Do you own a Tux?

[deputy tom]

Lodge Attire...

Rlandrews... congrats, brother!
Most of our events are simply jacket and tie but the line/chair officers are nearly always required to wear tuxedos. So between our regular meetings, office visitations to other lodges, etc. I find myself in the penguin suit pretty often.

Welcome to the craft.

Hello.I'm new here but have been wearing Tails to Lodge meetings for thirty three years.In Pennsylvania line officers usually wear black suits while Elected Officers wear Tails.tom.

 

[deputy tom]

I, too, checked with Jos A Banks and got a nice SB shawl collar tux. I have 2 pair of pants, and 2 wingtip collar shirts. I also have a very nice vintage jade green smoking jacket that I have pulled out on occasion. And the tie must be self-tie, as there is nothing cooler than untying the tie at the end of a nice evening and lounging around with a cocktail. As a new Master Mason I have yet to see a formal event at my lodge but I have heard they have them on occasion. Most of our formal events have been ballroom-dance related.

I too would like to welcome you to the Craft.tom.

 

[bradford]

I have a single breasted, notch lapel, 100% wool tuxedo that I bought new on Ebay a few years back. It's a no-name label but it looks nice. I wear it a few times a year to various events. I've definitely saved money by owning it rather than having to rent for those occasions.

Reading this thread makes me wonder what type of tuxedo my 94-year-old grandfather has. He's a 33rd Degree Mason and still very active with his lodge.

 

[John in Covina]

FYI: Notch lapels were not considered formal in the past. Notch lapels come from the Lounge and Business suit, formal was considered with peak lapel. I always associate them with las Vegas performers for some reason.

 

[bradford]

FYI: Notch lapels were not considered formal in the past. Notch lapels come from the Lounge and Business suit, formal was considered with peak lapel. I always associate them with las Vegas performers for some reason.

Yeah, I know that peaked or shawl lapels are technically more correct.

Then again, I always dreamed of being a lounge singer so I'm OK with my notch lapels.

 

[Feraud]

Edit. I assumed the comment was in reply to Bradford's post. Not sure why the formal distinction was necessary.
I deleted my comment to not muddy the waters for the new guy.

 

[MrBern]

FYI: Notch lapels were not considered formal in the past. Notch lapels come from the Lounge and Business suit, formal was considered with peak lapel. I always associate them with las Vegas performers for some reason.

Yes, a traditional tux has a shawl or peaked lapel, but its not formal, its semi-formal.
If you want to get picky, a traditional tux shouldnt even have belt loops or turnup cuffs. And really you shouldnt be wearing lace up shoes. But people dress as they like nowadays. You dont see too many cummerbunds anymore & there are plenty of notch lapel tuxedos out and about....

 

[bradford]

Well at least mine doesn't have belt loops and I do wear a cummerbund.

I have lace-up shoes though, but they are patent leather which is far and away better than some of the shoes you see people wearing even at black tie events lol

 

[Tooch]

A. Sagner & Sons tuxedo

I have a vintage Englishtown Clothes/A. Sagner & Sons tuxedo which I picked up for a song, then had tailored to fit. The jacket is unvented, single-breasted, single-button (which I altered to a faux link-front to gain an inch), peak lapel, with grosgrain trim. The pants have a button fly. The fabric is black wool flannel.

Please excuse the cheesy cruise-ship photos, but these are all I have at the moment.

I've tentatively dated the tuxedo to pre-1946. Alan Sagner left the company that year to go into his in-laws real-estate development business, and the company apparently became A. Sagner & Son (singular) about that time. The chronology I get courtesy of Alan Sagner's confirmation hearing when he was appointed by President Clinton to be chairman of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, as well as an earlier congressional hearing touching on his role in the Fair Play for Cuba Committee. He very helpfully gave some of his career highlights.

A. Sagner & Sons, which was based in Baltimore, marketed itself as a "value" brand with low prices. Below is an advertisement from the September 30, 1940 issue of Life, advertising suits for $25.

That said, I have no complaints about the materials or workmanship. My seamstress cursed a blue streak when she did the alterations, complaining "There must be twenty stitches an inch in that thing." Fortunately, we'd already negotiated the price of the job.

So far as I can tell, the company disappeared in the 1970s. If they were still making clothing like this at the end, that was a real loss.

 

[rlandrews3rd]

Handsome couple and a good-looking tux. And a big thanks to all my Brothers for welcoming me to the craft. I missed our installation of officers this year as we were travelling, but I was told that it was a suit and tie occasion. There are other lodges in the area to which I could wear my tux, so I may have to visit them sometime.

