Tuxedo Style For Women
Men's Tailored Suiting and Black-Tie Inspires Ladies' Fashion
Boy-meets-girl dressing gets glamorous, infusing bow ties, cummerbunds, slick suiting and smart trousers into chic styles for women. Find out how to master the tux trend:
The road of masculine-feminine dressing is well-trodden ground this year, with designers plucking menswear classics and inserting them into ladies' styles. If you're keen on hopping on the gender-bending fashion bandwagon this season, look no further than your boyfriend's side of the closet for inspiration.
Tux Trends on the Runways
New York Magazine's web profile on Yves St. Laurent reflects on how, with the launch of his label in 1962, the designer changed the face of fashion by dressing women in mannish pant-suits with boxy shoulders, smoking jackets, safari jackets and tuxedos. He masterfully feminized the androgyny with billowy peasant blouses and fitted, flouncy couture gowns in dramatic colors. Today, new designer Stefano Pilati is bringing YSL back to its roots, reviving the sexpot-in-a-power-suit style.
Dolce and Gabbana rocked the trend massively in Milan with their Fall 2007 collection, showcasing the über classy tuxedo look with bow-tied tuxedo shirts and smoking jackets mixed with trousers, skirts, and even shorts. And if smoking jackets weren't luxurious enough, D&G tossed in a bit of leopard print and leather to kick the rock-and-roll factor up a notch.
Brazilian designer Alexandre Herchcovitch – who, interestingly, was once known for his sartorial creations for prostitutes and transvestites – fashioned his entire Spring 2008 collection after a deconstructed tuxedo, saying in a backstage interview with Style.com that he wanted to transform the classic men's wardrobe, but with feminine gestures that were liberated from the usual clichés.
Despite the fact that the idea of reinterpreting menswear for a female client has been on the minds and catwalks of many designers for quite some time, Herchovitch managed to execute his collection with a healthy dose of originality, taking the typically stuffy black-and-white tuxedo and marrying it with punk details, and lively touches of crimson and chartreuse in sleeveless waistcoats, stand-alone lapels and collars, peg-legged pants, sheer button-up shirts, double-breasted buttoning, boutonnieres, and of course the (somewhat expected) cummerbund-cinched frocks.
How to Wear the Tuxedo Trend
True to Form
- Commit to the tux trend fearlessly by sporting an actual tuxedo to a formal event. You needn't wear your boyfriend's penguin suit, though. Many designers make tuxedos tailored specifically for a woman's curves; this can be sexier than even the most risqué of gowns. Go ultra glam with a tuxedo in winter white.
- Get the look for less with a fitted black jacket, a white ruffled shirt opened to the chest and tailored pants with a silk stripe.
- Funk up a sexy mini-skirt with a button-up white shirt, an inexpensive bow-tie, and black opaque tights. Strap on a corset belt or sash that mimics a cummerbund and you're ready to go. Keep chills at bay by tossing on a black blazer with tuxes' trademark satin trim.
Deconstructed Tuxedo
Buy a tuxedo and take it apart, wearing its constituents with other elements in your wardrobe. Here are just a few ideas:
- wear a smoking jacket with your favorite designer jeans
- use a cummerbund as a belt over a sheath dress
- wear silk-striped tuxedo pants with a shimmering halter top
- accessorize the neckline of a strapless dress with an unexpected bow tie
If you can't commit to buying a full tuxedo to disassemble, look for some of these singular items to incorporate into your own version of tuxedo style.
- satin-striped or full satin trousers
- loose and lean or fitted trousers
- double-breasted buttons
- slick suiting
- bow ties or cravats
- cummerbunds
- slouchy blazers or fitted waistcoats
- vests
- prominent lapels, collars, French cuffs
- boutonnieres
