Tuxedo Shirt

Am I the only one who is tired of fashion designers forcing gender labels onto consumers?! Seriously, what is it going to take to remove the binary label and transition into a label-less industry of genderless fashion?! Fashion shouldn’t be about labels, but rather a mechanism to freely explore individuality and celebrate personal style.

Tuxedo Shirt

Like so many other garments, the tuxedo shirt is one of those pieces that is commonly described as a shirt for men, that is… blah, blah, BLAH. In continuing to push for a genderless industry, lets describe the tuxedo shirt as a formal shirt, generally paired with a tux, and worn to black tie events. But, how about we break away from the traditional, more formal way of wearing a tux shirt, and talk about how to wear it more casually.

Suit pants or trousers are the easiest bottoms to wear with the untucked pleated top. Just think – post-wedding or gala, when everyone is ready to turn up! The tux jacket comes off, the bowtie is loosened, and the shirt is untacked – all so that you are comfortable enough to have a good time. Given that visual description, it’s pretty easy to see an untucked tux shirt works well with trousers. I guess that’s why it was so easy for me to put together this get-up. But, while I do think that simplicity is key, I never want to appear too basic, which is why I added a jean jacket to the ensemble.

Fully Custom

I find shopping off the rack to be such a headache and extremely challenging. “Womenswear” is too feminine and “menswear” is too big. When I finally do find something that I like, it still needs to be tailored 🤦🏽So, I’ve given up and gone fully custom. Yep, everything about this look – jean jacket, shirt, and trousers are all custom made. But, before I talk about the whole look, let’s continue to focus on the tux shirt.

I let Shao take the lead on creating this tux shirt. She made a traditional wing tip collared shirt with a pleated bib front. Instead of adding the traditional french cuff sleeve, she went with a 3-button curved cuff sleeve. This minor detail allows for me to cuff my sleeve or wear it down like I did with this look (see below). The wing tip collar is great for a bowtie, but is especially beautiful and sexy when worn without one, and, left open. The stiffer collar doesn’t flop down like most collared shirts. It sits nicely around my neck, allowing for a super tailored look.

As I mentioned, this look is completely custom, some pieces are new and some are old, but all are definitely items that I have highlighted in the past. The idea is to create a modular wardrobe full of pieces that can be worn different ways, while continuing to highlight your personal style. Not to mention, custom clothing is longer lasting, and overtime, more cost effective.

Check out some of my similar pinstripe and jean jacket posts to see what I mean.

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