 

[redred]

i have black tie and morning suit. The dinner jacket is modern and designed to move in (i play in an orchestra - almost always wear 'west end blacks' ie open necked black shirt and black trousers, but sometimes need a dj). I do wear it to 'dos' but i'm more likely to wear trews and a prince charlie jacket. The morning suit i picked up for a song when Laurence Corner closed in London. The tails are from the '20s. I had the waistcoat made by a lovely gentleman on Grays Inn Road who did it in four days at the height of wedding season. It's got lovely hand stitching on the collar and does a pretty good job of ironing out by lumps and bumps. Ultimately i'll replace the trousers with some fishtail back ones - there were some on ebay recently but i'm skint, alas.....

This is me about to head off to my cousin's v posh wedding, from a campsite. Oh, the glamour.

 

[Mr Vim]

It's on my to do list: Buy a tuxedo.

Although I am not sure what sort of suit I'm going for, modern or classic, but I am leaning towards Classic.

 

[Corky]

Watch the Academy Awards presentation show...

Since high school, I have gone through about half a dozen tuxedos.

Here in Los Angeles, it's always a good idea to have one handy if a friend calls up with free tickets fill up the table at to some thousand-dollar-a-plate Black Tie event.

My closet currently contains two tuxedos, one notch collar and one shawl collar which I wear now and then. But I don't wear them as often as I did in the past.

Times have changed and the style of formal men's wear has changed also.

I urge those who are unsure of What To Wear to watch the annual Motion Picture Academy Awards presentation show.

The outfits worn by the men who get up on the Academy stage to present and to accept awards are the best barometer of Elegant Style in formal wear in the current day.

I have observed that many Academy members wear a simple black suit with a black tie and a white shirt or a black shirt.

These items are worn with a minimum of accessories or fuss.

So I have acquired a crisp black wool suit, some plain black silk ties in various widths and plain black and plain white dress shirts.

I have also acquired a black cashmere & wool blazer, black wool slacks and a black silk & cashmere turtleneck.

These outfits (the black suit, shirt, tie combo and the black blazer, slacks & turtleneck) seem to fit in more with the clothing which one sees worn by the style conscious individuals at Black Tie events in Los Angeles and in Manhattan.

I don't plan on getting rid of my tuxedos any time soon, but I haven't reached beyond that black suit or blazer for quite a while now.

Best of luck...

 

[Hercule]

Having been a professional musician I've both a tux and tails. Having long since moved on, I haven't worn either of them in quite a while.

h

 

[Edward]

FYI: Notch lapels were not considered formal in the past. Notch lapels come from the Lounge and Business suit, formal was considered with peak lapel. I always associate them with las Vegas performers for some reason.

Certainly, they were considered to be somewhat less formal - as, of course, was the shawl collar. I also have an original thirties morning coat with notch lapels... I suppose it dates to a time when there were still men around who would have worn that sort of thing with greater frequency. Less 'formal' touches on evening wear or formal daywear make sense in the context of them being worn often, as opposed to the sort of thing that a man might wear twice in his life (once when he gets married, and again when he performs as best man for his brother, or when he goes to Ascot for a daytrip). Nowadays, though, I believe the commonality of notch lapels on black tie wear especially is due partly to changes in fashion, partly to familiarity (a surprising number of men seem to be frightened of details such as leg piping and lapels that vary greatly from what they are used to on a lounge suit), and very largely to the simple fact that it is much cheaper to produce a pair of trousers and a jacket in black based on a standard lounge suit pattern and add a touch of satin to the legs and lapels.

And really you shouldnt be wearing lace up shoes.

When did lace-ups become the norm? It seems to me that opera pumps lasted much longer as a standard with white tie; black tie, lace ups seem to have been the norm for much, much longer.

 

[Dinerman]

Yeah, I know that peaked or shawl lapels are technically more correct.

Here's an example of notch lapels looking good (at least I think they do).

 

[Leutnant]

I have a nice 20's-30's style black, peaked lapel tailcoat with trousers and, naturally, the top hat, cane and white tie (for appropriate occasions) as they sang in Top Hat (1935) "I just got an invitation in the mail....your presence requested, this evening, it's formal, a top hat, white tie and tails...." Excuse me while I tap dance around the house for a while...

 

[Feraud]

Any idea on the decade of this jacket?

Here's an example of notch lapels looking good (at least I think they do).

 

[Dinerman]

Any idea on the decade of this jacket?

I would guess '20s, but I have so little first hand experience in suits/tuxes this early that I couldn't say for sure.

 

[jamespowers]

Here's an example of notch lapels looking good (at least I think they do).

That is actually sort of a happy medium. Not large notch lapels but more of a droopy peaked lapel. Not a bad example from that long ago.
I have a tux from 1916 around here somewhere. I'll never fit in it but it is a good example.