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It’s a formal occasion, and you’ve already accepted that you’ll have to wear a tuxedo. But you’d like your tux to make a statement about you, and not just be a cookie cutter affair which does nada to distinguish itself from all the other tuxes in attendance.

One way you can be guaranteed to have heads turning in your direction is to jettison the traditional black tuxedo vest. Replace it with one of the many styles of camouflage tuxedo vests and let your outdoorsman or commando instincts show through!

While you might find the idea of a camouflage tuxedo vest a bit lacking in the elegance department, a search of the many Internet formalwear sites which now offer them may change your mind. Stop thinking strictly military khaki, although if that’s your thing, there’s sure to be a camouflage tuxedo vest to accommodate you.

Start thinking fabrics patterned after the works of great botanical artists, with strikingly detailed leaves, grasses, twigs, and tree limbs with bark so clearly rendered that you can almost feel its texture. Add to them shadows so correct that the camouflage tuxedo vest itself takes on three dimensional depths. Throw in a color palette of earthy browns, grays, russets and natural greens, and camouflage tuxedo vests are not merely apparel; they are works of textile art!

A camouflage tuxedo vests can be made from a variety of fabrics or fabric blends, but like the best tuxedos, the best camouflage tuxedo vest is of light wool, with a density of 260 to 280 grams. Wool of this weight allows a vest to hold its shape while not being so stiff that it is uncomfortable. But you can also find a camouflage tuxedo vest in twill, cotton, and cotton polyester blends. Like traditional vests, a camouflage tuxedo vest will be lined with silk or satin.

The website of one formalwear supplier which has an extensive line of camouflage tuxedo vests is www.tuxedo-formalwear.com. Their seventeen camouflage patterns range from standard military to wetlands to several mossy oak designs with differing color themes.

The Tuxedo Formalwear camouflage tuxedo vest has buttons covered with self-matching fabric, and waist adjustment ties inside of its back lining. Each vest can also be constructed with a pocket if the customer wishes.

Another website which provides very clear picture of how its camouflage tuxedo vest looks is www.jimsformalwer.com. You can view a highly detailed fabric swatch of their Mossy Oak New Breakup vest, and even order a pocket square sample. The Mossy Oak New Breakup camouflage tuxedo vest can be accessorized with a matching Windsor or bowtie.

A visit to either of these sites will give you an both an accurate idea of what is available in camouflage tuxedo vests, and whether any of them is what you need to make your presence known at the big social events in your life!

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How often have you attempted to fasten your cufflink, only to find your cuff on the underside of your arm which is sticking thought its opening? Has your experience with cufflinks made it any clearer why the gentleman’s valet was once a fixture in so many households of the rich and royal?

But if you want to mix with the crème de la crème, you can hardly show up with button cuffs. No, it’ll be French cuffs or nothing, and they’ll have to be fastened somehow. So the cufflink, monogrammed or otherwise, is the solution. Or, in many cases and perhaps yours, the problem.

You cufflinks will be one of several varieties; the most commons are post cufflinks with swivel bars and the chain cufflink. Knowing how to put on tuxedo cufflinks with swivel bars will probably get you through most situations.

Although more than a few frustrated men preparing for a formal occasion have figured out how to put their shirts on after they have fastened the cufflinks, the more acceptable way to learn how to put on tuxedo cufflinks is to put on your tuxedo shirt with its French or double cuffs. If your shirt has the additional flap of fabric making it double-cuffed, fold the flap back so that all the buttonholes are aligned.

Then close the swivel bar on the cufflink, so it can be inserted into the buttonholes. Once it is properly inserted secure the swivel bar by re-opening it.

Threre’s little mystery involved in learning how to put on tuxedo cufflinks of the button-style. Other cufflinks include button-style cufflinks; these have two identical buttons, linked together with a short piece of chain or cord. To wear these cufflinks, simply slide one button through the aligned buttonholes. A button will display on each side.

Similar to button cufflinks are silk knot cufflinks; they have button-sized silken knots connected by a silken cord and are worn by inserting one of the knots through the aligned button holes.

Learning how to put on tuxedo cufflinks of the silk knot style will stand you in good stead in Europe, where they see far greater use than in the US. Not only are they equally acceptable as their metal counterparts at upscale formal functions; they are less expensive and you may even find that if you purchase a French cuff tuxedo shirt in Europe, matching silk knot cufflinks will be packaged with it.

Finally, clip cufflinks have, in place of buttons, two identical ornamental pieces which will be visible on either side of the cuff; when inserted into the button holes they are clipped together.

