I have always believed that one of the signs of male maturity is the ownership of a tuxedo (ok. This belief got much stronger a few years ago when I PERSONALLY bought a tux).
However, I am finding its much less utilized than I earlier expected.
While there is some question as to whether such clubs existed in the frequency portrayed in Hollywood, it does seem that society is becoming more casual.
I am seeing more suits at weddings.
Events classified as “formals” or “galas” often find gentlemen in suits and not tuxes.
Funerals and church seem go even one step further, with people dressing as if it were casual Friday.
With all of this decline in attire, does the tuxedo stand a chance? Will it join its former compadres, top hats and tails, in the dustbin of fashion?
Are you seeing the same decline or is it because I live in the South? Do you think one day we will all just wear star trek-esque body suits everywhere? Should I be bothered by the fact that I spent $1000 on a suit that makes me stand out like a sore thumb?
If I knew I was going to stick out, I would have bought an orange tux like Jim Carrey wore in Dumb and Dumber!
I think you’ll find that most people don’t know the difference between a suit and a tux. I know I don’t. And if you look at it that way, you’ll see that plenty of people still dress up.
And I gotta say, I’m 26 and I’ve never seen anyone “dress up” for church. So that’s hardly a new trend.
I don’t know what it costs to buy a tux these days, but if $1,000 is reasonable, they are prohibitively expensive for people in the “needs to give a sign of male maturity” age group. That concern overrides fashion. I rented one for a friend’s wedding in April and I thought I looked great in it. I think the rental fee was about $140 with the wedding party discount. I’d buy a tux if I could afford it - but it’s not like I get invited to a lot of formal dinners, and so the risk of looking like a showoff would be real. And I’m not sure how many more friends’ weddings are in my immediate future.
I think cost is a large part of it. For something that the average person is only going to be wearing on very rare occasions, it could easily be cheaper to rent one when needed than to buy one, especially figuring in the possibility of needing alterations down the road. You can buy a good suit for the same cost of renting a tux once or twice, and you’ll probably wear it more often.
$1000 was an upper-middle brand tux with shoes and accessories.
The bad thing is, when I am in friends weddings (rarer and rarer as I get older and older), you have to rent as well because they all look slightly different.
I wore mine at “formal night” on a cruise (there were maybe 15-20% wearing tuxes) and once at a Halloween Murder Mystery party where I played royalty.
I think I bought it on a lark, as I already have dozen suits and half a dozen sport coats.
Renting would have been a smarter option, but even then the question remains “when do you rent?”
Jayn offers a good rationale:
It is just a shame that no one wants to be fancy anymore!
At $1,000, I would have had to wear that tux to seven weddings or other events - and let’s face it, there aren’t too many other tuxworthy events - for it to be a good investment. (Even then it’s a tough short-term investment.) That was the only wedding I’ve been invited to where the tux was required and it was only because I was in the wedding party, as an usher, so there just isn’t much need, nice as they are.
God I hope not. I own 6 tuxedos, and it’s tough enough to find an occasion to wear them as it is. But that seems to be what’s happening.
When I show up in a dinner jacket at some fancy dinner I’m usually the only guy dressed up that much. Then I have fun telling people where the bathroom is all night!
Yes, I do see far fewer men in tuxes at former tux occasions. I even see fewer men in suits at suit occasions and former men in jackets in nice restaurants. I hate it. Hate hate hate hate it.
That’s it exactly. For men. dressing up has gone from a matter of pride to an obligation, and it’s well on the way to a non-obligation and a nuisance. It’s losing its cachet of means and power, as more powerful men decide they need not bother with it.
Part of the change is that there is less social pressure to be “a gentleman,” leaving mostly the imperative to be “a man” or “manly.” A man and a gentleman are different roles. Sometimes they’re at odds. Style is more the concern of a gent, but it can also be seen as frivolous and vain. A manly man is uneasy with it at best. Frivolity is taboo to him, and he has more direct ways to show pride and vanity.
I have never seen a lot of tuxedo events. Don’t think it’s becoming more or less common. I doubt it was ever common. Maybe in the 1920s and for the rich. Maybe it’s regional too.
You shouldn’t be seeing any tuxedos at weddings. Tuxedos are dinnerwear. For weddings one wears morning dress if one is a groomsman or a suit if one is a guest.
I own a tux, and an additional white dinner jacket.
I belong to a fraternal organization that has at least two formal dinners per year locally, plus a national convention which has a formal dinner that requires white dinner jackets for the men.
It’s funny – I bought my tux in '93, my white dinner jacket in '94, and they have served me faithfully ever since.
My wife has to have a new dress for each event we attend, because, of course, she can’t wear anything anyone has ever seen her in before. Nor is she unreasonable (although I keep trying to tell her that she’s probably safe in wearing something she wore, say, six years ago on the grounds that no one remembers that far back, and the attendees will be different as well… but I digress) in her practice, since the “can’t wear what I wore before” seems to be a near-universal thing for women, and non-existent for men.
I think tuxedoes are becoming antiquated. They’re too expensive, too uncomfortable and really cheesy. I’ve worn them twice in my life, both times for weddings. Now that both of my brothers are married, I’m never going to wear one again. I don’t even own a suit anymore at this point. From now on, I’m wearing jeans and T-shirts no matter what the event. When I give away my daughters I’m going to be wearing shorts and a Vikings jersey. I’m done forever with monkey suits.
Hell, I got married in a (very nice tailored) suit.
Although I’ll never have pics like my old man in a cream tux with bell bottoms, wide collar, ruffles and black edging for his wedding. That thing looked sweet.
