Tips on buying the perfect tuxedo for your wedding

So you’re ready to do it, eh? You’re ready to take your girl down the aisle and put a ring on her finger. And you’re wondering what you should wear when all eyes are on you.

If you’re not comfortable wearing a nonconformist wedding look (separate pants and jacket) but you don’t want a black suit either, there is a better choice: the tuxedo.

You can look at the tuxedo as a fancy dark suit. The wearer sends the following message when he wears it: the event that I’m attending is very important to me.

The things that define a tux are its satin insertions. The tux collars usually made of satin and, as you can imagine, it gives the groom (that’s you!) a very special aura. The jacket’s buttons are also made of satin. You may also find satin in other places such as the pockets or pants.

With that being said, here’s my best tips for buying that perfect tux.

First off, it has to fit you perfectly. I know I said this a million times before in regards with all clothes but this is critical. After all, it’s your own wedding.

Get a tux that’s the right size, then take it to a tailor for further adjustments. Here’s the entire checklist, make sure you go through it one by one:

– The jacket should allow for lots of movement in the shoulder area. Raise your arms until they are parallel to the ground and see if you feel any resistance. If you do, the tux jacket might be too small for you

– Don’t wear shoulder pads unless you have to. If you’re tall and/or well built, you don’t need them. if you’re of average height or shorter, you can choose a jacket with padded shoulders but make sure it’s the pad isn’t too obvious

– Pay good attention to the jacket’s length. Traditional tailors suggest it should end just below your behind but modern trends suggest a shorter jacket, that ends somewhere near teh middle of that anatomic part. 🙂

– Be extremely careful about the pant’s length. Do not, under any circumstances, let your pants break too many times at the base of your legs. Aim (just like in casual wear) for a perfect fit. ideally, the pants should end right on the sole of your shoes.

Which reminds me: pay special attention to your shoes. Get a nice pair that matches your tux. You can even go for suede leather to make things interesting.

Off the rack or bespoke?

If you can, definitely go for a bespoke. The best way to ensure a great fit (and thus, clear the entire checklist above) is to let a professional tailor do the hard work.

Find a good tailor, tell him exactly what you want and he’ll do the rest. If you don’t know anyone, use the Internet to search and compare. If you’re located in Australia, I’ll save you the trouble and recommend one of the Germanicos tailors. (One thing that caught my eye is that they have over 3000 fabrics at their disposal!)

Color

I would recommend that you stick to a black tux, since you’re the groom. Starting with that, you can make the outfit more interesting by adding a nice pair of shoes (suede?) a nice belt (suede also?) a white shirt and a colored bow tie.

The bow tie can be anything really but it would be great if you could color match it with your pocket square, your floral decoration or – you guessed it – your bride.