9. Tuxedos
The earliest known form of the tuxedo is actually called the smoking jacket: tailless coats marketed as evening wear, along with a pair of matching trousers. They contained one, two, or no buttons and a shawl collar made of ribbed silk or satin. The British elite were the first to wear the smoking jacket, usually donning Oxford grey or a deep blue colored coats. In fact, the style was extremely popular in the late 1800s, and jackets were made by the Henry Poole & co. Savile Row tailors.
The Tuxedo, as we call it today, showed up in popular menswear around 1888. It was essentially the same design as the British version, however, the actual naming of the suit occurred in our very own New York. It was named after Tuxedo Park, a Hudson Valley enclave for the New York’s wealthiest social elite. The “Tuxedo” became associated with those who wore this style of tailless dress coat while on the reserve. At first, only the jacket piece was called a Tuxedo; they were later paired and sold with unique matching trousers to formulate the entire suit.