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Seeking Some Tuxedo Help Please

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HAMBO

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Discussion starter · #1 ·
Hello everyone,

Have been a reader here for a while now, and had been doing research to help me select a tuxedo for a family wedding I am attending later this year. It's my second tuxedo purchase (last one was 10 years ago), and I have learned a lot from reading on the forums here. Thanks!

I was at a dept store this weekend with my wife trying on a whole bunch of tuxedos, and then 'ta-da!' I found my favorite one. It's a very dark blue (perhaps a bit darker than midnight), Emporio Armani tuxedo with a shawl collar. Needs some alternations, and I have a great tailor here who I would certainly trust to make them.

However, after trying it on and bringing it to the cash to ring it up I flipped it upside down and noticed cue gasp a single / center vent on the jacket! I was quite surprised. I ended up buying it all the same since there was special promotion that day, and I could always return it I suppose. The jacket actually reminds me quite a bit of this Bond tuxedo from Skyfall (complete with single vent): Skyfall - Bond's Dark Blue Tuxedo in Macau » BAMF Style

I have read here over time that center vents are a faux pas on tuxedo jackets, but I loved the way it fit and looked overall. I was surprised to see the vent because the tuxedo wasn't exactly cheap, and I figured Armani has to know what they are doing... So I guess my questions are:

1) Is the rule of 'no single vents' really so hard and fast? Is there a regional / local element to it (I'm in California, where things tend to be permanently a bit more casual than other parts of the world)? In case relevant, I'm 41 years old, 5'8" and slim / average build.

2) If this is really a no-no, would it be practical to ask an expert tailor to seal the vent? I read a few posts here saying that's an option, but have people been happy with it, and are there any downsides re: flexibility of the garment for dancing, etc? Or would I be better off just looking for something else?

Here are pics in case helpful (pardon the wrinkles on the back). Appreciate any advice.

Thank you.

Image

Image

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#3 ·
A center vent is the preferred look for the American Trad. In a life of Tuxedos reaching back to the mid-1960s, I have never had anything else. No one not into fashion will notice, either way. Anyone into it, will know about this Trad preference. They may not follow it, but they will respect it. Keep it. Treasure it.
 
#5 ·
All you need to know about colour for formal wear is when they start calling it midnight blue tie instead of black tie you will know it's acceptable for mature adults to wear midnight blue. Don't be misled by costumes worn by fictional characters in male fantasy films...
 
#6 ·
vonSuess said:
All you need to know about colour for formal wear is when they start calling it midnight blue tie instead of black tie you will know it's acceptable for mature adults to wear midnight blue. Don't be misled by costumes worn by fictional characters in male fantasy films...
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Climb into the current millennium.
It's perfectly acceptable to wear midnight blue, a beautiful color giving a slight sartorial edge over a madding crowd drossing about in pancake flat black. As for the mature adult slight, the gentleman posting is 41. And know this, it's perfectly acceptable to take a cue from a well-dressed dude in a movie. My first blazer at age 20 was chosen because I liked the look of Peter O'Toole when he was wearing one in Woody Allen's What's New Pussycat in '65.
 
#8 · (Edited)
Mike Petrik said:
Leaving aside the WDJ, black Is the only proper color for black tie. The reason midnight blue is so welcome among well-dressed gents is because in most lighting it actually looks black, whereas true black tends to adopt a brown tint. Opposition to midnight blue is opposition to black.
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In other words, all cats are grey in the dark. We did address this in lighting classes in film school a bit and you can get away with a lot in diminished lighting. But there's no consistency to it. When the lights come up, there you are wearing blue. If that's the look you seek, by all means go for it. But if you really want to appear in black and consistently so, you should just wear black...
 
#9 · (Edited)
vonSuess said:
All you need to know about colour for formal wear is when they start calling it midnight blue tie instead of black tie you will know it's acceptable for mature adults to wear midnight blue. Don't be misled by costumes worn by fictional characters in male fantasy films...
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Completely outdated, and flat-out wrong take on this. It’s almost 2023… midnight has been a great option for years. Maybe you’re confusing midnight with navy.
 
