tuxedo
A tuxedo is a man's suit of clothes in the black tie, semi-formal evening dress convention; the equivalent British English term is dinner jacket; the informal American term is tux, the informal British term is black tie.
Typically, the tuxedo dinner suit (of light-weight black or midnight blue wool) comprises a single-breasted, single-button stance, peaked-lapel coat and matching trousers with side seams decorated with an inch-wide cloth stripe matching the lapel facing. A white dress shirt with link cuffs, and a black, gross-grain bow tie, cummerbund, and shoes. The suit's sartorial details — cloth-covered or plain coat buttons; ruffle-, pleated-, or placket-front shirt; slipper, moccasin, or Oxford lace-up shoes; et cetera— are particular to the man's taste, not de rigueur.
The word tuxedo is American for men's evening dress; dinner jacket also is used, but mostly in the Northeastern U.S. Either usage, denotes and connotes the full suit of clothes. The tuxedo's history dates from 1860, when Henry Poole & Co. (Savile Row's founders), made a short smoking jacket for the Prince of Wales to wear at informal dinner parties.
Per sartorial legend, in spring of 1886, because of his pretty wife, Cora, Mr James Potter, a rich man from New York, was invited by Prince Edward VII of the United Kingdom to Sandringham, his Norfolk hunting estate. When Potter asked the Prince's dinner dress recommendation, he sent Potter to Henry Poole and Co., in London. On returning to New York, Potter's dinner suit proved popular at the Tuxedo Park Club; the clubmen copied him, soon making it their informal dining uniform.
Linguistically, the word tuxedo pre-dates dinner jacket by two years, according to the Oxford English Dictionary. Moreover, in the U.S., tuxedo is used in denoting any form of formal dress or semi-formal dress including white tie, morning dress, and strollers.
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