Ultimate Guide to Wearing a Tuxedo

So you’ve nar­rowed down your wed­ding suit options to a tuxedo—now what? 

First of all, let us con­grat­u­late you on this momen­tous deci­sion. Out of all the options and col­ors out there you’ve opt­ed for a tuxe­do and that is just amaz­ing. James Bond would be proud. And so are we. 

Sec­ond­ly, it’s time to get down to busi­ness. Tuxe­dos, while far supe­ri­or to any old suit, are also more com­plex. There’s a lot that goes into pulling off a tuxe­do and we’re here to make sure you do it right.

THE OCCASION

First, for those of you who may not have made your deci­sion yet, is defin­ing the prop­er occa­sion to wear a tuxe­do. Tux­es are more for­mal than suits, mean­ing that the event you wear a tuxe­do to is going to be for­mal and the dress the bride will wear will be for­mal. Over­all, it’s just a big prom. Just kid­ding.

But sin­cere­ly, yes, tuxedo’s are the go-to menswear for a black-tie event. You get the chance to wear an out­fit that you may only wear that one time in your life. This is a big deal.

Want to be ultra classy, but black­’s not your col­or (which is pret­ty much impos­si­ble)? Not wor­ry. A tuxe­do does­n’t have to be black. In fact, am absolute­ly pos­i­tive you’ve seen a white tuxe­do jack­et before. It’s up there with black for one of the classi­est looks around. Oth­er than that, you can also eas­i­ly find tuxe­dos in blues and greys.

THE STAPLES

Your tuxe­do jack­et will be slight­ly dif­fer­ent than your aver­age suit jack­et. The biggest dif­fer­ence is satin. The but­tons of your tuxe­do jack­et will be cov­ered with satin and you will also have a fan­cy satin lapel that comes in one of three styles—notch, peak, and shawl. Notch and peak lapels are found on suits as well as tuxe­dos, but those nice shawl lapels are par­tic­u­lar to tux­es.

Notch lapels are a great go-to when you’re not sure which lapel style to go with. It’s per­fect­ly clas­sic and sim­ple. Peak lapels are a lit­tle step up, for a slight­ly more for­mal look. They are ele­gant and elon­gat­ing. Shawl lapels are more round­ed and nos­tal­gic, but still a pol­ished choice.