Tuxedo styles

Man tuxedo

The type of dress shirts you wear and the importance of matching it up has changed throughout time. Picture someone in a business suit. Years ago it would always be accompanied by a white shirt and a tie.

Nowadays, dress shirts are more flamboyant. The array of style, material and color has grown constantly. It's a good thing too because your choice of shirt and how you wear it is often regarded as a pointer to you.

Collars are the most visible feature of your shirt and are therefore the most important.. However, more importantly they always highlight your face. If you have an elongated face you should not wear collars with a sharp point. Likewise, those with rounder faces should not to choose short round collars. These will make your face appear even fatter.

Shirts sporting a different color to the rest of the item should be chosen with care. Whilst they can look extremely businesslike, they can be too much so. These shirts give the impact of a strong self-motivated wearer and if you fail to reach the mark the whole collection will let you down spectacularly.

It should be difficult to get the cuffs wrong. Most dress shirts that accompany a man's tuxedo are of a fairly typical barrel model. The only thing that can go radically wrong here is the length on parade from under the sleeve of your jacket. About half an inch on show is always plenty.

Decide upon a shirt without a breast pocket if possible. After all, it will not be noticeable underneath your jacket. If you take off your jacket and you have something in your shirt pocket (for example a pen) it will simply look unkempt. It's superfluous and adds nothing to the cut of the shirt.

You will occasionally come across someone with their name embroidered onto their dress shirts or cuffs. The result depends upon how well this has been carried out. Your name in large, bold letters scream "I'm still at school and often lose my clothes".

However, a nicely embroidered design in a subtle (or similar) color shows the care and attention you pay to your dress and (almost certainly) many other aspects of your life. If you wish to dress up in your tuxedo to impress, choose your dress shirt with care. ( By Chris Schopf )