Want to look sharp? Throw on a white tux
FOR several years I had an inky blue velvet jacket that I put on whenever I wanted to give myself an instant upgrade.
Whatever I was wearing — any old trousers and top, a dress, jeans — all I had to do was add the jacket and I was 50 per cent smarter.
The right jacket — and it has to be sharp, fit like a glove and ideally one button — delivers more value for money than anything in your wardrobe. The only trouble with dark velvet is that, about now, it starts to look too heavy.
It can still look chic with cream or white or denim. It isn’t necessarily time to zip it away in the mothproof bag until autumn. But it isn’t going to work as a guaranteed outfit sharpener for the months to come. That baton has been passed to the white tuxedo.
I’m a big fan of the tailored jacket and the white tux has now elbowed the velvet, the black silk and the cord versions off the winner’s podium to take first place.
If you’re like me, the associations of white tuxedos are some of the highest scoring in the style chart. You don’t need to have a style crush on Bianca Jagger (who got married in a white tux, with nothing underneath) or Diane Keaton at the 1976 Oscars (though that was a suit, to be fair). There are a zillion other iconic examples from Jackie Onassis to J Lo and Jennifer Aniston.
WHITe is a bit of an issue for those of us civilians who attract oil spots and red wine splashes wherever we go, but that’s also the main part of its appeal. Clever, cool, sophisticated, you for wearing a white jacket! And a white tuxedo, particularly worn in the day, is the glamour bullseye.
I’d forgotten this about white tuxedos and then a look from the spring Paco Rabanne catwalk show gave me a sharp reminder. There was a model wearing a lean, long-in-thebody, single button, white jacket over a black pointy-collared shirt, jazzy Sixties flower print trousers and red boots (pictured above).
It looked fun and fresh, and elegant. Can’t say I will be in the market for the flower power pants, but the black shirt and the boots with maybe cropped denim trousers, definitely. Oddly enough the white tux is way more versatile than its black twin. Black tailoring is so easy, but on the over-50s it can look hard, or make you disappear. White is more flattering, more feminine, more springtime in spirit, more unusual. It makes pretty clothes feel cleaner and more modern, and the real kicker — it goes with almost everything so long as it’s tailored.
What looks good now is a white tux over a plain collared shirt and cropped trousers (see Paco Rabanne); or a fine knit top and a knee-length skirt or culottes.
I spotted one recently on someone wearing a print silk shirt and a leather skirt (super-chic); or you could just try a skinny turtle neck and bootcut jeans. This is not the time for a full tuxedo (too smart, and where would you be going in it?). It’s the time for something that can punch up your other clothes, and look good in a FaceTime or Zoom video conferencing situation. How useful is that?
The single-breasted tuxedo gives you more options, but if you prefer double-breasted there are plenty around. Shoulders should be a little on the wide side, slightly padded; the hem should finish a good six inches below your hip; it might have contrasting satin lapels (works well with a silky top). Otherwise the choice is yours.
H&M does a chic, narrow lapel style (£34.99, hm.com) with a single button. Zara does an oversize tux in offwhite (£89.99) or doublebreasted version if you prefer (£69.99, both zara.com). Reiss does a good double-breasted off-white jacket with contrasting buttons (£235, reiss.com).
Next has a single-breasted style with cropped sleeves — a shame as you can always push them up (£120, next.co.uk); & Other Stories do a lapel-free style (£51, andotherstories.
com). Here’s to one-stop smartening up.