Thursday, March 22, 2007

Finding a Women’s Tuxedo

When someone thinks of a tuxedo, it is rare that they think of a woman wearing one. The traditional image is that of a man in a tuxedo and a woman wearing a dress. But in modern business, more and more women are getting positions high up in companies. To succeed in the corporate world, a woman must display an air of professionalism and confidence. By wearing a tuxedo, a woman can show that she is equal to men by dressing similar. But this doesn’t mean that a woman has to wear an unflattering outfit. Women’s tuxedos can be complimentary to their body figure, and look classy without looking too manly. If you want to buy a woman’s tuxedo, you should make a careful choice.

Men’s tuxedos have always followed a very rigid form factor, requiring each component to meet preset guidelines that have been in place for decades. However, women’s tuxedos don’t have such specific requirements, and will allow you to piece together your own personal outfit that you feel looks good on you. The individual pieces of a woman’s tuxedo are the same as those for men, including the dress shirt, coat, cummerbund, and pants. The internet is a great source of these various different components, and many sites offer formal clothing for women.

The main variations usually occur with the upper portion of the woman’s tuxedo. One popular option is to have a vest arrangement. This includes a long sleeve dress shirt underneath the jacket, then a sleeveless jacket underneath. This is a popular look for businesswomen. You may also choose to stick with a completely sleeveless arrangement, if you are going to be attending slightly less formal events. Mix and match various different choices to decide what compliments you the most, then stick with it.

Formal wear has always tended to favor men, but now that is becoming less and less true. If you are a woman looking for something nice to wear to formal events, you won’t have much trouble at all. A quick visit to local stores or internet shops will help you accumulate the components you need to create a very impressive outfit that will not only make you look pleasant, but also very professional.

The Components of a Tuxedo

A tuxedo is one of the nicest things that you can wear to an event. If you have been invited to any sort of classy event, you should look into purchasing or renting a tuxedo. But if you have never encountered a tuxedo before in the past, you will have to familiarize yourself with its components. There are several different things that make up a tuxedo, and at first glance they can seem like foreign objects. Here are the parts of a standard tuxedo, and how they fit together with the rest of the suit. Read through, and you will be much more skilled at buying a tuxedo.

There are two different kinds of coat styles that make up a tux depending on what you are doing. The Tail style is a tuxedo coat with fabric hanging down the lower back for a unique and classy look made for any formal occasion. The Cutaway style is a coat without the tail. It is suitable for any formal occasion before 6 P.M. Besides the jacket, there are several other things. The bow tie is fairly standard. You can find a small black bow tie at almost any clothing store, and there are few variations in the types that you can get.

The cummerbund is another very important part of the tuxedo. It is a broad, black sash that wraps around the waist of the wearer of the tuxedo. These are worn in a very specific way, and the technique of tying it was originally intended to allow the wearer to quickly insert a ticket stub when attending a classy show. It grew to be an integrated part of the tuxedo image, and now is considered to be an essential part.

Tuxedos have various other details that are very specific when it comes to how each part should look. For example, pants are generally required to have double stripes down the side, which perfectly match the material used in the lapel. If you are buying your tuxedo from a reputable dealer, then they will have paid attention to these details. But if you buy your tuxedo second hand or on the internet, you may fall victim to someone classifying a nice suit as a tuxedo despite the fact that it doesn’t technically fall into that category.

How to Save Money with Tuxedo Rentals

Every man should have a fitting tuxedo in his closet. If you don’t have one, then you should consider buying one as soon as possible. You will probably end up attending dozens of events in your lifetime that will require a tuxedo, and it is a good idea to have one that you can call your own. But if you are in need of one as soon as possible and you don’t have time to have one made for you, you can also consider renting one. It is an acceptable substitute for buying one, and will save you money in the short run (but definitely not for the long term).

A tuxedo usually is black in color, but they do come in a variety of other colors and patterns for you to buy or rent. What tuxedo you get depends on the style you like better or the occasion you are attending. If you are planning to attend a wedding ceremony, the ideal tuxedo is black. If you plan on attending a dance, such as prom, the color and style is all up to you. Sometimes there is a theme, and then you pick out a tux that fits the mood properly. You always want to look good when wearing a tux. Therefore you should be very precise about what you choose when renting a tuxedo, especially since you don’t have to make a long-term commitment to a color.