On the chance that you are one of those people who just cannot manage to manipulate a cufflink with one hand as you must when your shirt is on, you can learn how to put on tuxedo cufflinks by fastening them and then slipping into your shirt. For this technique, you are far better off using the chain cufflinks, which leave the French cuffs far less binding than the swivel bar cufflinks.

Learning how to put on tuxedo cufflinks can add the perfect cosmopolitan accent to your formal wear; just make sure they are slightly understated and do not distract your companion’s attention from how great you look in that tux!

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“Casablanca.” Rick’s Café Americain. Humphrey Bogart, as Rick Blaine, hunches over a chess board, smoking and drinking alone amidst the gamblers in his gaming room. The camera slowly moves from the ashtray to his empty shot glass, and then to his spotless white tuxedo, black bow tie, and haggard, world weary face.

“Goldfinger.”  A wetsuit clad James Bond clambers from the water into a South American drug factory, dispatches a guard, and sets a timer on a charge of explosives to blow up some tanks of nitroglycerine. Stripping off his wetsuit to reveal a remarkably unrumpled and immaculate white tuxedo, he plucks a flower for his lapel. Breathtakingly elegant, he arrives at a nightclub just in time to hear the distant explosion.

Ingrid Bergman fell in love with Bogey in his white tuxedo. Women around the globe have fallen in love with James Bond in his white tuxedo. White tuxedos evoke not only elegance, but summer romances and tropical island assignations. White tuxedos are very special indeed.

White tuxedos are the traditional attire of choice for daytime, warm weather, and outdoor weddings; but those who know how to break with tradition without being tasteless have opted for white tuxedos at all white winter weddings. White tuxedos grace the formal dinners and dances aboard luxury ships cruising their way across tuquoise tropical seas.

If you have elected to go with white tuxedos at your wedding, you can finish the white jacket and black trousers with either black or white vests or cummerbunds and ties; a black bow tie is considered more elegant. Black patent leather shoes, worn with black, preferably silken, socks, are required, and your white dress shirt should be accessorized with matching gold, silver, or black cufflinks and studs.

Your white tuxedo jacket should be constructed of lightweight worsted wool, linen, gabardine, or cotton. Like its classic black counterpart, it should have peak lapels, with a rounded shawl collar, even though notch collars are the current favorite. The lapels of white tuxedos, however, do not have satin or grosgrain facings like those of black jackets; they are faced with the material from which the entire jacket is made.

Your groomsmen’s white tuxedos can be differentiated from yours by substituting vests or cummerbunds and ties of the same color as the bridesmaids’ dresses. By coordinating the groomsmen’s’ white tuxedos with the bridesmaids’ gowns you’ll be adding a unifying element which greatly increases the visual impact of the wedding party.

While some people prefer their white tuxedos to include white trousers, there is no occasion in classic tuxedo etiquette for which this is appropriate. If you decide to go this route, however, be absolutely certain that all the groomsmen show up in white, and not black, tuxedo shoes and socks.

While the tuxedo dress code may seem confusing at best, and antiquated at worst, you can get an idea of what it’s all about by studying movie stills and menswear catalogs from the 1930s, easily found with an online search. The 1930s are considered the Golden Age of men’s formalwear, and if, even after looking at some stills and catalogs, you don’t understand why that’s important, ask your lady friends. Because they will.

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You’ve just received you first black tie invitation, and you have no idea what your next move should be. Tuxedos are not the sort of apparel to which you have given much consideration; in fact, the closest you have ever been to a tuxedo is when you have walked past the formal wear store at the mall.

Before you decide to turn to the staff at that formalwear store for guidance, however, you’d be wise to make an assessment of how important having a correctly fitted out tuxedo is to you. The tuxedo culture, circa 2007, is not the same as the original black tie tuxedo culture.

If you can put together a tuxedo ensemble which is the real thing, would you like to take the time to learn how to do it?  Or are you more interested in getting evening wear advice from a store clerk who, while explaining that “Black tie is pretty much do your own thing nowadays,” will dress you in whatever style is currently clogging the inventory?

When you receive a “Black Tie” invitation, let it impress on you that you have been asked to participate in an event of some importance, and that those hosting the event would like you to respect its formality with your choice of tuxedos.

While you may be a novice as to what is traditionally regarded as correct black tie attire, the chances are that the part-time help at the formalwear rental store, who is used to dealing with prom tux rentals, doesn’t have a much better idea of the elements of classic tuxedos.

This will get you started, and if you walk into your rental shop knowing what you want and sticking to it, you will be striking a blow for proper tuxedos everywhere.

Classic tuxedos, which include only the jacket and trousers, are either black, or midnight blue with black trim. No grey; but white, and preferably ivory, are acceptable any time in tropical parts of the world or during the summer months and at daytime events elsewhere.

