Tuxedo Styles

There are four proper styles for the tuxedo: the single-or double-breasted with a peaked lapel with grosgrain facing on the lapel, or the single-or double-breasted shawl collar with either satin or grosgrain on the lapel facings. These are the only proper choices.

American manufacturers, in order to save on costs and increase profits, have taken to producing a notched lapel - the same style manufactured for their normal daytime suits - and facing them in satin. This trend began in the sixties, when men were experimenting with alternative styles of dress. Once manufacturers realized it was less costly to produce this model, they persisted. Today, the man seeking a proper dinner jacket, with either peaked lapels or shawl collar, has his work cut out for him.

The most versatile jacket style is the single-breasted, peaked-lapel model. It was the original black-tie model, the direct descendant of the tailcoat, and its angular lapels look best with a wind collar, the tailcoat's original complement. It can be worn with a vest or cummerbund, and even with a turndown collar. Peaked lapels look equally elegant on the double- breasted version of this coat. The double-breasted model offers the advantage of allowing the wearer to dispense with a vest or cummerbund.

The shawl collar model, either single-breasted or double- breasted, has a more subtle look than the peaked-lapel models. Because of its Old World image and the fact that it is a jacket style worn only for evening wear, it is especially factored by the most sophisticated dressers. However, your build is on the portly or rotund side, you might want to avoid the shawl collar, as it tends to accentuate the roundness.

Both single-and double-breasted jackets are at their best either without vents or with moderate side vents. Whichever style one chooses, the pockets should never be in the flap style, which is traditionally associated with day wear.

The color should be black or, if one is lucky enough to unearth one in this color, midnight blue, in a finished or unfinished worsted.

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