Men's Tuxedo Shirts Guide

A men's tuxedo shirt is the formal dress shirt built for black tie: a white shirt whose front is designed to be seen between a dinner jacket's lapels - pleated or Marcella pique bib front, a collar made for a bow tie, and studs and cufflinks in place of ordinary buttons. It is the most rule-bound shirt in menswear, and the rules are the point: within them, the choices are precise and few. This guide is built around the questions buyers actually ask: which style, which size, which fabric, and what will it look like after a year of real use - answered in order, with the trade-offs stated plainly.

Styles and Construction

The front divides the field. A pleated front (narrow vertical pleats either side of the placket) is soft, traditional and forgiving; a Marcella front - a stiffened pique bib - is crisper, more formal and the classic partner to a peaked-lapel jacket. Collars divide likewise: the turndown collar takes a self-tied bow tie and is the modern standard; the wing collar stands behind the bow and belongs to the most traditional (and white-tie) end. Studs replace the front buttons below the bib, French (double) cuffs take cufflinks, and the cloth is fine cotton broadcloth or poplin - anything heavier looks like a business shirt in costume. Mother-of-pearl or onyx studs are the jewelry decision; keep them matched as a set.

A top earns its keep in finishing: seams that hang straight and stay even at eight to twelve stitches per inch, collars and plackets that lie flat after washing, buttons sewn with thread shanks so they sit in their holes without pulling. Hold the cloth to the light - a tight, even weave or knit outwears a loose one at the same labeled weight, and pattern pieces cut on grain keep the garment from twisting around your body by the third wash.

Fit and Sizing

A tuxedo shirt fits like the best dress shirt you own, with two formal additions: the collar must close comfortably with a bow tie tied at it - a collar that only closes empty will strangle by the toasts - and the cuff must show the regulation half-inch beyond the jacket sleeve with links in. Bib fronts should sit smooth under the jacket's closure. Size by neck and sleeve like any dress shirt, and try the full assembly - shirt, bow, jacket - before the event, not during it.

Fit tops shoulders and chest first, because tailors cannot cheaply move either: the shoulder seam ends at the shoulder bone, the chest closes without pulling, and both arms raise without the hem escaping the waistband. Tucked lengths must stay tucked sitting; untucked lengths should end mid-fly. Sleeves are the cheap alteration, shoulders the permanent one - reject a wrong shoulder for any reason, forgive a long sleeve for many.

Wearing and Care

Formal shirts earn professional laundering more than most: the bib and pleats press best on proper equipment, and a crisp front is half the outfit. At home, wash cool and gentle, never bleach a Marcella bib aggressively, and iron pleats from the back. Store the shirt hung, with studs and links kept in their box beside it - the set you can find in the dark, dressed, is the set you own in practice.

Launder tops by the label with three defaults: cool or warm water to protect color and trims, dark and printed pieces inside out, and low or line drying, which is the largest single lever on a shirt's lifespan. Fasten buttons and zips before washing to protect the whole load, treat stains before the dryer can set them, and store knits folded so their shoulders keep the shape they were knitted with.

The shirt is one part of a system - see the dinner suit guide for the whole black tie ensemble and how the pieces fit together.

Background and History

A tuxedo shirt is a type of dress shirt worn with a tux. A dress shirt , button shirt, button-front, button-front shirt, or button-up shirt is a garment with a collar and a full-length opening at the front, which is fastened using buttons or shirt studs. A button-down or button-down shirt is a dress shirt which has a button-down collar – a collar having the ends fastened to the shirt with buttons. In British English, "dress shirt" ("formal shirts," or "tuxedo shirts" in American English) means specifically the more formal evening garment worn with black- or white-tie. Some of these formal shirts have stiff fronts and detachable collars attached with collar studs. The shirt that is to be worn with a tuxedo is not the same as a typical dress shirt that one would wear with a suit, blazer or sport jacket. The tuxedo shirt is styled differently. Three common styles would include a pleated front, bib front, or plain tuxedo front. You can find a nice amount of information