Groom and Groomsmen Fashion

lesliejane99

Hi, My fiancee is wearing a full tuxedo (with tails).  Do the groomsmen wear the same then?

TiffaneeTim

TRADITIONALLY the groom and groomsmen match.  They don't HAVE to match like the PP said.

Forget about tradition and forget about ettiquite for a minute.  They say if you get married int he early afternoon you shouldn't wear either of them, or in the morning the correct thing to wear is a cut away coat.  These things are out dated.  I work in men's formalwear and can tell you that you can have your wedding as formal, or not formal as you want it to be.  and your groom can wear a different type jacket if that is the look for your wedding YOU want.  (Personally, i am wearing a 2 button tone on tone pin striped tuxedo where my groomsmen are wearing a nice modern black 1 button jacket)

and as for what the PP said... tail coats ARE tuxedos, they're just used in a more formal setting.  Tuxedos are a suit with satin or some sort of different trim on the lapel, some have tails, some don't.

TiffaneeTim

Just a little digging proved that black tie (AKA tuxedos) first came on the scene in the 1860s. 


And while the idea of white tie and ultra formal dress may have come first, the "Black tie" or tuxedo was made as an ALTERNATIVE to this. 


Not to mention, in today's vernacular, the term "Tuxedo" is interchangable with any formal wear for men. 

and finally, "what is correct" for you may be incorrect to someone else. 

opalsky007

Semantics aside, it is fine for the groom and groomsmen to differ in levels of formality. It would be fine for your groomsmen to wear standard tuxedos, if that's your preference.

_Dagney_

It's YOUR wedding your groom may dress as he chooses.
Tradidtionally he would match the bride in formality and the groomsmen would follow suit.

THere are pleanty of places to research the traditional demarcations of formal dress, i.e. no dinner jackets before 5, etc.

White tie, (or tails) is traditionally reserved for the most formal of events.  A wedding can certainly be a very formal event.

People DO still wear tails.  Here in Philadelphia they are worn to The Academy Ball.  and sometimes to THE Charity Ball.  Also the Assemblies in NY, Philadelphia and DC.  SO you do see them from time to time.

There is absolutely NOTHING wrong with wearing a tailcoat...just realize it is unlikely for your wedding guests to match that level of formality.

Oh, and "tuxedo" came from a slang term for Dinner Jackets used in Tuxedo Park NY, where their wearing was popularized. 

If you can call a pinstriped suit a "tuxedo" then you can call ANYTHING a tuxedo.  LOL.