#10 ·
smmrfld said:
Completely outdated, and flat-out wrong take on this. It’s almost 2023… midnight has been a great option for years.
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Like a lot of things, midnight is a great option for those who just think they have to be different. If you are going to choose your clothing by how it looks in the dark, almost anything will do. Funny how so many colours match in the dark yet somehow don't when the lights come on. What was that movie line? "No, I wasn't trying to be eclectic - I just got dressed in the dark today..."
 
Discussion starter · #11 ·
Thanks for the input everyone!

So the debate on color aside, sounds like generally folks wouldn’t worry about the center vent. Certainly welcome any other feedback on that topic, but that has been very encouraging to hear!

Thank you!
 
#12 ·
Peak and Pine said:
Climb into the current millennium.
It's perfectly acceptable to wear midnight blue, a beautiful color giving a slight sartorial edge over a madding crowd drossing about in pancake flat black. As for the mature adult slight, the gentleman posting is 41. And know this, it's perfectly acceptable to take a cue from a well-dressed dude in a movie. My first blazer at age 20 was chosen because I liked the look of Peter O'Toole when he was wearing one in Woody Allen's What's New Pussycat in '65.
Click to expand...
Current millennium? Evening wear in midnight blue goes back to the 1930s.

@vonSuess if you’re doing it right, nobody will notice the suit is midnight blue. It’s a shade of black. Evenings wear is meant for the evening, so no matter the lighting, blue shouldn’t be noticeable except in a brightly lit mens room. Even then, midnight blue is difficult to differentiate from black. I was looking through swatches at the Holland & Sherry office, and their books don’t label the colours except for black. Midnight blue is always next to black, and it’s very difficult to see a difference. But it’s a subtle difference that is felt rather than noticed. We’re not talking about navy, we’re talking about a shade of blue that looks like black.

As for the single vent, I would close it up. If you’re not going full-on Ivy League in your style, I think it’s wrong. A single vent doesn’t look elegant.
 
#14 · (Edited)
Center vents were considered a mismatch to dinner suits given their origin from the sportier side of men's fashion. Most people nowadays won't notice so enjoy your new tux. If you do want to close the vent, it's a minor operation for most any tailor.
 
#18 ·
Midnight blue has always been considered a perfectly acceptable, in fact some would say a superior, alternative to black. We're not talking about navy, which I personally don't care for in a dinner suit (ok maybe at home or a slightly less formal setting). I think some of the confusion may come from some cloth makers erroneously labeling their navy cloths as midnight blue. A true midnight blue should look black and have no blueish shade at all.
 
#19 ·
Mute said:
Midnight blue has always been considered a perfectly acceptable, in fact some would say a superior, alternative to black. We're not talking about navy, which I personally don't care for in a dinner suit (ok maybe at home or a slightly less formal setting). I think some of the confusion may come from some cloth makers erroneously labeling their navy cloths as midnight blue. A true midnight blue should look black and have no blueish shade at all.
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Here's a photo of my midnight blue dinner suit from when I wore it on Saturday.

Image


It's from Holland & Sherry's Classic Mohair bunch and it's the cloth their label 'midnight' (284603). It might be one of those cloths labelled 'midnight blue' that's a little lighter than true midnight. But it doesn't draw attention to being blue. In real life at the dimly lit event I attended, I doubt anyone would have noticed it was blue. The facings and cuffs are a true midnight blue, while the bow tie is black. I tried getting a midnight blue bow tie that matched the lapels, but I couldn't find one that's dark enough, and the black looked better. The facings were unfortunately too heavy for my tailor to make into a matching bow tie.

What's really awful is when bright navy dinner suits are sold as 'midnight blue'. This is frequently the case. Many people are under the impression than midnight is lighter than navy.
 
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