Tuxedo Talk from eTuxedo

Fashion Rant

2007-06-18T16:29:00.000-04:00

My wife and I enjoyed an evening out at a local nightclub last week. We went to see Jackie Mason, who is a very famous comedian, perform. The tickets were quite expensive, the club was posh, but not exclusive. As we waited for the evening to begin we noticed the fashions of our fellow audience members.

I was shocked at how poorly so many people dressed. About 2/3 of the men in the audience wore a suit or sportcoat. The other 1/3? You could almost hear the conversations they had at home:

“This is a fancy event tonight, where did I leave my good white T-Shirt, you know, the one without words?”

or

“I’ll be stylin’ tonight, I have my clean gym shoes on . . .”

or, sadly,

“Dear, have you seen my new baseball cap?”

There is something fundamentally disrespectful and wrong about attending fancy events in lousy clothing. Disrespectful for your guest (wife, girlfriend, associate) as well as for yourself. It says, “You’re not worth dressing up for” or even worse, “I’m not worth getting dressed for”. Who would ever choose to send that message knowingly? How do these folks signifiy a special event in their lives if not by dressing up?

There were plenty of people who were not dressed well, that is, outfits didn’t fit, didn’t match, or simply looked lousy (don’t get me started on the tiered cake dress one lady wore), nonetheless, these people at least TRIED to dress properly. And they do get points for trying.

But the putz who shows up wearing T-Shirt, ball cap and tennis shoes? There’s no excuse. The fact that there were so many people similarly attired is just depressing.

eTuxedo Goes Interactive!

2006-08-25T12:55:00.000-04:00

We've got two new interactive features for our customers to try out. All you need is a browser that supports Flash, which virtually every browser does. The first is a Tuxedo builder tool that lets you see how your tuxedo will look with the different vests and shirt styles we offer.

The second is a Formal Quiz. It's a multiple choice on line quiz that contains some of the questions we get most often. All the answers are at the end, so no matter what your score is, you can go through it a second time and get them all right!

Tuxedo Builder

eTuxedo's Formal Quiz

Tuxedos – Fashion or Tradition? A Fashion Manifesto

2006-04-17T11:04:00.000-04:00

We think of tuxedos today as being steeped in tradition. Black tie, white tie, it all means something very specific. After all, the Proper Attire for formalwear is a 1-button, peak lapel style tuxedo, white pleated front formal shirt (your choice of wing or laydown collar), black silk self-tie bowtie and matching black silk cummerbund.

Of course, you may deviate from this formula. If you are going to a morning event you are allowed to wear a morning coat i.e. a cutaway or a stroller. Likewise, if you are going to an evening event you would wear a tailcoat, white pique shirt, vest, and tie.

So it may come as quite a surprise to learn tuxedos were originally a rebellion against these rules. Back in 1896 Griswold Lorilland was tired of the stiff dictates around formalwear. He had his tailor create a tailcoat without tails. Worn to a society event in Tuxedo, New York, his radical outfit became TODAY’S traditional tuxedo (the 1-button peak lapel style noted above).

Let’s be clear- the outcast rebel of fashion over 100 years ago snubbed tradition by wearing a 1-button peak lapel jacket – which today is considered the traditional tux ensemble. Get the point – yesterday’s rebellious outfit is today’s stiff classic.

Sure there are other examples. Denim blue jeans were first adopted by teens in the 60’s as a rebellious stand against the ideals of their parents. Blue jeans were worn by laborers who needed utility over fashion. Now, of course, blue jeans are a staple fashion item long since removed from their earlier uses.

But I digress, my point is this – why is innovation in formalwear considered heresy? The “classic tuxedo” was a statement against the rigid dress code of the time. Yet today if someone chooses to wear anything but 1-button peak lapel style they have broken the fashion rules. I say, let the wearer decide! Naturally someone who chooses to wear a powder blue tuxedo SHOULD be tarred and feathered (because nobody can look good in this type of a costume). But why should we call the fashion police if someone chooses a 3-button notch lapel tux? Would Lorilland bless the fashion of a silver vest and 4-in-hand tie? Why not – it’s simply another step towards distinctive yet handsome fashion.

