On the Tuxedo: A Field Guide for Black Tie

It is also the garment most often gotten wrong. Because the rules are clear, men assume any tuxedo will do, and the result is a closet full of rental tuxedos and ready-to-wear approximations that miss the form by inches. A correct tuxedo is not difficult — but it is specific, and the specifics matter. 

What a tuxedo actually is 

The tuxedo, sometimes called black tie or a dinner suit, is the standard evening uniform of formal social occasions. Its origin is late nineteenth century — Tuxedo Park, New York; Sandringham, Norfolk; depending on which tradition you trace — and its form has barely changed in over a hundred years. That permanence is its strength. A tuxedo built today looks correct in a photograph from 1930 and will look correct in a photograph in 2050. 

The form is precise. A black or midnight blue jacket, single-breasted with one button or double-breasted, in a fine wool or wool-mohair blend. The lapels faced in silk — typically grosgrain or satin, depending on tradition. Trousers in the same cloth as the jacket, with a single silk braid running down the outside seam. A white evening shirt with a pleated or marcella front. A black bow tie, hand-tied, in the same silk facing as the lapel. Black evening shoes, traditionally patent leather. A black silk waistcoat or a cummerbund — never both, never neither — to cover the waistband. 

Cuff links, studs in place of shirt buttons, a white pocket square in linen or silk. No belt. No tie clip. No watch with a metal bracelet — leather strap, dress watch, or none at all. 

These details are not decoration. They are the form. A tuxedo without studs is not a tuxedo. A tuxedo with a regular black necktie is a black suit, not black tie. A tuxedo with a colored shirt is a costume. 

Black or midnight blue 

There is one decision in tuxedo cloth worth thinking about, and that is the choice between black and midnight blue. 

Black is the traditional choice. It is what most men picture, and it remains correct. 

But midnight blue — a very deep blue, almost indistinguishable from black except in direct light — is the choice many tailors will recommend for a first tuxedo. The reason is photographic: under most evening lighting, including incandescent bulbs and candlelight, true black absorbs light and can read as flat or even slightly green. Midnight blue, under the same light, reads as deeper, richer, and more luminous than black does. It photographs better. It reads more elegant in person. 

On a tuxedo, the midnight blue versus black distinction is largely invisible to the casual observer. To the man wearing it, and to the camera, the difference is real. 

Peak or shawl 

The other meaningful decision. A tuxedo can be made with a peak lapel or a shawl lapel — both are correct, neither is preferred over the other for formal black tie occasions. 

The peak lapel is slightly more architectural, slightly sharper, slightly more formal in its line. It draws upward. It frames the bow tie in a strong vertical. The peak suits a more traditional, slightly British silhouette. 

The shawl lapel is softer, more rounded, slightly more decorative. The unbroken curve of the shawl gives the jacket a slightly more casual evening character — closer to the smoking jacket from which it descends. The shawl suits a slightly more relaxed, slightly more Italian silhouette. 

Both are correct. The choice is one of personal preference, and once made, should be considered settled. A man does not own two tuxedos with different lapel forms unless he has a particular reason. 

Single-breasted or double-breasted 

Single-breasted is the more common choice and the more flexible one. A single-breasted tuxedo, with one button, peak or shawl lapel, is the workhorse of black tie — appropriate for almost any occasion, easy to wear, slightly less formal than a double-breasted in feel. 

A double-breasted tuxedo is more formal, more decorative, slightly more European in tradition. It is worn buttoned at all times — the form does not work unbuttoned — and demands more of the wearer's posture and movement. For a man with the build and the bearing for it, a double-breasted tuxedo is among the most elegant garments he can own. For a man without, a single-breasted is almost always the better choice. 

On building a first tuxedo 

Most men should own one tuxedo, properly built, that fits the body precisely and is in cloth they will be content with for the next two decades. A midnight blue, single-breasted, peak-lapel tuxedo in a fine wool or wool-mohair blend is the most flexible and most universally correct choice for almost every man. From there, additions can be considered — a second tuxedo in black, a dinner jacket in cream or burgundy for tropical or summer occasions, a full white-tie ensemble for the rare clients who attend white-tie events. 

The first tuxedo, however, should be the foundational piece. A properly built tuxedo, on a properly drafted pattern, in cloth selected to age well, will outlast nearly every other piece in the wardrobe. It will be the garment a man wears at his wedding, at his children's weddings, at the occasions that mark the most important evenings of his life. It deserves to be done correctly. The form is fixed. The cloth and the fit are what make the difference.