What Socks To Wear With Tuxedo - Clothes Questions (2023)

FAQs

What kind of socks do you wear with a tuxedo? ›

What Type of Socks Do You Wear With A Tuxedo? With that cleared up, you should also know that you'll need black dress socks to complete the tuxedo look. Not just any black socks will do — you should really go for a high quality pair of black cotton or black merino wool dress socks.

Nothing can ruin your Black Tie ensemble like white socks peeking out just above your shoes. Exception to Sock Rule #2: If you are wearing a tuxedo that isn't black, navy, or grey, try finding formal hosiery in the same color (i.e. white, ivory, brown, etc.) Sock Rule #3: Wear formal socks.

The general rule is: The socks should always be a few shades darker than the trousers. For example, dark blue socks go with a navy suit. You should wear black or dark grey socks with a grey suit. And light brown socks are the perfect choice for a beige suit.

On more formal occasions, grey socks go well with a navy blue suit, as they create a more professional look. Brown socks provide pleasing contrast when worn with navy tailoring. Make sure that your shoes are a different shade.

The Case for Plain Black Socks

That's a play-it-safe golden styling rule if you're ever in doubt. With a black tuxedo or suit, plain black socks might just be your best bet.

Square-toed shoes, boxy shoes, or shoes with a rubber or plastic sole. These look cheap and don't match the polish and elegance of formal attire. Boots. Even if they're considered dress boots, they won't match the formality of a tuxedo or any outfit that includes a dinner jacket.

The best time to go without socks is at night. This gives your feet a chance to air out. Other times to go without socks would be when wearing water shoes or showering.

Which Shoes Should you Wear with a Tuxedo? Generally, there are four accepted shoe styles to wear to a black tie event: the court shoe or opera pump, an Oxford, a Venetian loafer, and finally a slipper (sometimes called Prince Albert Slippers).

A general rule of thumb is that white socks are for casual settings and darker socks are more formal. When it comes to deciding between white or black socks with your sneakers though, it really just comes down to personal preference. If the fit is darker tones, maybe go black so the socks don't stand out.

Navy socks are versatile in how they can fit with so many different outfits. They pair well with both brown and black shoes, and just about any pair of pants that aren't black.

Does it matter what socks I wear? ›

It is very important to wear socks that fit properly. If they're too big, they can leave too much fabric at the toes, causing discomfort, and they can potentially sag and fall down off the calf or ankle (depending on the length of the sock).

As a general rule of thumb, it's more important for your socks to match in a formal setting. If you're wearing a dark suit (navy, charcoal, black), then your socks should also be dark to create a smooth visual line from your trousers to your shoes.

Grey is the most versatile of tuxedo and suit colors. Adjusting the shade only shifts the colors you can pair with it as well as how you accessorize. This hue is your answer for any outdoor, indoor or destination wedding. Grey can be modern, classic, compelling and eye-catching.

With brown shoes and khakis, the best sock colors to coordinate with are earthy tones such as brown, khaki and olive.

If you wear a suit, wear socks that match your slacks or tie. If you are wearing a tie, you should also match your socks to your tie. If you don't have an ankle-high colored sock, keep your pants cuffed down over your white sock so that it doesn't show above your shoe.

There are many colors that are considered to be complementary to black. Colors that are seen as being most complementary are blue, green, brown, red, violet, purple, and yellow. For the classic fit black suit, it is recommended to wear a white shirt or a light blue shirt.

Black socks look best with black shoes and dark trousers, creating a powerful, monochromatic look. In formal situations such as black-tie events, solid black over the calf dress socks are your best option and are always appropriate.

The general rule of thumb is to match your socks with your pants, making black dress socks the perfect color of socks to go with your black suit. You can never go wrong with this monochromatic combination for a clean, professional appearance.

If you're throwing a black-tie wedding and donning a traditional black tux, you can never go wrong with classic dress shoes like oxfords and loafers in black or navy. For a blue or tan tuxedo, black still works well, but you can go for a dressy brown shoe for a slightly more casual effect.