Ultimately, that’s what we should all strive for. Distinctive yet handsome fashion. Sure we’ll be tweaking the nose of the fashion police, but at the end of the day we don’t dress to please others, we dress to express ourselves and our vision.

We're in the news!

2006-01-20T08:53:00.000-05:00

eTuxedo was mentioned recently in a style article in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. Here's what they had to say:

March of this penguin calls for a $99 tuxedo
BY KYLE BRAZZEL
Posted on Thursday, January 19, 2006
URL: http://www.nwanews.com/adg/Style/143102/

The invitation said black tie preferred.

The name of the event — the Black and White Ball — said “duh.”

An online formalwear retailer, eTuxedo, said, “Charity dinners require a tuxedo — but which one ? We suggest one made from finer cloth than a rental, so it’s clear you are wearing a nicer tuxedo than the guy making small talk with your date.”

The Wall Street Journal said J. C. Penney was selling a tux for $ 99.

My sensibilities said, “J. C. Penney ?” (They can be so snotty. But then so can the Wall Street Journal. The headline said “The Disposable Tux.” )

The label said, “100 % worsted wool ; superior tailoring.”

My sensibilities cleared their throat and tried again : “J. C. Penney ?!”

My checking account said, “Yeah, but $ 99 !”

In the end, my fashion sense was the most persuasive.

It said clothes may make the man, but accessories make the clothes.

So I bought it.

On Saturday night, the Arkansas Young Professionals Network hosted its annual Black and White Ball. I figured this was the perfect opportunity for a testdrive of the $ 99 tux. If you found me in a corner of the Woman’s City Club, I might have pretended I was the subject of one of those fashion features you see in magazines, where someone with stunning personal style gives a recitation of who and what they’re wearing. Here is what I would have said :

“The tuxedo is Stafford, from J. C. Penney. The shirt came from Target. The necktie is from Karl Lagerfeld’s collection for H&M. The shoes were $ 8 at a thrift store.” I would hope people would fixate on the “Karl Lagerfeld” part, as opposed to the “J. C. Penney” part, and I would have pointed out that I had purposefully left the French cuffs of my shirt open and dangling, sans cuff links. I thought it made me look rakish.

Only nobody asked, which is not to say that nobody said anything. A friend of mine arrived in a tuxedo he had tailor-made in New York several years earlier. The suit was so pedigreed it even had a season. (It was a “winter” tux, he explained. ) Fanning his coat like a man selling fake Rolexes strung from the lining, he gave me a peek at the labels sewn behind his breast pockets. One read “Adolfo,” the designer ; the other, “Bloomingdale’s Men’s Shop.” The pants were flatfront, years before their time. (Mine were pleated, and the fabric had pulled a little around the hem. )

I paid him a compliment. He reciprocated with an... observation.

“Oh,” he said. “I see you went with Hollywood black tie.” He was referring to my long, skinny necktie, a sartorial preference over the bow tie. (Penney’s also sells a wing-collar shirt, pre-tied bow tie and cummerbund in a boxed set for $ 29. 99. ) He didn’t sniff as he said it, but its spirit was neutral, at best.

But I was already feeling somewhat inadequate.

The suit had seemed to fit well while I was in the dressing room at McCain Mall. The jacket and pants are sold as separates — $ 69. 99 for the coat, $ 29. 99 for the pants — in the traditional off-the-rack sizes. (Waist sizes in a tuxedo run about 2 inches roomier, so don’t immediately panic if you don’t find the size you wear in a pair of jeans. )

And I appreciated the package’s simplicity, in price point and in design. I’d rented tuxedoes for considerably less than $ 99 and others for considerably more. For the last wedding I was in, the groom selected a coat that resembled a cross between a Nehru jacket and the androgynous black leather duster Keanu Reeves wore in The Matrix. This was worn over a vest that, had it buttoned any closer to my throat, would have been a turtleneck. When I arrived at Men’s Wearhouse for my fitting, I commented to the salesman that I’d never seen a jacket quite like this one. He told me the only person he’d ever seen wearing one was Deion Sanders.

By contrast, the J. C. Penney tuxedo features a classic singlebutton closure and a notch lapel. The cut adheres to traditional suit-sizing, complete with the lack of nuance that suggests. The sleeves of the jacket were exactly the right length, but at the top I felt decidedly, disproportionately overpadded. Mostly I chalked this up to operator error, meaning I had erred by never developing broader shoulders.