The jackets of traditional tuxedos are either single or double breasted, with peak lapels faced in either grosgrain or satin. They have shawl, or rounded, collars; while the notch collar is all the rage, it isn’t the historical collar on tuxedos. The buttons on the sleeves of tuxedos will be covered in the same satin or grosgrain of the lapel facings. The jackets of ultraformal tuxedos have no vents.

Trousers for tuxedos should be made of the same fabric as the jackets, with a braid made from the same satin or grosgrain as the lapel facings along their outside seams. They never have cuffs.

Shirts for tuxedos are white; with wing or turndown collars, and pleated or pique fronts.  They have eyelet closures instead of buttonholes, and are worn with black or gold studs, matching the cufflinks used with their French cuffs.

Tuxedos have either a black cummerbund or vest, and a black bowtie of the same material as the lapel facings. The correct shoes for tuxedos are black patent leather pumps or Oxfords, worn over calf length black socks, silk if possible. Tuxedos are correctly completed with suspenders and a white pocket handkerchief of linen or silk.

If you want to get your formal social life off to an impeccable start, and be the young man who catches the eye of many a hostess, have your rental tuxedo put together according to the above formula, making sure that your jacket and trousers are made of fine lightweight worsted wool. The bigwigs at your event will be dressed in the same tuxedos, and you will feel perfectly at home!

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Your prom night is probably going to be the biggest social event you have yet experienced. You can bet your date is going to be spending hours choosing her dress, shoes, hairstyle, and if you give her the choice, exactly what kind of flowers she wants to wear or carry. If she could pick your formalwear, she’d probably do that as well.

So there is every reason in the world why you might be having a case of pre-prom nerves. And if your date informs you that a prom tuxedo which coordinates with her dress would just be too rad, you might be wondering exactly what that means.

Well, it can mean a number of things, but the good news is that you can probably accommodate her. Different colors of prom tuxedos are not difficult to find; and even better, different colors of prom tuxedo accents, like ties, vests, shirts, and pocket swatches, can fill in if the only option for tuxedo jacket and trousers you have is black or grey.

Another thing working in you favor is that, as long as you are in the ballpark, the different colors of prom tuxedos accents from which you choose do not have to be a perfect match for the shade of your date’s dress. The staff at your tuxedo shop will have good eye for getting as close a match as possible, and that is good enough.

But if your date wants you decked head to toe in a tuxedo to match her gown, you’ll have an option. First, different colors of prom tuxedos are nothing new. They were all the rage in the 1970s, when the height of prom fashion for guys was powder blue tuxedo trousers and jacket with powder blue ruffled shirt, oversized powder blue bowtie, and extra wide powder blue cummerbund. The rad statement of the day was to set off the whole ensemble with white or light blue patent leather shoes.

You can look for different colors of prom tuxedos either online or at vintage clothing stores; they were made in almost every imaginable shade from teal, or lavender, or rust to tan, to mint green to canary yellow. They often had extra wide lapels, black piping, and slash pockets, and will definitely look like period clothing. Make sure your date realizes that.

On the other hand, you can achieve a classy contemporary look by visiting www.menswearhouse.com and looking over their different colors of prom tuxedos accessories. They even have a color tool which can help you to coordinate your look perfectly with your date’s.

The final tip: don’t get so carried away by prom that you decide to buy a colored tuxedo. It’s a big investment for something you will more than likely have no future use. You may need a tuxedo again someday, but the overwhelming odds are that if you do, it will have to be black.

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Choosing a wedding tuxedo can either be a headache, or a walk in the park, depending on how well prepared you are. Whether you’re the groom or one of the groomsmen, if you don’t own a tux, and don’t have anyone who can lend you a tux, your first instinct will be to start calling formalwear shops to see what they have to offer in the way of a wedding tuxedo in your size.

But just reserving a tuxedo in size 42 regular, and calling it good, will get you nowhere, and certainly will get you nowhere closer to having the right wedding tuxedo for the big day. If you’re the groom, all your groomsmen will be waiting for you to decide what sort of wedding tuxedo you’ll be sporting, because theirs will be modeled after yours.

So you have to educate yourself on the correct wedding tuxedo for your particular wedding. There is a code of tuxedo etiquette, believe it or not, and what may be the only acceptable tuxedo for a night at the symphony simply will not do for a morning wedding.  So when you head to the formal wear shop, bring along either your wedding consultant or your bride to be, or both.

The first thing you need to know about your wedding tuxedo is that, if you’re the groom, you get the best one. If you’re not, don’t dare to outshine the groom. Then you need to make you choice of wedding tuxedo based on the formality of your wedding and the time of day when it will occur.

