# Men: How many times have you worn a tux? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 10, 2014, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-how-many-times-have-you-worn-a-tux/690514 "2014-06-10T23:49:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2014, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-how-many-times-have-you-worn-a-tux/690514/21 "2014-06-11T04:40:14Z")
Given that I didn’t wear a tux for my wedding, it’s hard to imagine another occasion that would rate wearing one. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2014, 7:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-how-many-times-have-you-worn-a-tux/690514/22 "2014-06-11T07:04:12Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > Given that I didn’t wear a tux for my wedding, it’s hard to imagine another occasion that would rate wearing one. Likewise. Of course, I live in a country where a shirt with buttons is considered formal wear. ---
**Author:** ![kk\_fusion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kk_fusion/32/15276_2.png) [@kk\_fusion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kk_fusion)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2014, 7:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-how-many-times-have-you-worn-a-tux/690514/23 "2014-06-11T07:28:14Z")
Infrequently enough that I had to look up what it is. I might have had to wear a tux once for the captain’s gala on the cruise ship at age 17. ---
**Author:** ![Dead\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9fc29f/32.png) [@Dead\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dead_Cat)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2014, 8:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-how-many-times-have-you-worn-a-tux/690514/24 "2014-06-11T08:00:53Z")
I reckon 11-20, as I have sung in one on a number of occasions, but as I’m still quite early in my amateur singing career (and my choir usually dispenses with the jacket), I haven’t built up that many yet. Have also been to a few proms and formal events where black tie was _de rigeur_, if not absolutely essential. As such I do own my own (cheap) dinner suit and it has certainly paid its way compared with what the cost of hiring each time would have been. ---
**Author:** ![Stanislaus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stanislaus/32/3391_2.png) [@Stanislaus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stanislaus)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2014, 8:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-how-many-times-have-you-worn-a-tux/690514/25 "2014-06-11T08:33:33Z")
At University, I was part of a debating society whose officers had to wear them on the formal Friday night debates. There were also a fair few formal balls etc. Occasions like that have obviously tapered off a lot since then but I’ve probably worn a tux about 100 times. I started off feeling awkward and too formal, then learned to appreciate it. Then I found it boring. You can try to jazz it up with cummerbunds and cuff-links, but basically you’re dressed like every other guy in the room. For the few black tie events I go to nowadays, I wear the kilt. Which is actually a pain in the arse compared to trousers/shirt/jacket/tie but has the advantage of being individual. The inverse rule of tux suavity: one guy in a tux looks like James Bond. 40 guys in tuxes look like waiters. (Or choristers, but that’s different - it’s a genuine uniform in that case.) ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2014, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-how-many-times-have-you-worn-a-tux/690514/26 "2014-06-11T12:35:39Z")
Three times. Senior prom 60 years ago and each of my two sons’ weddings. I wore a suit to my own wedding and also to my daughter’s. It is unlikely I will ever do it again. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2014, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-how-many-times-have-you-worn-a-tux/690514/27 "2014-06-11T12:56:59Z")
I was in choir from junior high through college, and we wore tuxes for most concerts. I got up to 30 without considering special performances around Christmas time or choir camp or the handful of dates I wore it on. EDIT: Oh, crap. Like brad\_d, I probably should have went with 50+. I neglected band concerts, which would easily give me 12 more, definitely getting me over 50 with the other things I mentioned. ---
**Author:** ![Crotalus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crotalus/32/41_2.png) [@Crotalus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crotalus)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2014, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-how-many-times-have-you-worn-a-tux/690514/28 "2014-06-11T12:59:10Z")
I own one (it’s actually my third one) due to a wedding-reception band I was in throughout the 90s. I wear it a couple of times a year now, charity balls and holiday dances. I voted 50+; the actual number is probably \>500. ---
**Author:** ![OneCentStamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2014, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-how-many-times-have-you-worn-a-tux/690514/29 "2014-06-11T13:01:45Z")
6-10. Prom, a few weddings including my own first. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2014, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-how-many-times-have-you-worn-a-tux/690514/30 "2014-06-11T13:16:19Z")
> [@zoid](#): > > I bought my own if that tells you anything. I should have bought one… while getting my BA in music, I also played in a brass quintet and performed all over the Bay Area. Well over 50 times over five years. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2014, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-how-many-times-have-you-worn-a-tux/690514/31 "2014-06-11T13:54:57Z")
Just three, I think - for a formal dance while I was in law school, at a friend’s wedding, and when I was an extra on _The Avengers_. I don’t own one. ---
**Author:** ![Sterling\_Archer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Sterling\_Archer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sterling_Archer)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2014, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-how-many-times-have-you-worn-a-tux/690514/32 "2014-06-11T14:43:07Z")
I answered 6-10 but I forgot I used to wear a tux all the time in HS choir. Correct answer is 50+ ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2014, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-how-many-times-have-you-worn-a-tux/690514/33 "2014-06-11T15:27:47Z")
I’m invited to a “Black Tie” event every summer. About half the men are in some sort of tux, the rest, like me, are in a dark suit. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2014, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-how-many-times-have-you-worn-a-tux/690514/34 "2014-06-11T15:34:51Z")
50+ The Knights of Columbus Fourth Degree Colors Corps regalia is a tuxedo, together with plumed chapeaux, cape, and sword. I own a tux and have been to hundreds of colors corps events. ---
**Author:** ![Icarus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icarus/32/72_2.png) [@Icarus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icarus)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2014, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-how-many-times-have-you-worn-a-tux/690514/35 "2014-06-11T15:56:33Z")
I own one. For formal dinner events. Anecdote - back in High School, my crew wore them to school one day as “models” to hand out flyers for the tux shop in advance of prom. I had white tie and tails. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![amanset](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8dc957/32.png) [@amanset](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amanset)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2014, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-how-many-times-have-you-worn-a-tux/690514/36 "2014-06-11T16:13:09Z")
6-10 but it might just sneak over 10. Used to own my own and went to all sorts of balls in the Upper Sixth and at University. Haven’t worn one in years though. Last time I had the opportunity was last Christmas, work had a Great Gatsby-themed party, but I went in the more relaxed attire of Tobey Maguire’s character in the Luhrmann film. I can, however, happily tie a bowtie. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2014, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-how-many-times-have-you-worn-a-tux/690514/37 "2014-06-11T16:15:20Z")
Zero. But I do have one of those tuxedo t-shirts. ---
**Author:** ![corkboard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9bcb4/32.png) [@corkboard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/corkboard)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2014, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-how-many-times-have-you-worn-a-tux/690514/38 "2014-06-11T16:33:57Z")
I answered 6-10, but then I actually counted and it was closer to fifteen, and then I remembered I wore one in a play in high school, so including rehearsals and performances, 21-50 is probably more accurate. So I screwed the poll. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2014, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-how-many-times-have-you-worn-a-tux/690514/39 "2014-06-11T16:40:53Z")
For awhile I ended up at a formal banquet or something about once a year, but like\*\* corkboard\*\*, a lot of my total came from high school plays. ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2014, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-how-many-times-have-you-worn-a-tux/690514/40 "2014-06-11T17:18:41Z")
And once I went to an ambassador’s reception! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-how-many-times-have-you-worn-a-tux/690514.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-how-many-times-have-you-worn-a-tux/690514.md?page=3)