It has been suggested that women who obsess over their outfits are dressing not to impress men, but other women. There is no mystery whatsoever about who men dress to impress. But self-esteem cannot develop, let alone overdevelop, in a vacuum ; the sense of competition merely becomes one of territorymarking. The question “do you rent or own ?” took on a whole new meaning. Most of the men I talked to at the Black and White Ball owned their suits. One of the sharpest-looking men I encountered was a young lawyer. His tuxedo featured a handsome vest with a scoop design and a nice fat bow tie he’d spent all afternoon scouring the Internet to teach himself to knot.

He had rescued the whole ensemble from life as a rental in the annual sale held by Paul Morrell Formalwear (one location each in Little Rock and North Little Rock ). The price was $ 40 — less than half mine. More than anything, the Black and White Ball proved that formality isn’t dead, but it is on deep discount.

I thought perhaps the guest of honor could settle things once and for all. The ball doubled as a fundraiser for a new penguin habitat planned for the Little Rock Zoo. At precisely 9 p. m., Jackie, a penguin visiting from the zoo in Fort Worth, waddled into the ballroom for a pep rally / photo op. The breed bound for Little Rock are African penguins. In place of the curvy, formalized boundaries between the black and white of their coats that distinguish some breeds — earning the tuxedo its “penguin-suit” status — Jackie and her ilk have a more mottled chest, capped by a blurry neckband resembling a Rorschach test. You know, Hollywood black tie.

I thought Jackie could be the ultimate arbiter of my tuxedo’s worthiness measured against everybody else’s. Jackie’s handler had scooped her up and extended her for inspection the way you might display a baby you’d like a politician to kiss. I moved in to get a closer look at Jackie, and for her to get a closer look at me.

But suddenly, Jackie was gone. I heard later that she had gotten anxious and was spirited away to a back room, where she threw up the fish she’d eaten for dinner. Her handler blamed it on too much excitement. Personally, I think it was the indignity of being confronted with so many people dressed pretty much like you, only better. I knew how she felt.

Copyright © 2001-2006 Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Inc. All rights reserved.

We Love Customer Feedback!

2005-12-20T15:46:00.000-05:00

We get comments every day on our websites - thankfully 99.99% positive
comments. This one, however, really made my day.

realname: camille cox

Comment: awesome site... loved all that you've done here. comparison chart w/the cars is so cool - sending all my kids here to shop

Rental vs. Purchase - Style Trends

2005-10-19T15:09:00.000-04:00

I was recently interviewed for a newspaper article asking about formalwear trends and the differences in rentals versus purchases. That is, were people renting the same type of tuxedos as they were purchasing?

Interesting question. Rentals are a short-term committment. People who rent are often younger and looking to make a sharper fashion statement (or perhaps not yet sure of their fashion level and more willing to experiment). We have noticed that "hot" rental tuxedos tend to be high fashion garments - Jean Yves Mirage - a prime example. Very sharp. But are these fashion tuxedos (mandarin collars, knee length coats) tomorrows powder blue puppies? Will you look back at photos in ten years time and wonder why on earth you wore that?

Far and away our best selling tuxedos are one and two button notch lapel tuxedos. These are classics that will stand the test of time and vagaries of fashion. We assume purchasers are thinking long-term and don't want to have to think if their formalwear is acceptable for the next invitation they receive.

But it got me to think about the differences between how men and women shop.

Women think nothing of buying an expensive formal gown and wearing it once, maybe twice. Average cost/wearing $xxx.xx. Men routinely ask us if their purchase will be in fashion in 5 to 10 years time and will wear it 3 or 4 times a year. Average cost/wearing - peanuts. (which, of course, proves the point it's cheaper to buy than rent - but I digress. . .).

What's the point? Why don't guys say to themselves, "Hey, I want to look different tonight. I'll buy an outstanding fashion tuxedo and know it will be retired within a year but look FANTASTIC while I'm wearing it"? Perhaps we should instead be asking why is it acceptable for a woman to spend hundreds (thousands) for one night?