Any wedding taking place after six in the evening is a black tie affair. The minimal standard is a black or midnight blue wedding tuxedo with a white shirt, black vest or cummerbund and bow tie, and black silk socks with black patent leather shoes. If the evening wedding is extremely formal, the groom’s tuxedo jacket should be replaced with a black or white tailcoat, with matching tie and vest and wing collared white shirt. If you’re a groomsman and the groom will be wearing a tailcoat, you have the option of either wearing one or choosing an ordinary wedding tuxedo jacket.

If your wedding is being held in a tropical climate, you can wear a white tuxedo jacket even for an evening ceremony; and a white wedding tuxedo is also appropriate for daytime weddings anywhere. More formal daytime weddings call for cutaway jackets worn over striped gray trousers with gray vests. Either regular neckties or ascots are acceptable, but this wedding ensemble is very formal. Unless you’re comfortable with the thought of spats, gloves, and a top hat, you may want to reconsider.

One more thing you, as the groom, may not have known about choosing your wedding tuxedo: once you’ve made you choice, it’s up to you to contact the groomsmen with the details and let them know what to rent and from whom to rent it. You may also be a bit taken aback to learn that accepted wedding etiquette requires you to pay for the groomsmen’s tuxes.

While that might put some stress on your wallet, it’s the safest way you have of ensuring that everyone will show up at the ceremony on the same page of the wedding tuxedo book. And if you shop around for wedding tuxedo rental packages, you may very well find formalwear shops which offer you your tux at no charge, and your groomsmen’s tuxes at a discount!

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You’ve reached the stage in life when your participation is being requested at more and more weddings. And every time you get a request to serve as a groomsman, you feel both proud and just a little stress out, because you know you’ll have to go through the men’s wedding tuxedos selection processes.

Or, even more proudly, and stressfully, you are looking at your own upcoming wedding. You want to make the day as special as you can without adding any extra work to what your bride is already undertaking, so you’ve put yourself in charge of choosing the men’s wedding tuxedos for you self and your groomsmen.

You want you men’s wedding tuxedos to be different from those of your guests, but you don’t want them to be so noticeable that they overshadow the lady of the hour. So you’ll have to establish some guidelines to help narrow down you choices of men’s wedding tuxedos.

The first guidelines will be the wedding gown and bridesmaid’s dresses; many grooms choose to have their men’s wedding tuxedos match the wedding gown with a vest, tie, and pocket swatch of the same material, and have their groom’s tuxedo ties, and vests or cummerbunds, the same color as the bridesmaids’ gowns.

There is no “right” choice regarding the colors of the men’s wedding tuxedos; many grooms and groomsmen go with traditional black or grey. But it’s always a good idea for you, as the groom, to distinguish yourself from your groomsmen in some small way, and that’s when a vest or cummerbund coordinated with the wedding gown can be useful.

If you are nervous about your ability to pick the best men’s wedding tuxedos for your big day, don’t hesitate to call on the expertise of the consultants at the formal wear shop which will be supplying them. If at all possible, set up an appointment for a time when your bride can accompany you; you will go a long way toward avoiding a wedding gown and groom’s tuxedo mismatch if you do.

You’re the best one to judge whether or not to purchase your men’s wedding tuxedo. If your life is full of formal dinners and other social gatherings, you may well come out ahead by keeping your tuxedo after the wedding. You can always buy, or rent, alternative vests and ties to change its look as time goes on.

But if the only formal social event in which you expect to participate for the foreseeable future is your wedding, then renting a men’s wedding tuxedo will be the better choice. Regardless of your decision, remember that the spotlight on your wedding day should shine the brightest on your lady, and choose a tuxedo which will let her bask in the glory of her big moment!

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It’s estimated that less than one-half of one percent of all men who ever wear tuxedos actually own them. Given the vast number of formalwear rental shops in every urban area, this figure is not a surprise. But if you find yourself at the beginning of your career, with an increasing number of formal invitations and lacking the salary to support either frequent rentals or having your own tuxedo made, a used tuxedo may be your solution.

Top quality used tuxedos can usually be purchased for the same amount that it would cost you to rent a tux three or four times. If you know what you are doing and can tell a classically styled tuxedo from a trendy one, the used tuxedo you buy will provide a lifetime of proper formal attire.

Look for a black or midnight blue used tuxedo; they are the only colors which are always appropriate. Single or double breasted jackets with one or two buttons, shawl collars, and peaked, satin or grosgrain faced lapels are the most traditional, and therefore, the safest.  The used tuxedo pants should be or the same material as the jacket, with a single braid of the same satin or grosgrain used in the lapel facing running down the outer seams of the pant legs. The legs of the used tuxedo pants should be uncuffed.

