinner Jacket, Tuxedo Pants, and Tuxedo Shirt. One can add even a tuxedo waistcoat. But in this blog, we are focusing only on the basics. If you like to know more about Tuxedo waistcoats, please feel free to write to us. 
All three pieces, namely the jacket, pants, and the shirt, have some very distinctive elements that group them as part of the Tuxedo Ensemble and separate them from the other clothing pieces for men.

Tuxedo Jacket

A tuxedo jacket is adorned by a beautiful satin collar and lapel. The lapel cut can be of any style, a notch, peak, or shawl. Notch and peak lapel can have a boutonniere hole, not the shawl one, though we have customers asking for a shawl lapel and a boutonniere hole in that. 
A classic tuxedo jacket is always black, but sometime in its history, off-white color made its way. Many people assume this off-white color to be a pure white one. Pure wool does not render itself in pure white color. Polyester (or the blends) offers pure white color for the tuxedo, though it is not the correct fabric, nor is the color right for a sophisticated tuxedo suit. 
Some time in history, wine color too became popular, and now different hues of blue have also become acceptable. 
So in today’s times, the accepted colors for a classic tuxedo jacket are Black, Blue, Wine, and Off White. However, the lapel is always black or white (only for off-white jackets). There are cases wherein people use the lapel color matching with the body fabric color. Well, no one can stop them from doing so, but from the point of styling, the advice is to stick to White for off white jacket and black for all the other three colors.
Nowadays, some fancy patterns like jacquard, etc., have also become quite popular for the body fabric. They look nice since they add a certain vibrance and creativity to the, otherwise, very strict color palette and design.
All the tuxedo jacket buttons are covered with the same satin fabric as the lapel.
We make all kinds of tuxedo jackets in flowing wool and wool blend fabrics. Know more about ordering here..

---

Tuxedo Shirt

A tuxedo shirt is always white and is generally identified by its front panel, buttons, and collar style.
There are essentially two distinct front panel styles:
Pique Bib Panel: An additional fabric paneling covers the chest area around the shirt placket on the front like a sewn bib. It ends just below the fifth button from the top and can be U-shaped or square shaped.
This design generally looks best in french placket style. 
Pleated Panel: This is a more elaborate and decorative style in a tuxedo shirt and stands out due to the pleated pattern it forms on the front. The shirt pleats start from where the neck and shoulder seams meet and cover the front chest. They can go down till the hem or end like a bib depending upon the style preference one may have. 
Boxed Placket looks better in this style of a tuxedo shirt.

Traditionally a classic tuxedo shirt has a separate removable button strip that covers the first four buttons (after the top button) of the tuxedo shirt. These buttons are small, round, and made of black resin. The remaining buttons are standard white or MOP buttons. However, nowadays, many tuxedo shirts are made with fixed buttons. These buttons can be of raisins or otherwise.
 Collars: Tuxedos shirts are paired with a black necktie or a bow tie. For the neckties, a classic cutaway collar works best. One can try the presidential or the hidden button-down collars, but it will depend on the quality of collar making. 
One can opt for either a standard collar or the wingtips for the bowties. That being said, a crisp white classic formal shirt also goes well with a tuxedo jacket since it is the jacket that takes all the attention. So don’t sweat too much. Just ensure that the cuff of your shirt is a square cut French cuff, and you wear nice cufflinks with it.

---

Tuxedo Pants

​Tuxedo pants are generally black irrespective of the color of the jacket. However, Blue Tuxedo Suits have emerged as an exception & can take blue tuxedo pants. The most important element of tuxedo pants is the satin tape or piping running from the waist down to the bottom hem alongside the outer seem. These pants are not worn with belts, or at least they are not to be seen. As it is, the waist part is supposed to get hidden under a cummerbund.

​Well, these all are fine details from the legacy. In today’s world, things have become more relaxed. So if you are not up to it and still have to wear a tuxedo suit, don a white shirt, well-fitted black trousers, and a custom-tailored tuxedo jacket (jacket and trousers made of the same material). You are good to paint the town red.
So what are you waiting for? Reach out to us.

If you would like to know which other suit style is best for you, click this box