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A Guide to Tuxedo Shirts And Styles

Giorgio D'Antonio

A Guide To Tuxedo Shirts And Styles

A Guide to Tuxedo Shirts And Styles - bow tie and studs

If you find your­self invit­ed to a black (or white) tie gala event this hol­i­day sea­son, mak­ing sure you dress the part is para­mount. In this guide, we’re going to go over var­i­ous tuxe­do shirts and styles.

These types of events are gen­er­al­ly the most for­mal, and have spe­cif­ic dress codes so it’s best not to stand out like a sore thumb.

The pur­pose of this guide is to speak to the dress shirts that will be worn in the ensem­ble, specif­i­cal­ly tuxe­do shirts.

Tuxe­do shirts may seem con­fus­ing at first, but with a lit­tle knowl­edge you can make the right choice when the occa­sion calls for look­ing your best. The suit may make the man, but the right shirt is cru­cial to com­plet­ing the look, espe­cial­ly when it’s the kind of for­mal occa­sion that requires a tuxe­do.

There are a few basic tuxe­do dress shirt styles to choose from, along with some key details about the con­struc­tion you should con­sid­er.

You’ll want to set­tle on the type and col­or of your tuxe­do first, and then choose a tuxe­do dress shirt that will work well with the style.

 


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Construction details of a tuxedo shirt.

1. Fabric and Color for a tux shirt.

The clas­sic col­or choice is opaque white in fab­rics, like sol­id col­ored twill or a sub­stan­tial broad­cloth. A twill fab­ric typ­i­cal­ly has more of a sheen and is smoother to the touch, mak­ing it a good choice, espe­cial­ly where pho­tographs are involved.

Roy­al Oxford fab­ric pro­vides a sub­tle tex­tur­al con­trast.

A Guide to Tuxedo Shirts And Styles: wedding tux

The tux, a per­fect ensem­ble for wed­dings

2. Tux shirt collars.

Col­lar options for your tuxe­do shirt include the spread col­lar, which is the best option in most cas­es. The most for­mal of white tie events require a clas­sic wingtip col­lar.

A cut­away col­lar is not rec­om­mend­ed as it has a more casu­al look.

A Guide to Tuxedo Shirts And Styles: pleated front

A pleat­ed front shown on this tuxe­do shirt, paired with studs and a black bow tie

3. French Cuffs.

A tuxe­do shirt should be worn with cuff links, which require French cuffs. Both square and round­ed vari­eties are accept­able. The com­mon bar­rel cuff is typ­i­cal­ly too casu­al for a for­mal event.

A Guide to Tuxedo Shirts And Styles: French cuffs

Typ­i­cal French cuff shown here on a tux shirt

4. Tux shirt studs and buttons.

Most tuxe­do shirt styles are made with a remov­able but­ton strip. That means the top four (usu­al­ly) but­tons can be removed and sub­sti­tut­ed with studs.

Studs are dec­o­ra­tive and help to close the stiffer fronts of some tuxe­do shirt styles. Like cuff links, they add to the over­all effect and help cre­ate a pol­ished for­mal look.

In your dad’s day, they would use only three, but four has become the mod­ern stan­dard.

A Guide to Tuxedo Shirts And Styles: Studs on a tuxedo shirt with pleats

The top 3 or 4 but­tons are replaced with studs on a tux shirt

Different tuxedo shirt styles to pick from.

1. Plain Front Tuxedo Shirt.

This is the least for­mal of the options avail­able, fea­tur­ing a French plack­et, (or one that sim­ply folds over to cre­ate the but­ton areas, rather than involv­ing a sep­a­rate con­struc­tion.) It can be worn with or with­out

French cuffs, and its clean, uncom­pli­cat­ed look is per­fect for mod­ern tuxe­dos with a slim lapel. This is also your shirt of choice if you are wear­ing a straight tie, as opposed to a bow tie.

A Guide to Tuxedo Shirts And Styles: Plain front tuxedo dress shirt style

The ulti­mate tuxe­do shirt. Ours is a lux­u­ri­ous­ly soft Egypt­ian cot­ton pin­point from Sok­tas. Shown with an Eng­lish Spread col­lar and French cuffs.

2. Pleated Front Tuxedo Shirts.

The pleat­ed front is prob­a­bly the type of shirt most asso­ci­at­ed with a for­mal tuxe­do, worn with a bow tie. It fea­tures pan­els of pleat­ed fab­ric to each side of the but­ton front, with pleats usu­al­ly about 1/2-inch wide.

They are fash­ioned from the same fab­ric as the shirt for a per­fect match. This type of tuxe­do dress shirt looks best with a jack­et out­fit­ted with a shawl col­lar or notch lapel.

A Guide to Tuxedo Shirts And Styles: Pleated tuxedo shirt style

A pleat­ed tux shirt using studs instead of but­tons

3. Pique Bib Tuxedo Shirt.

This type of tuxe­do shirt goes best with the most for­mal of tuxe­dos, includ­ing a white tie affair, with a peak or shawl col­lared jack­et.

The bib front is made of a pique fab­ric and is sewn onto the front of the shirt on either side of the but­ton plack­et. It pro­vides a smooth look under your tuxe­do jack­et.

A pique bib tuxe­do shirt looks best with French cuffs and studs.

The perfect tuxedo shirt style suited for black or white tie galas.

Style, as they say, is all in the details. Match­ing the fab­ric, col­or, style, and con­struc­tion of your tuxe­do shirt to the tux you wear over it will give you a look that’s ele­gant, sophis­ti­cat­ed, and emi­nent­ly suit­able for for­mal black and white tie events.

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