12 common tuxedo mistakes

Most tuxedo mistakes lie not in the suit but in what goes with it and in the length of a few seams. Below are the 12 errors a tailor sees most often when clients come in for a fitting or send photographs from an event, each with a short fix.

Accessory mistakes

1. A pre-tied bow that sits crooked or looks too flat. A clip-on or pre-tied bow tends to have two perfectly even wings, a flat centre knot and a habit of drifting off-centre when you move. A discerning eye sees it at once. The fix: wear a self-tie bow. A clumsy first attempt does not matter, since the slight asymmetry of a hand-tied bow is exactly the right sign. If you are new to it, practise several times before the event. There is a guide in how to tie a bow tie.

2. Wearing a belt. Traditional tuxedo trousers have no belt loops. A belt cuts a horizontal line through the middle of the body and shows badly once the jacket comes off. The fix: use braces, or trousers with side adjusters at the waist. More in belts with a tuxedo.

3. A sports watch or smartwatch. A big face and a rubber or fabric strap undo the formal look completely. The fix: a slim watch with a plain dial on a black leather strap, or a pocket watch. If you have none, leave it off.

4. Missing cufflinks, or a shirt with ordinary button cuffs. A dress shirt wants cufflinks, which finish the wrist. The fix: a double-cuff shirt, or a shirt with buttonholes ready for links.

Length mistakes

5. Sleeves too long. Sleeves that swallow the shirt cuff make you look as if you borrowed the jacket. The standard is about a centimetre of cuff showing. The fix: adjust the sleeve hem. Our piece on how long a tuxedo sleeve should be explains the measurement.

6. Sleeves too short. The opposite error, common in ready-made jackets or old jackets after weight gain. Too much cuff shows. The fix: if the seam has cloth to let out, lengthen it; if not, new sleeves are needed.

7. Trousers too long, with the hem piling up. A hem that folds into several creases on the shoe looks untidy. On a tuxedo the hem should be clean and just touch the top of the shoe. The fix: hem the trousers to the shoes you will wear, and measure with those shoes on.

8. Trousers too short, showing the sock. When you sit, the trouser leg rides up and bare leg shows. The fix: over-the-calf socks, and enough length to hold when seated.

Fit and wearing mistakes

9. The waistband showing under the jacket, or the shirt edge peeking out. When you raise your arm or sit, the waistband and shirt tails appear between jacket and trousers. The fix: trousers with a higher rise, covered by an evening waistcoat or a cummerbund. See waistcoat or cummerbund.

10. Buttoning wrongly. A single-button jacket is fastened when standing and opened when sitting. Fastened while seated, it wrinkles and pulls; left open while standing, the front loses its clean line. The fix: stand up, button; sit down, unbutton.

11. An undershirt showing through the shirt. A dark round-neck T-shirt shows through a white shirt, or the neckline of the undershirt rises above the shirt collar. The fix: a skin-tone undershirt with a deep V, or none at all when the shirt cloth is thick enough.

12. The wrong shoes. Sneakers, boots or brown loafers throw the whole formal outfit off. The fix: patent leather or black lace-up oxfords, or opera pumps. More in polished oxfords for a tuxedo.

Prepare before the event

Many of these are seam problems, not taste: long sleeves, long trousers, an exposed waistband, a gaping collar. They can only be remedied when there is time, so do not wait until the last minute. Try the whole outfit with the shoes, shirt, bow and accessories, and let the tailor judge it as a whole. The basic rules are also in tuxedo styling rules.

When to ask the tailor

Ask the tailor if you find mistakes 5 to 9: these need seam work. The rest are mostly choices of accessories that you can fix yourself. In the showroom the tailor can adjust directly on you, and you can book at the Mon Amie showroom. If you would rather start with a suit that fits properly, read about made-to-measure tuxedos.