In the 1850’s dinner suits or tuxedo’s as they are also called with shorter jackets were designed. They were considered a more practical and casual alternative version of long tails. But still with enough elegance to dine formally. Over their years their popularity hasn’t faded. We have had many iconic dinner suit wearers in that time, especially if you are a fan of the James Bond films.

Dinner suits help you look more sophisticated. But what do you need to look for when picking men’s dinner suits?

Be Careful Choosing Patterns

Patterns are best avoided if you want your dinner suit to stand the test of time. Fashions come and go. Therefore, unless you want your dinner suit back hiding in the wardrobe after it’s no longer the favoured trend stay away from patterns.

Think About Colours

You cannot go wrong with neutral colours. Especially the classic black jacket and trousers and crisp white shirt combination we are all so familiar with. Other popular choices are navy or midnight blue. Although these do fall out of fashion at times. Although fortunately colours like this also appear more like black anyway under artificial light, so you might still be able to get away with wearing them.

Event Type

If your invited to a “white tie” event this is considered the most formal event and has quite strict guidelines about what you can wear. In this case you should wear full tails alongside your white tie and no cummerbund as you will wear a white waistcoat instead. But for “black tie” events such as traditional English weddings then a dinner suit is perfectly acceptable.

Polish Your Shoes

At the type of event you would be wearing a dinner suit there are already set ideas about the best types of shoes to be wearing. Usually, loafers or oxford shoes are the preferred option. Avoid wearing brown shoes might not be a complete fashion faux pas, but black is favoured for the traditionalists. There is even a saying “no brown in town”, however there is no denying that navy dinner suits work well with brown shoes.

Finish The Look

If you don’t have a waistcoat then a cummerbund will help your shirt look tidy. Cufflinks are a way to bring in a little bit of your personality to what you are wearing. Everyone will look very similar in their dinner suits; however, you can pick up fun and quirky cufflinks that make you stand out. Cufflinks are also a sign of status and wealth; you can choose cufflinks with gemstones. The diamond art deco cufflinks from Jacob & Co would set you back about £473,000!

Keep It Looking Good

After putting so much thought into picking a dinner suit you will want to keep it looking good. Make sure you always open the buttons when you sit down, this stops the shape being ruined. Not only does it keep your suit looking its best, but it can also make you feel more relaxed at formal events.

Whilst it’s a good idea to open the suit buttons when you sit down, make sure all the buttons on your shirt stay closed. If you feel you need to one open at the top makes it times to buy a new shirt that fits better!

The Lapel

You can choose dinner suits with peaked, shawl or notched lapels. The formality of the event you are attending will help you decide which would be most suitable. Peaked lapels are the most formal choice, just because of their associated with full tailcoats. Notch lapels are considered best for more everyday events. But to be honest personally I didn’t see much difference in it! But for the people attending these types of events it does matter. Shawl lapels are the most traditional, as the first ever dinner suit had a shawl lapel, so they work well in most events too.

Hopefully you have a few ideas to help you choose your dinner suit now. Enjoy your event!