The Tux
A tuxedo is both exhilarating and confusing: what do you wear to a black tie vs white tie, must the jacket have a velvet trim or stripes on the trousers? What kind of shirt goes with it? Self-tie or pre-tied bow tie? It's hardly any wonder this is amongst the most researched menswear online!
The basic format of a tuxedo is a black suit with white shirt and black bow tie. But it's not just any black suit - you'll see subtle differences when you're looking at a mens tuxedo compared to a regular suit. And when you're required to wear a tuxedo for an event you want to get that right.
The starting point is the tuxedo jacket. You can get a whole tuxedo suit and that's a good way to go, but look out for little bits you can include, usually with a change of tuxedo jacket. For example, a standard tuxedo jacket will have plain black lapels, but on closer inspection you'll notice they're a slightly different fabric. This will often be slightly shiny, and in some cases velvet. Both are acceptable.
Velvet tuxedo jackets give the opportunity to stand out a bit with a different colour. This usually would be quite subtle, so the jacket would be a dark navy, black, wine or green so the tuxedo look is maintained. This would not be suitable for an event that stipulates black tie as the dress code however.
Next up is tuxedo trousers. Here your choice is black or black. It's that simple. Some will have a shiny stripe down the leg, but that's not a requirement except for very formal occasions, although some people just like it that way. A few trousers have a faint floral pattern in them which is a nice addition, again not suitable for black tie.
Tuxedo shirts and shoes. Generally you'll be wearing a bow tie, in which a wing collar shirt is required. You could wear a regular collar but it's not a great look. The bow tie can be pre-tied but give tying to yourself a go, it's so much better. Shoes must be black. And shiny. There's no leeway there at all.
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