All About Shirts

What are my neckwear options with each tuxedo shirt
style?

With wingtip and laydown tuxedo shirts, your best choice
would be a bow tie, 4-in-hand tie, euro tie, or sharpe tie.
With your mandarin and crosswick tuxedo shirts, you can
only wear a button cover (no ties).

Differences in Tuxedo Shirt Fabric?

Tuxedo shirts can be broken into 5 main fabric
categories:

1) 100% cotton = obviously, 100% cotton. This is a high-
quality shirt. Cotton is available in different textures. If
your budget allows, the finer cotton tuxedo shirts are
available in "cotton crepe" (available in the "Edward" or
"Charles") or your Super 100's 2-ply cotton (available in
the "Salvo" or "Grande").

2) poly/cotton blend = combination of both polyester and
cotton. The combination makes the shirt a little "lighter"
than your 100% cotton shirts. This is the style shirt that
you would most likely receive at a formal wear specialist
(rental store).

3) microfiber = these shirts have a soft, almost silky
texture. Very light weight and comfortable. (Tallia makes
very nice microfiber shirts = "Bob" or "Glen").

4) pique = little bump texture (used most often during
ultra formal "White Tie" affairs). Fumagalli currently
makes a nice pique tuxedo shirt ("Harold" or "George")

5) pinwale = vertical line texture down shirt

French Cuffs vs. Convertible Cuffs?

French cuffs is the term used when the cuffs on your shirt
need to be folded up. Convertible cuffs is the term used
when the cuffs on your shirt do not have the extra fabric
needed to fold the cuffs up. In general, french cuffs are a
little more prestigous. Usually, your 100% cotton shirts
are available in "french cuffs" and your poly-cotton shirts
are available with "convertible cuffs."

What tuxedo shirts are most popular today?

The laydown collar tuxedo shirts are the most popular
today. If your finances allow, we recommend that you
purchase both a wingtip shirt and laydown shirt. Both
options will give enable you to mix up your look a bit.

Do I have to wear studs & cufflinks with tuxedo shirts?

Yes. Although there are standard plastic buttons on the
shirt that you can use to fasten, a tuxedo without formal
jewelry is a dead give-away for someone who doesn't
know how to dress formally. Definitely wear jewelry with
your tuxedo shirt.