By adding even a single day to the time that you rent your tuxedo, you will increase the cost in leaps and bounds. If you are renting it for a wedding, you should try to get the time down as little as possible. A 24 hour rental will be much cheaper than one that lasts for 3 days or more. Therefore it is helpful if the dress rehearsal is planned for the night before the wedding. If it is any earlier, you may consider speaking with someone and trying to get permission to wear something besides the final tuxedo to the dress rehearsal. It will allow you to stall for the little bit of time required to save you hundreds of dollars.

Speak with employees at your local tuxedo rental shops, and see what kinds of deals they offer, and how you will be able to work this in with whatever event you are looking forward to attending.

Buying Tuxedo Accessories to Stand Out

In an event that will consist of mostly men in tuxedos, it can be very difficult to set yourself apart from everyone else. There aren’t many deviations you can make on a tuxedo before it comes something else. Therefore, the only option to stand out in a tuxedo is to buy accessories which will go along with the suit. There are many different accessories that you can choose from, and each of them will add a slightly different spin to your outfit. So read on, and find out about the choices that you have when accessorizing your tuxedo.

There are 3 different kinds of lapels for your tux. Having a different lapel than the usual will give you a chance to add a personal touch to an outfit that has become fairly standardized over the years. The notch lapel is a lapel with a subtle indentation at the point where the true collar meets the lapel. The peak lapel is a more continental style with extended lapels that point towards the shoulders. It accentuates the shoulders, making them appear broader, while making the torso appear slimmer than normal.

Lastly, the shawl collar lapel is a classic, seamless, uninterrupted collar and lapel that is slightly curved and tapers towards the point of the waist button. Any collar shirt will look fine with a tuxedo. It looks best in white. It is also nice to get buttons and other fancy accessories to pin to the coat. Any type of dress pants that match the upper part of the suit are recommended, to create the most ideal matching aesthetic for your entire outfit. Put the pieces in the right order and it will look fine.

When choosing tuxedo accessories to wear along with your suit, you should never go for anything too extravagant. You want to add a personal touch to your suit, and not weigh yourself down with all sorts of little bells and whistles. If you are going to be attending a very formal event such as a wedding, you should be sure to ask beforehand and make sure they aren’t hoping that you will follow some sort of strict dress code. Usually you won’t have a problem, but it’s best to avoid any sort of embarrassment.

What to Wear to Black Tie Events

Many men spend a lot of time struggling over the choice of what to wear to black tie events. In truth, it is completely unnecessary to spend any time debating over this choice. The answer has been with you the whole time, but you just haven’t known where to look for it. The event invitation itself spells out exactly what you should wear. You just need to know the wording to look for when reading it. So go grab your black tie event invitation and compare it to some of the following phrases, and see if you can’t determine what to wear simply based on the invitation.

If the invitation simply states that it is a black tie event, you should assume that it will be standard fare for men to be looking their best in tuxedoes. Your attire at this event should not be constrained at all. Spend whatever it takes to get a nice tuxedo that fits you properly, so that you can feel comfortable amongst the rest of the people present.

The invitation may be phrased in a way that includes the word “preferred”. This means that the dress code is more relaxed than normal. It is a good idea to wear a nice tuxedo, but if you don’t have one immediately available then it is also acceptable to resort to other types of dress suits. On the other hand, it might say that black tie attire is “optional” or “invited”. This means that you won’t look silly showing up decked out in a nice tuxedo, but you certainly aren’t required to wear one.

Semi-formal or white tie events give you many more options when picking out an outfit to wear. You can choose any type of jacket or tuxedo to wear to one of these events. However, the scope is usually a lot wider, and most of the time the attendees will all dress fairly similarly. You will have to use common sense and consider what kind of event you are attending, and what kind of clothes everyone else will be wearing. If you know someone that will be attending as well, you should get in touch with them and find out what they will be wearing to serve as a guide for yourself.