The suit is still the most elegant item of clothing a man can wear so long as its cut, colour, fabric and style suit the occasion, time of day, the season of the year and the climate.

The Cut
By a good cut, we mean the basic pattern that has been used again and again since the 1930’s, irrespective of fashion and trends. The cut of a tailored men's suits should look natural and bring out the best in its wearer.
A thin, small boned man should go for suits with a narrow cut and no shoulder padding, narrow lapels and close-fitting trousers.
An athletic, broad shouldered man will not require shoulder padding either and the suit should be cut to his natural measurements.
If the wearer is a large gentleman, it is even more advisable to avoid anything in the cut that will make him look larger, opting ideally for XXL sizes and king size tailoring.
 

Formal Dress
The name Tuxedo stems from Tuxedo Park, New York, where the jacket is said to have been first introduced in 1886. In German speaking countries, it is called a “smoking” and in England it is a “dinner jacket”.
“Black tie”, “White tie”, tails or tuxedo are all classic invitations to a formal occasion which always indicates what the guest is expected to wear.
As the name suggests, a black bow tie is traditionally worn with a tuxedo and the indication “black tie” means that this is the correct form of evening dress. A white bow tie should be worn with tails, and “white tie” thus indicates this.

The old school will say that there is a very definite set of rules for black tie. The Well Dressed Gentlemen’s Pocket Guide suggests for “formal indoor occasions in the evening a dinner jacket, black or midnight, single or double breasted with a shawl collar or peaked lapels, trousers without turn-ups with silk braids. French cuffed shirts with a regular or wing collar in white, ecru or light blue with hand tied bow tie in black, blue or patterned silk.”

Things are little more relaxed these days, but that’s not to say that a little of the old school won’t go a long way.

While I know it sometimes can’t be helped, it is worth investing in your own tuxedo. Fate can play cruel tricks on you and I have been the unfortunate recipient of a rented tux once before. There goes my reputation! The damn thing was cut for a size range 30 to 38, with some adjustable side tabs to take care of the fit. I cannot express strongly enough the benefit of owning your own.

Correct.

Depending on the style and the amount of wear, it is quite possible to have one for the rest of your life. So think smart , avoid superfluous detailing and you’ve got yourself an excuse to get dressed up for the next 40 years. There’ll be no concern when an event comes around and all you’ll need is a well-pressed, crisp white shirt and a bow tie. Though these days, a regular black tie will suffice.

The dinner jacket is the English name for a tuxedo (it refers to the whole suit) and its origins are one of classic rule breaking, albeit by the King of England. In 1860, the then Prince of Wales, soon to be King of England, had his tailor make a suit for that frustrating middle ground between super formal white tie and less so lounge suit. The great Henry Poole & Co came up with the dinner jacket.

A few years later an American guest of the Prince asked what his dinner dress recommendations were and was sent to his tailor. Retuning to New York with his new suit, it proved so popular that members of the Tuxedo Park Club starting copying him. At the club’s autumn ball a member asked “why does his jacket not have coattails on it?” The member misheard and told his friends that it was a tuxedo, when in fact the person had said he was from the Tuxedo Park Club.