I summarized the trends for the reporter as follows: customers who rent tend to be younger and tend to be looking for sharper fashions. Customers who buy tend to purchase for the long run and are willing to spice up their outfit with different vests/ties/cummerbunds over the course of time. Nonetheless, I couldn't help but envy 'eballroomgown.com' selling formalwear to women who will come back event after event to purchase another new outfit . . .

The Final Word on Orange and Powder Blue

2005-09-22T08:46:00.000-04:00

Fashion Victims

Every time Dumb and Dumber gets aired on TV, we at eTuxedo get a call from some misguided soul who wants a powder blue or orange tuxedo. The frightening thing about this is that people actually want to wear these to their weddings or proms, not just Halloween parties.

I'm all for people finding their own style, but if you are seriously considering trying to wear one of these atrocities in public, I beg you to think of your date, bride, or anyone who may have sensitive eyes. You have every right to make a fool of yourself, but please consider the feelings of that woman you're lucky to have standing next to you. One day, she'll have kids of her own, and she'll be forced to explain to them why she was doomed to be seen in public next to you.

Think of all these before you go forward with your plans. If, after you have considered all of these factors, you are still determined to dress in a tuxedo that is orange, blue, purple, leopard print, or whatever, don't call us. We can't help you.

You'll have to buy them from a costume shop. The cheap variety can be bought at any Halloween store, especially around September or October, and will cost you around $50-$75. It won't fit you very well (see picture) and it'll be the cheapest polyester known to man, which means you'll be suffocating in a matter of minutes.

If you're buying this for a wedding, you'll want something of a better quality. You'll need to call around to higher end, professional costumers. I'm talking about the companies that make costumers for movies and huge on-stage productions. Your tuxedo will be custom made and will cost you somewhere around $1,000.

We're sorry we don't have better news, but mercifully, there are no reputable tuxedo shops that make these kind of tuxedos.

Renting or Buying: A web designer's point of view

2005-09-20T08:47:00.000-04:00

If you had asked me what field I’d be working in when I was in high school, menswear retail wouldn’t even have been considered as an option. I had no interest in the field whatsoever. I wore a t-shirt and jeans to school every day. When I wanted something dressier, I’d wear black jeans instead of blue jeans.

Flash forward seven years and here I am, the web designer for one of the largest on-line menswear retailers in the world. Funny how things work out, isn’t it?

I still remember my senior prom and the terrible time I had at President Tuxedo. The lady they had taking my measurements was barely older than I was and acted like a complete flake. It was obvious to me that she didn’t care about her job or her clients at all. She showed up, PT paid her, that was the extent of her concern.

I wound up having to make four separate trips to President Tuxedo. Of course, gas didn’t cost nearly as much back then, but as a senior, I had a lot of demands on my time. The first trip was to get measurements taken. The second trip was to pick up the tuxedo, which wasn’t there even though the clerk I’d spoken to on the phone said it was. The third trip (hours before I was supposed to pick up my prom date) was to pick up the tuxedo again, which had just shown up. Then I had to make a fourth trip the morning after to return it.

Being young and inexperienced, I’d never worn a tuxedo before. I didn’t understand why it was considered a big formality to wear something made of scratchy black material and break a sweat before I’d even started dancing because this sandpaper I was wearing didn’t breathe at all either. I had come to the natural conclusion that being uncomfortable was just a part of dressing up.

I’d been working for eTuxedo for about four years when one of my close friends became the first in our group to get engaged. By that time, I’d photographed hundreds of tuxedos and suits for our site and I’d had the opportunity to feel many different fabrics and materials. I knew that “comfortable tuxedo” didn’t have to be an oxymoron. I took the groom aside and told him about what I do here at eTuxedo and gave him a first-hand comparison of what he’d get at a rental store and what he’d get from an establishment like ours.

Rental stores want you too look good in your wedding photos. The quality of the fabric, the difference between real cufflinks and plastic ones with gold or silver paint, these are the kinds of things that wedding photos won’t show. But what’s even more important than the wedding photos in the memories they represent.

The groom decided to go with rental tuxedos despite my best attempts to dissuade him. The wedding came and went and we all survived. It was a beautiful ceremony and the couple was very happy with how it turned out, but one of the things I’ll remember standing up there as a groomsmen was how hard it was to stand still with that itchy, unlined fabric against my legs. (Rental tuxedo pants are not lined so that they’re easier to adjust; retail tuxedo trousers are lined so that they are less irritating to wear.) Even at the reception in the air-conditioned hall, I felt hot and uncomfortable. When I looked up at the groom at his table, his face which seemed to be getting redder and wetter. Not only that, but his hand went under the table every minute or so to scratch his legs. I could tell he felt the same way I did.

