Q: When should I buy a tuxedo?

A: If you go to two or more formal dress events a year, you should have your own tux. The garment will pay for itself compared to rentals, if you wear it twice a year for five years or so. Given that you don’t use it much, your tux should last about ten years. To keep it from getting old, vary your
accessories … a bright brocade vest and a couple of shirt styles will keep you elegant for ages.

Q: What style tuxedo should I get?

A: Tuxedos, like suits, come single or double breasted with one, two or three button styles
available in the single. The style unique to tuxedos is the shawl collar. This classic, timeless look is different from any suit you’ll own and will make your tux feel special. So while we always tell you to get what you like best, the shawl is a big favourite. These are available by special order.

Q: What is the origin of the tuxedo?

A: Tuxedos are actually a casual form of clothing to wear to dinner. In the 1860’s shorter jacket styles moved “upstairs” from the servants’ quarters. In Victorian England, gentlemen wore long frock coats for daily wear and cut-a-way coats of Regimental dress for formal occasions. The new shorter jackets were worn for casual activities. By the 1890s, dinner jackets became the look for dining at the “club”. In the United States, the dinner jacket first appeared at the country club in Tuxedo Park, NY, hence ‘tuxedo’. After the First World War, the very formal, cut-away styles were relegated to weddings and openings of parliament; the modern tuxedo was what you wore to dress up events. In the 1920’s, the then Prince of Wales popularized the double breasted look and some colours like navy and deepest burgundy began to appear, but generally black is the way to go. The satin trim, the hallmark of the tuxedo, is a distant echo of the 18th and early 19th century when bright colours, along with satin and lace were as much a part of a man’s wardrobe as a woman’s.