How to style a green tuxedo

Emerald and bottle green are colours with character, so how you style them comes down to the ground: black and clean white around the jacket, a black or same-tone green bow tie, and, if you want accessories, bronze-gold metal. Done like that, the green looks rich and deep instead of drifting toward fancy dress.

Green needs a clean black and white ground

Deep green absorbs light: under dim lamps it sinks toward black, and under strong light it comes alive. It needs plain blocks of colour around it so the eye has something to rest on.

• Black trousers: tie the outfit back to formal wear and avoid a mismatch of greens if jacket and trousers are not cut from the same bolt.
• A crisp white shirt: not ivory, not striped. Clean white lets the deep green show.
• Polished black shoes: continue the trouser colour in one vertical line.

What to avoid is too many strong colours at once. If jacket, bow and pocket square are all green and red, the outfit turns loud. The three-group limit is explained in a safe colour palette for tuxedo dressing.

Black bow or a bow in the same green

• Black bow: safe, right for black tie and any occasion. A black satin lapel and a black bow join into one band across the chest.
• A bow in the same green: soft and unified, fitting a themed party or creative black tie. Use velvet or satin in the same family, a shade slightly deeper than the jacket so it does not blur into it.

Do not choose a bow that is much brighter than the jacket: two greens of different shades side by side look worse than two clearly different colours.

Bronze and gold accessories

Green and bronze-gold are a natural pair, because the warm metal softens the coolness of the green. You can use it in:

• Cufflinks and studs.
• A lapel pin or tie bar.
• The watch face or case.

Two or three pieces of metal are enough, all in one tone. Silver also works, but gives a cooler, more modern look instead of a warm, rich one.

Two real models in the green family

The two models below are not pure green but sit in a close family, and are styled in a similar way:

• TUX-104: deep teal, between blue and green, with black peak lapels, a double-breasted waistcoat in the same tone and a black bow tie. The styling is simple: black lapels, black bow, and one single colour for everything else.
• TUX-113: petrol, a muted greenish blue, in three pieces with a cross-fastened waistcoat, black peak lapels and a black bow tie. Dark enough to hold its formality, unusual enough to differ from the familiar black jackets.

Both chose black lapels and a black bow, a styling that is safe and sure-handed. See more strong colours in the Statement collection.

Occasions: Christmas and themed parties

Green is the colour of the end-of-year season. A bottle-green or deep-green tuxedo suits a formal Christmas party, a company year-end dinner or a winter-themed gala. For more on the season, see a formal Christmas party, and on cloth see the emerald-green tuxedo.

At a wedding, green works only if the bride and her family have agreed the main colours beforehand. Deep green stands uneasily beside an ivory wedding gown or groomsmen already in black or navy, so talk it through first.

Try it at Mon Amie

Green is a colour that differs a great deal between a screen and real cloth: the same bolt can look nearly black, blue or moss depending on the light. Come and see it under showroom lamps and try it with the bow, shirt and shoes. Book at the Mon Amie showroom.