When all is said and done, buying a tuxedo costs more than renting. We all know it. But what a lot of people don’t know is that it doesn’t have to cost that much more. We offer entire tuxedo packages for $169. These are tuxedos that feel like real clothing, not sandpaper. They come with cufflinks and studs that are real metal, not cheap-looking plastic. The pants are lined so that the groom and groomsmen don’t have to scratch their legs every three seconds. And best of all, you can get these tuxedo packages without making four trips to the local rental store.

I may not wear a suit and tie to work every day, but I know this much. When the time comes for me to get married, I’ll be buying my tuxedo and having the groomsmen buy them as well. They may complain about the extra cost beforehand, but when they’ve just gone through an entire ceremony without breaking a sweat just by standing still or struggling to keep their hands from scratching themselves, I’m confident they’ll thank me for insisting they be dressed in something better.

What size should I order?

2005-08-18T15:39:00.000-04:00

The most common question we get at eTuxedo is customers who want to know how to determine what size they need to order. Here's how to take your measurements and what they mean:

Coat Size
There are two different ways to measure your chest size. Both require the help of a friend.

1. Raise your arms out to the side. Place tape measure around your back and across the fullest part of your chest, just below the armpits. When you lower your arms, your chest will expand slightly. Take this chest measurement, inserting one finger between measuring tape and chest for a comfortable fit. This is your jacket size.

2. Keep your arms at your side and place the measuring tape around your back on top of your shoulder blades, and across the fullest part of your chest, over your arms. Subtract 6 inches. This is your jacket size. This method is preferable for gentlemen with an athletic build.

Use the following guide to determine which coat length you'll need:
Regular = 5' 7" to 5' 11"
Short = 5' 4" to 5' 7"
Long = 5' 11.5" to 6' 2.5"
Extra Long = 6' 3" & up

Waist Measurement
Place the measuring tape around your natural waist just below the navel. This is your waist size. Some gentlemen have disproportionately large hips or thighs compared to their waist measurement. It may be necessary for these men to order a larger waist size.

Shirt Measurement
Collar: Place the tape measure around your bare neck, just below the Adam's apple, where your collar would typically button. Measure loosely enough for comfort. This is generally a number between 15 and 18. Dress shirts come in 1/2 inch increments from 14.5 to 19 and 1 inch increments from 20 to 22.

Sleeve: Place the tape measure at the base of your neck in back. Extend the tape over the broadest part of your shoulder and down the length of your arm to approximately 1" - 1 1/2" below the wrist bone. In necessary, round up to the nearest inch. This is generally a number between 32 and 35. Dress shirts generally come in average sleeve lengths such as 32-3 (meaning a sleeve length to cover a 32 to a 33 inch sleeve) and 34-5. Tall men’s shirts (generally someone over 6’3”) are 36-7.

Vests
As frustrating as it is, vest sizes, like all clothing, can vary from one company to the next. With the exception of one, all of our vests have a full back, so it's easier to determine the size. Refer to your coat size and use this chart to determine your vest size.
S: 36-38
M: 40-42
L: 42-44
XL: 46-48
1X: 50-52
2X: 54-56
3X: 58-60
4X: 62-64

Sizing Guidelines can also be found on our website at these 2 locations.
Flash Version
HTML Version

Welcome to Tuxedo Talk!

2005-08-18T14:25:00.000-04:00

At tuxedo talk, we'll post answers to questions we frequently get regarding tuxedos, tuxedo accessories, formalwear, and men's suits. We'll also post news about the world of men's fashions and the latest trends regarding tuxedos for weddings, proms.

Most importantly, we at eTuxedo hope to use this blog as a means to communicate with the general public so we can learn about what they need and how we can meet those needs. We welcome your comments, tuxedos stories, questions and pleas for advice.

My name is Zach. I'm the web designer for eTuxedo and its corresponding websites, esuit, eblazer and ecufflink. I look forward to building this blog into something useful for both the staff and customers here at eTuxedo.

Zach