To the relief of many, the tuxedo is loosening up | Canada Voices

I have always been mystified by the codes of formal dress. Growing up, I panicked when I heard that my high school might impose a dress code (it didn’t) and dreaded occasions that required me to wear anything more elegant than Roots sweatpants.

In my late 20s and early 30s, wedding season ran for six months of every year. The dress code wasn’t always black-tie, but the affairs that were plunged me into a panic. No garment felt more foreign to me than the tuxedo. On the few occasions I was obliged to wear one, I either rented or wore a hand-me-down on loan for the evening. I felt less like James Bond and more like I was wearing my dad’s too-big tux from the eighties (which, for my sister’s wedding, was the case).

Fortunately for me, stylish guys today are gravitating toward interpretations of formal wear that feel more personal and versatile, such as suits that can be reworn and ensembles with colour, fabric or tailoring twists.

Jeffery Couse, a criminal defence lawyer in Toronto, never considered wearing a tux for his own wedding. He opted instead for a custom three-piece suit in forest green wool, made by a tailor in Yorkville.

“It is a classic suit shape,” he said, “but I never set out to have a classic suit.” And the green hue? “That’s my colour,” he told me. “I know I look good in green, and it brings out my nice green eyes.” Plus, it complemented the flowers.

Couse also appreciated the lower cost for each wear – he wears his green wedding suit to court all the time. “It’s my best, most expensive suit,” he said. “I’ve got to get some use out of it.”

The tux is evolving with the times. And the times they are a-changing. As formal dress codes loosen up, men are tailoring their formal wear to suit their preferences and needs.

Satin detailing mainly distinguishes the tuxedo from a regular suit. The jacket typically features satin lapels and buttons, and the trousers have stripes running down both outseams. But now, retailers are offering options in a range of colours, silhouettes and fabrics, and designers and celebrities are tweaking formal men’s wear codes through deconstruction and proportion play.

At Tom Ford’s fall 2026 show in Paris, designer Haider Ackermann paired razor-sharp tux jackets with dark-wash jeans – a sleeker, sultrier version of a look that Ralph Lauren popularized decades ago. At the Grammys in February, singer Harry Styles followed suit with a cropped tux jacket over light-wash jeans designed by Dior’s Jonathan Anderson.

The tuxedo package at men’s wear retailer Suitsupply allows shoppers to customize their look with a choice of jacket (options include wool, velvet and linen in a range of colours), dress shirt, formal shoes, bow tie, cufflinks, suspenders and an optional waistcoat. At $1,299, the package is reasonably affordable for a quality tux – and a bestseller, according to Suitsupply global style director Marc Harmeling.

As part of its collection with cult designer Aaron Levine, Zara sells the pieces in a tuxedo individually, so the wearer can mix and match different components including a silk tie, blazer, trousers, formal shirt and foulard (scarf). That approach speaks not only to Levine’s own philosophy of dressing – such as pairing durable workwear with casual tailoring and sturdy boots or climbing shoes – but also to the flexibility many people are looking for when it comes to shopping for dress clothes.

For more relaxed formal occasions, Harmeling said people are experimenting with what he calls “creative black-tie.” He defined the term as dressing to reflect your personal style in ways that “feel elevated but less strict,” such as wearing a silk dinner jacket or a tailored suit with a subtle check pattern.

Men today want more versatility from their tailoring. If the tux was once restricted to only the most formal occasions, guys now “want to rewear their tuxedo for various occasions,” said Adam Percival, director of made-to-measure for Harry Rosen and its private label, Harold. Percival added that Tom Ford is “the North Star of event dressing” at the Canadian retailer. Many clients he sees wish to incorporate Ford signatures in their custom suits – expressive details such as sharp shoulder lines and wide, structured lapels.

It’s a similar story at Wynona, Robbie Yarish’s tailoring house in Toronto.

“The most interesting conversations in our workroom right now are about building wardrobes, not just outfits for a single evening,” Yarish said. “They’re about a man who wants to look extraordinary at a black-tie event and then wear that same jacket again in October with grey flannel trousers and a knit polo.”

Think double-breasted suits worn with open shirt collars, relaxed dinner jackets and pleated trousers with knitwear that work as well at a wedding as a weeknight dinner. Yarish has also seen a growing interest in unique fabrics such as sand-washed linen, raw silk, brushed alpaca and barathea.

“The goal is to find clothes that don’t feel theatrical or overly formal,” he said.

The tuxedo is fundamentally timeless, at once classic and contemporary. Its relevance endures perhaps not out of respect for the rules of formality, but a swaggering spirit that empowers the wearer.

“The men coming to us aren’t asking if they should wear a tuxedo,” Yarish said. “They’re asking how to make it feel like them.”