Tuxedo Fashion Question...

[geo]

Cummerbunds also have (or should have) a ticket pocket for holding your theatre ticket. The pleats should face up.

 

[Marty M.]

Bridge over troubled Tux.

Would he have prefered that you go wearing a t-shirt with a black tie, lapels and studded shirt silk screened on the chest?

I still have nightmares over Art Garfunkles tux/shirt. I'd rather see Issac Hayes in his chain linked vest anyday over that.

Marty

 

[Marty M.]

Vest it up, baby.

Please tell your boss that style is not fashion. Then tell him to read the book "Good to Great".

Marty

 

[Bugsy]

I always wear a waistcoat with one of my tuxedos. If one can't be a bit more formal when dressing for a black tie occasion, what the point of having them. Fashion trends come and go, but the classics are always around. Yes, I still like wearing a bowtie with a tuxedo.

 

[Orgetorix]

Daniel Craig as James Bond went without vest or cummerbund in Casino Royale. It looked bad.

 

[Jovan]

Why did it look bad? Perhaps I don't belong in this discussion, but I think it looked fine. The dinner suit was most likely mohair or something given the location, so a waistcoat or cummerbund would have made him sweat even more; if you recall his jacket was off near the end. You may remember Connery also did this many times, and no one batted an eye.

As for your CEO... he's delusional. Both are perfectly fine and correct. Making the guys take off theirs was absolutely ridiculous. What is this, no showing of personality whatsoever? He should have told you to wear NOTCH lapels while he was at it.

 

[freddyboy]

And what's everyone's take on suspenders/cummerbund? Personally, I don't care for the cummberbund, so I wear suspenders with my tux. There are, of course, opposing sides. Some say you always have to wear a cummerbund, even with suspenders and others say it's one or the other, it being akin to wearing suspenders and a belt.

So, Senator Jack, do you wear suspenders with no cummerbund or vest? I just got a vintage tux (I posted about it a couple of weeks ago), and it looks great: but I do hate that cummerbund, and don't think a vest will work as well with the 1950s/1960s sharkskin style. If suspenders alone will work, I'm in for it. What do people think? Too gauche?

 

[Orgetorix]

Why did it look bad?

Because it looked incomplete. Same way a morning coat or a tailcoat would look bad sans waistcoat.

 

[Fletch]

Daniel Craig as James Bond went without vest or cummerbund in Casino Royale. It looked bad.

Did anybody complain the band was too loud or ask him to bring more shrimp puffs?

 

[Orgetorix]

So, Senator Jack, do you wear suspenders with no cummerbund or vest? I just got a vintage tux (I posted about it a couple of weeks ago), and it looks great: but I do hate that cummerbund, and don't think a vest will work as well with the 1950s/1960s sharkskin style. If suspenders alone will work, I'm in for it. What do people think? Too gauche?

I can't speak for the Senator, but I'd advise against going without either a cummerbund or vest with a single-breasted tuxedo. It's an incomplete, half-dressed look. If you want to ditch them, get a double-breasted dinner jacket.

 

[Orgetorix]

Did anybody complain the band was too loud or ask him to bring more shrimp puffs?

He was too busy making an a$$ of himself to be mistaken for a waiter.

 

[Senator Jack]

I've since reverted back to the cummerbund, though I'm still not crazy about it. A picture of me sitting showed how bad it looks without it, yet, a picture of me standing, with it, shows how it exaggerates the belly. You can't win. What I'd like to find is a narrow model, perhaps a sort of sash without the pleats.

 

[Jovan]

Clearly the solution is to go without. (I'm just messing with you, Org.)

But seriously, a traditional low fastening three button waistcoat would visually lengthen your body. Something like this. The modern all-silk ones just don't seem as cool to me anymore... another way vintage and Magnoli Clothiers have both conspired to ruin me.

 

[Senator Jack]

My problem with the waistcoat, and wool tuxes, is that they're hot, and when I'm in a tux, I usually end up dancing quite a bit. Even in the winter, I wear summer tuxes because I know I'm going to end up at a crowded dance club at two, three, in the morning.

 

[Jovan]

Mohair.

 

[iammatt]

I've since reverted back to the cummerbund, though I'm still not crazy about it. A picture of me sitting showed how bad it looks without it, yet, a picture of me standing, with it, shows how it exaggerates the belly. You can't win. What I'd like to find is a narrow model, perhaps a sort of sash without the pleats.

I wear neither cummerbund nor vest and go with a mohair and wool tuxedo to keep the heat down. There is nothing worse than being too hot, and it is impossible to look stylish if you are uncomfortable.

 

[Jovan]

...it is impossible to look stylish if you are uncomfortable.

Well said.

 

[iammatt]

Well said.

Thanks.

There is nothing stylish about being so worried about how you look, or so conscious about how you feel that you cannot relax and be a normal person. When I see somebody fighting their clothes, I feel bad for them

 

[freddyboy]

While we're discussing tuxedos...

here's my new vintage one. (Ignore the tie & vest -- an experiment gone wrong.) It's late 50s/early 60s vintage. My only major question: The jacket is a bit short, appropriate for the era, not too much for today. Can I wear it to my wedding?

 

[Midnight Blue]

here's my new vintage one. (Ignore the tie & vest -- an experiment gone wrong.) It's late 50s/early 60s vintage. My only major question: The jacket is a bit short, appropriate for the era, not too much for today. Can I wear it to my wedding?

(Assuming you have not yet tied the knot . . .)

I'm a black tie fanatic and my favorite incarnation is the 50s Rat Pack style. I would advise that if you're going with an obviously vintage dinner suit be sure to match it with accessories from the same period. A fairly narrow batwing (straight end) bow tie, turndown collar shirt and a crisp white linen handkerchief folded in a TV fold (i.e. a simple square) and you'll be ready for Ceasar's Palace!

One question: in the photos the suit seems very shiny. Is it wool?