Tuxedo vs Suit: What Is the Difference, and Which One Should You Wear?

The short version: a tuxedo has satin on it and a suit does not. The lapels, the buttons and a stripe down each trouser leg are faced in satin or grosgrain, and that is what makes a tuxedo a tuxedo. Everything else that separates the two, from the shirt to the shoes to the hour of the day, follows from that one difference.

The longer version is below, because the question most people are really asking is not what the difference is. It is which one they need for the event on their calendar, and whether it is worth owning. Both answers are shorter than you might expect.

The Five Differences You Can See

1. Satin

A tuxedo jacket has satin facing on the lapels and usually on the buttons. The trousers carry a satin stripe, called a braid, down the outside of each leg. A suit has none of this. The lapel is the same cloth as the rest of the jacket, the buttons are horn or plastic, and the trousers are plain.

2. Lapels

Most suits have a notch lapel, the one with a small V where the collar meets the lapel. Tuxedos traditionally have a peak lapel, which points up toward the shoulder, or a shawl lapel, which is one smooth curve with no notch at all. A notch lapel tuxedo exists, and several of ours have one, but peak and shawl are the shapes that read as formal from across a room.

3. Buttons and Pockets

A tuxedo jacket usually closes with one button. A suit jacket usually has two. Tuxedo pockets are jetted, meaning a plain slit with no flap, and suit pockets have flaps. Small details, but they are part of why a tuxedo looks cleaner and a suit looks more practical.

4. The Shirt

A suit takes an ordinary dress shirt. A tuxedo takes a formal shirt, with a pleated or textured front, sometimes a wing collar, and studs in place of buttons. This is the difference people remember the night before.

5. Everything Below the Jacket

A suit gets a long tie and leather lace-up shoes, brown or black. A tuxedo gets a bow tie, a cummerbund or a vest, and black patent or very well polished black shoes. Put a long tie and brown brogues on a tuxedo and you have a suit with satin on it.

Which One for Which Event

The rule is about the invitation and the hour. If the invitation says black tie, wear a tuxedo. If it says black tie optional, a tuxedo is the better answer and a dark suit is acceptable. For anything else, a suit. The later the event starts, the more a tuxedo makes sense, which is why a tuxedo at a noon ceremony looks odd and a suit at a nine o'clock gala looks underdressed.

Event by event:

• Weddings. Grooms wear either. A tuxedo for an evening ceremony with a formal reception, a suit for daytime, outdoors or a relaxed venue. Groomsmen follow the groom. Guests wear a suit unless the invitation says black tie. Our wedding suits collection has both.
• Prom. Tuxedos are the tradition and still the majority. A well fitted suit in a color is the alternative, and over the last few years it has become nearly as common. The prom suits page lists both.
• Galas, award dinners, New Year's Eve. Tuxedo. These are the events the garment exists for. See gala suits.
• Job interviews, business, funerals, court. Suit, always. A tuxedo at any of these is a mistake. Navy or charcoal, white shirt, plain tie. See business suits and navy suits.
• Cocktail parties and dinners. Suit, a dark one in the evening.

Can a Suit Do a Tuxedo's Job?

Sometimes. A black suit with a white shirt and a black tie will pass at a black tie optional event, and in a dark room most people will not be looking at your lapels. It will not pass at a strict black tie event, where the host has asked for tuxedos and everyone else in the photograph is wearing one. If you are going to be in a lot of those photographs, which is the case for a groom or a groomsman, buy the tuxedo.

The reverse does not work. A tuxedo cannot do a suit's job. The satin shows in daylight, and it looks like you have come from, or are on your way to, something else.

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What Each One Costs to Own

This is where the two garments are closer than people expect. At SuitCentury a complete suit, meaning jacket, pants, shirt, tie and socks, starts at $199. A complete tuxedo with the same pieces included starts at $199, and the plain black tuxedos that do most of the work run from $199 to $249. The gap between owning a suit and owning a tuxedo is about the price of a dinner out.

Hiring a tuxedo for one night costs roughly what one of ours costs to keep, once the shirt, the shoes and the damage waiver are added, and it goes back on Monday. A second event means paying again. A tuxedo you own pays for itself the second time you wear it, and it is the one garment in a wardrobe that does not go out of style between wearings. Our cost of owning a suit page walks through the arithmetic.

If You Only Buy One

Buy the suit. A navy or charcoal suit will be worn twenty times for every time a tuxedo is. Buy the tuxedo when there is a black tie event with a date on it, and buy it in black or midnight navy so it keeps working for the next one.

If you already own a good dark suit and the next event is black tie, that is the moment for the tuxedo. The tuxedos collection has black, navy, burgundy, white and patterned options, and the black suits collection is where to look for one garment that stretches furthest in both directions.

Getting the Fit Right Online

The difference between a tuxedo that looks borrowed and one that looks owned is almost entirely fit. The shoulder seam should end where your shoulder does, the sleeve should show about half an inch of shirt cuff, and the trousers should break once over the shoe. Our suit size estimator takes height, weight and build and returns a jacket and pant size in about a minute. If it misses, the exchange is free.

Tuxedo vs Suit: Quick Answers

Is a tuxedo more formal than a suit?

Yes. A tuxedo is evening formalwear and sits one level above a dark suit. The only common dress code above it is white tie, which almost nobody is asked to wear.

Can you wear a tuxedo to a wedding?

As a groom or groomsman, yes, for an evening or formal wedding. As a guest, only if the invitation says black tie. For a daytime or outdoor wedding, a suit is the right choice for everyone.

Can you wear a suit to a black tie event?

At a black tie optional event, a dark suit with a white shirt and a dark tie is acceptable. At a strict black tie event, no. Wear the tuxedo.

What color should a first tuxedo be?

Black, or midnight navy. Both are correct at every black tie event and both will still be correct in ten years.

Do tuxedos cost more than suits?

Slightly. At SuitCentury both come as a complete outfit with shirt, tie and socks included, and the difference is usually about the price of a dinner out.

What is the difference between a tuxedo and a dinner jacket?

Nothing, in practice. Dinner jacket is the British name for the same garment. In the United States, dinner jacket sometimes means a white or ivory tuxedo jacket worn in summer.