Many people believe you have to wear patent leather shoes with a tuxedo. But simply put, you absolutely do not have to wear patent leather shoes with a tuxedo. This comes down to personal preference. If you like the shiny look of patent leather shoes, then by all means pair it with your tuxedo.

What color of tuxedo is not to be worn during the day? ›

Black Tie Is Not Daytime Wear

They're doing it wrong. The trend is unlikely to stop, but for people who are serious about getting their formal and semi-formal dress right, tuxedos are evening wear only. The usual rule of thumb is that you dress for the end time of an event.

Adult socks typically have 10% negative ease and measure approximately 1/2" or 1.3 cm shorter than the foot length and 1" or 2.5 cm smaller than the leg or foot circumference. This information is etched onto the sock ruler as a reminder. Kid Socks Rule!

Dress Shoes should always be worn with dress socks. It is not OK to wear sports socks of any colour, even black, with business shoes. Sports socks are usually ribbed and made of a heavier cotton material and the bulkiness of the heavier fabric tends to make it bunch over the dress shoe.

Wearing socks while sleeping can increase the risk of poor hygiene. If your socks are too light, not clean or made of unbreathable fabric, it increases your chances of infection and odours. Choose socks that are made of cotton or bamboo and ensure you wear a fresh pair before going to bed.

It's a look that's become somewhat ubiquitous in recent years, part of the unavoidable streetwear takeover that's infiltrated every corner of menswear. In the same way that minimalist sweatshirts are now suitable office wear, it's perfectly acceptable to do sneakers with formal.

Forgoing the traditional bow tie can feel a little unnatural, but Ganz reassures that it's a personal preference that still adheres to the black-tie dress code. "There are no formal 'rules' for when it is appropriate to wear a necktie with a tuxedo.

The suit pant should have a tapered fit i.e. it should be slimmer towards the ankle, meaning boot-cut trousers are not acceptable. Target between 14 and 15 inches Ankle Width depending on your body size, anything less than this width size is a skinny fit pant, and anything more, is tending towards "big fit".

Like I said, it's perfectly acceptable to go crazy here, but you should also at least have the standard colors of Black, Gray/Charcoal, and Navy in your sock drawer. That way, if you're going to something where maybe it's not appropriate – like a funeral or when it's best to be more conservative.

Nude or neutral toned socks paired with black men's shoes are the way to go when you don't want to draw too much attention. Easy to match and easy to wear, nude hues that are similar to your skin tone won't distract from the rest of the outfit.

Crew Socks

This is the most popular style of dress and casual socks. Measuring from the ankle, they sit about 6 inches up the calf, coming up to just below the midpoint of the lower leg. This is the minimum length you need to make some sort of fashion statement, as there is ample room for patterns and designs.

What is the current sock trend? ›

At the brands Pre Fall 2022 show in Seoul, black socks stopped mid-way up the calf and laced around the leg up to the knee. Following this celebration of awkward-height-hoisery, knee high socks have been showing up all over our feeds. It started, as most viral trends do, with Bella Hadid.

Never match the color of your socks to the color of your shoes. Simply do not. You can practically match it to anything else and be OK 90% of the time. You may coordinate it with your jeans, tie, shirt, and even your hat if you so choose.

Although you don't need to match your dress socks directly to your shirt, you want to avoid pairings that actively clash. For example, brown socks with a black shirt or mustard yellow socks with an olive green shirt could be off-putting simply because the colors look odd together.

The wearing of two different socks symbolizes acceptance towards people with Trisomy 21. This collection is a homage to the worldwide movement of wearing #mismatchedsocks and also directed against the stigmatisation of otherness, which often affects people with Down Syndrome.

A good sock should pull snug against the skin from top to toe. Slim Sock Fit – Dress shoes also tend to be fitted snugly, meaning you can't cram a big, bulky sock into one. Dress socks should be as thin as comfort permits, both to fit in shoes and to avoid looking bulky around the ankle or distorting the trouser cuff.