Almost all formalwear rental chains can supply you with a used tuxedo; if your budget allows, you can get amazing bargains on high end designer used tuxedos from their inventory. But even their off brand used tuxedos will give you a few years of service at an even better price, if properly maintained.

There is one caveat, however, about buying a non-designer used tuxedo. Most of them will have been real workhorses for the shop, rented dozens of times, and may have nearly invisible imperfections or have even shrunk slightly from so many cleanings. So whichever used tuxedo catchers your eye, make sure you give it a thorough going over before you buy.

You can also search for a used tuxedo at consignment shops, which sell good used clothing and furniture for a commission. The catch is that most of the people selling their belongings on consignment have a fairly good idea of their worth, and you won’t get rock bottom pricing. But buying a used tuxedo on consignment will still be cheaper than either getting one new, or continuing to fork over rental fees indefinitely.

Finally, if you have very little money and lots of free time, think about your local thrift shops as places to hunt for a used tuxedo. The Good Will or Salvation Army store may have, among the polyester Dumb and Dumber shocking orange tuxedos, a cast off designer tuxedo jacket or trousers in just your size. You may, however, have to do some legwork to find a complete tuxedo, as many thrift stores prefer to sell the used tuxedo jacket and trousers separately. If you’re crunched for time, a rental store used tuxedo is a much safer bet.

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Tuxedo shirts, just like the rest of a tuxedo ensemble, are designed according to some fairly specific guidelines, and are as important to the overall impression your tuxedo will make as any of its other elements. he perfect tuxedo functions as a unit, so the educated tuxedo wearer knows which styles of tuxedo shirts are appropriate with the different styles of tuxedos.

You shouldn’t find yourself wandering among the eveningwear departments at the local department stores, or at the formalwear shop poring over piles of different tuxedo shirts and choosing one according simply because you like the way it looks. While it may be of the finest fabric, with exquisite detailing and craftsmanship, a tuxedo shirt which is the wrong style for the tuxedo you will be wearing is simply not acceptable.

There are obvious differences in tuxedos shirts, and when you understand what they are, you’ll be in a much better position to look only for those which will properly complete your style of tuxedo.

The major distinctions among  tuxedo shirts lie in their fabrics and the cuts of their collars. There are three collar styles, the very formal wing tip, the only slightly less formal lay down, and the “Why did George Clooney come to the Oscars dressed like a priest?” mandarin.

The wing tip tuxedo shirt, not to be confused with wing tip shoes, is the tuxedo shirt you will need if your invitation says “White tie.” Wing tip tuxedo shirts get their name from the way the front tips of their standup collars are folded up at an angle to create a wing-shaped, bowtie enhancing background. Wing tip tuxedo shirts are almost always white; the more expensive ones are made of pure cotton.

For less forgiving budgets, wing tip tuxedo shirts are available in a polyester and cotton blend, and while they may not be as comfortable to wear, they will be much more comfortable for your wallet.

Laydown tuxedo shirts are the formalwear equivalent of the button down business shirt, with a noticeable gape between the front collar points. Like wing tip tuxedo shirts, they normally have pleated fronts, and are also available either in 100% cotton or a polyester cotton blend.

Both Laydown and wingtip shirts,are normally designed with either French or convertible cuffs; French cuffs fold over upon themselves and are held closed with cufflinks. Convertible cuffs, however, do not fold and can be worn either buttoned or with cufflinks. French cuffs are preferred for most formal occasions.

Laydown shirts worn with French cuffs and cufflinks can be made even more elegant if studs matching the cufflinks are used to replace the buttons which will have come with the shirt. There are many marvelous cufflink and shirt stud sets available, with gold, silver, enameled, and jeweled accents. Laydown tuxedo shirts, depending on their quality and detailing, will normally run from less than $20 to more than $100.

The new kid on the tuxedo shirts block is the mandarin, or band collar, shirt. It is the attempt to bring a modern, but not overly so, look to a very traditional way of dressing. Mandarin tuxedo shirts have been quite well received by men forty and under.

One of the biggest appeals of the mandarin shirt is that it eliminates the need for a tie. The design of the collar, which stands straight up with front edges held shut by a button, really does not lend itself to a tie; but those who wish to can buy a decorative cover to put over the collar button.

Mandarin tuxedos normally have pleated fronts and convertible cuffs, and are white. Wearing a mandarin tuxedo shirt is one way for a free spirit to practice some fashion assertiveness without completely disrupting a traditional black or white tie affair.

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