The Tuxedo

In 1860, then Prince Edward VII of Wales commissioned a coat from Henry Pool & Co. for use at a dinner party. The prince required more casual attire than the customary evening wear. Henry Pool & Co. provided the prince with a short jacket without coattails. The jacket was to be worn with a black tie, thus the custom of referring to the attire as "Black Tie" in contrast to the "White Tie" formal evening attire.

When James Potter, a New York businessman, requested advice from the prince regarding attire for an upcoming business party, the prince recommended the same tailors who had designed his Black Tie dinner jacket. Potter wore the jacket to a dinner party at the Tuxedo Park Club wear the fashion earned its name. The club was infatuated with Potter's jacket, and one by one, the members of the club began to copy. The legend goes that one of the members of the club attended a business party. When a curious gentleman inquired to his wife, "Why hasn't that man's jacket coattails?" the response came "It's of Tuxedo Park." The man misunderstood the reference to the Tuxedo Park Club and passed on word that he had seen a jacket without coattails known as a tuxedo. The name flourished in the United States, but the Common Wealth of Great Britain refers to the jacket as a dinner coat and the entire associated wardrobe as Black Tie attire.

Black Tie and White Tie attire are both strictly regimented styles with prescribed rules, but Black Tie attire has less specification and more variation than its more formal counterpart. Black Tie attire, known as a tuxedo in the United States, consists of a black jacket, trousers, tie, socks, and shoes. The shirt is white, and there ought to be a waistcoat or cummerbund. Cuff links are expected and shirt studs are optional.

The most defining characteristic of a tuxedo, or Black Tie attire, is the jacket. The term dinner jacket is still used throughout Britain and the American northeast, but the term Tuxedo is popular throughout the rest of the nation. Tuxedo jackets are characteristically black with peaked lapels. The distinguishing characteristic of a Tuxedo jacket versus evening dress is the Tuxedo's lack of coat tails. This distinction caused the initial stir that launched the Tuxedo jacket into prominence among the elite classes of Britain and North America.

Ironically, the coat commissioned for casual use by the Prince of Wales in the nineteenth century is now one of the most formal attire options worn in the business community. Tuxedos are rarely worn on business. Rather, they are reserved for parties, banquets, and formal occasions such as donation and award events. In most business environments today, a casual dinner amongst business partners would rarely necessitate a Tuxedo.

Outside the business community, Tuxedos are dawned all the less frequently. At a wedding, for example, only the members of the groom's party - and, at times, the father of the bride or of the groom - wear the formal Black Tie attire.

Nowadays we can see that in the Las Vegas strip casino's, tuxedos are now the quintessential men's formal wear. Still, Get-smart.biz recommends this level of formality be used sparingly lest the wearer be perceived as over-dressed for the occasion. When in doubt, if the ladies are wearing cocktail dresses, the men ought to be in Tuxes.