Match your socks to your tie or pocket square.

For some complementary accessories, try matching your socks to your out outfit by coordinating them with your tie or pocket square. You can try and match the color, or the pattern of the pair.

If you're going for a very formal look, you should wear black socks with a black suit, navy with navy. If you like, you can match your socks with your trousers, as you're doing.

If you're wearing an all-black suit, for example, you can wear socks with a black background. If you're wearing a navy suit, you can wear socks with a navy background. If you don't want to wear socks with the exact same background color as your suit, you can opt for a slightly darker tone.

If you want to get the most out of your tuxedo, always wear a white shirt. Black shirts are permissible for some formal events like proms, but they never achieve the same masculine effect of a white shirt underneath a black coat.

How do you stand out in a tuxedo? ›

The key to shining in your black tie outfit is nailing the little things like wearing a proper tuxedo dress shirt, black tie shoes, a bowtie, cufflinks, a formal pocket square, and a tuxedo belt, waistcoat or cummerbund.

Your best bet for socks to wear with brown shoes is blue or navy. They contrast well with brown and are ideal for social or professional events. Plus, you can never really go wrong with shades of blue, with or without brown shoes.

Earthy tones of socks match very well with earthy tones of pants, which both pair well with brown dress shoes. Khaki, olive, and brown socks are your best bets with brown dress shoes. If you want to pair brown dress shoes with gray or blue pants, consider using dark navy blue socks to bring the pairing together.

For a dark suit, the socks should match with the color of the suit and not the color of the shoes. For example, if you are wearing a brown suit you should go for brown socks.

Grey Socks with a Black Suit

If you'd like to wear something other than black suit socks while still keeping it tonal, opt for grey dress socks. Within the grey family of colors, everything from light grey heathers to darker charcoals will be excellent sock colors for your black suits.

First thing's first. If you want to get the most out of your tuxedo, always wear a white shirt. Black shirts are permissible for some formal events like proms, but they never achieve the same masculine effect of a white shirt underneath a black coat.

Bright colors like red, yellow, green and purple are great colors to contrast both the blue suit and the brown shoes. For an all-blue outfit, wear a pair of bright blue socks.

Black shoes go well with almost all solid-colored socks; this even includes light colored socks! If you're going for clean and crisp, try pairing light colored socks with light-colored pants or trousers. Slightly rolled up khakis are a great option here.

Wearing a cummerbund is not necessary and the only time it should be worn is with a single-breasted tuxedo. Feel free to wear just a bow tie and black suspenders when skipping the cummerbund.

French Cuffs.

A tuxedo shirt should be worn with cuff links, which require French cuffs. Both square and rounded varieties are acceptable. The common barrel cuff is typically too casual for a formal event.

Should a tuxedo be buttoned or unbuttoned? ›

You should never button all of the buttons on your tuxedo coat! As a general rule, you should leave the bottom button undone. This rule applies if you are wearing a two, three, four or five button coat. If you're wearing a one button style, however, you should button the one button!

Tuxedos are reserved for evening events only, and for formal occasions like black-tie weddings, charity galas and nights at the opera. Suits are appropriate for any time of day, and can be worn at less casual events like business meetings and dates.

Tuxedo Pocket Square Rules

If it's a formal black-tie event, it's generally considered appropriate to wear a white pocket square in a presidential pocket square fold (flat fold), or a conservative puff fold.

As a general rule, socks should be worn the following way: You should coordinate your socks with your pants, not your shoes. Although it appears to be a simple guideline, it is quite difficult to implement. The most popular socks are black, navy, or charcoal.

Loafers, socks and suits

In fact that's how we'd recommend you wear them. Make sure you pick a shade that matches both the leather and the fabric. Plain-old black or navy socks will rarely steer you wrong, but burgundy socks with brown loafers and a navy or charcoal suit is a great way to add some subtle colour.