Tuxedo Dresses Up for Another Century

It’s been to more parties than a debutante and danced with more beautiful women than Fred Astaire. And today, the tuxedo turns 100 years old.

That venerable outfit of distinction was feted at a recent birthday party given by New Yorker magazine at an imposing Beverly Hills mansion called Kasteel Kamphuyzen. (The party was actually outside the mansion on AstroTurf-covered tennis courts.)

The invitation included a short history of the tux. In 1886 some nonconforming aristocrats turned heads at the Autumn Ball in New York when they arrived in tailless coats. What was supposedly a prank quickly caught on, and the shortened jacket became all the rage.

Guests were asked to dress “antique, new or inventive black tie,� which sparked creativity in some and left others clinging to the basic black mock-penguin model. Even the magazine’s Associate Publisher Rebecca Darwin was a bit thrown at the crush of conformity. “I thought L.A. would be a little funkier,� she said.

Outfits of note included a green kilt with a tux shirt and jacket.

“It was either this or a cowboy tux,� said Michael Henry, a salesman for Roffe ski clothes, who had borrowed the ensemble from a friend. (Henry also owns a tuxedo with Bermuda shorts instead of long pants.) “I have been getting an awful lot of looks,� he said, “and compliments. The reactions have all been very positive.�

Jerry Goldman wore the only tuxedo he owns, a vintage black velvet one trimmed in gray satin with lapels as wide as the Colorado River. He teamed it with a black-and-white striped Charmeuse shirt with ruffles down the front. The acquisition was made in the early ‘70s at a now-defunct Hollywood store that specialized in outrageous one-of-a-kind clothes for rock stars.

“I’ve been wearing this to every formal occasion,� he said confidently. “Actually, most people compliment me on it. But somebody did ask me if I’d do a medley of Desi Arnaz hits.�

On the modern end of the spectrum was this look: a cropped waiter’s jacket with big shoulders worn with a high-collared shirt and baggy pleated pants. Rick Beach, a designer for Anne Cole sportswear, added his own touch: a long braid down his back tied with a black ribbon.

Sammy Gugliotta, a visual merchandiser for Bullock’s, wore his short jacket with a molded-silver-metal bow tie he picked up in Mexico.

“I never wear a conventional tux,� he sniffed. “And I do not wear rented clothing.�

Some women opted for tuxedos in the spirit of the evening. Joanie Flynn was decked out in a tuxedo to match her fiance’s. Despite the similarities in their styles, Flynn was quick to point out one major difference between the sexes: “It’s such a heart flutter to see a man in a tux. They’re so much more gorgeous.�

As jazz singers crooned “Happy Birthday, Dear Tuxedo� and waiters sliced up an enormous chocolate cake shaped like you-know-what, one guest explained his favorite way to go black tie.

“At the end of a party,� said Jay Remer, New Yorker’s national advertising manager, “I like to untie the tie, unbutton the shirt and go out. People know you’ve been someplace special.