Fashion: A state of tux

Published on Monday 2 November 2009 18:02

IT'S AN enduring and universal fashion favourite, super-chic and disarmingly powerful. And like so much of the lexicon of modern style, it is rooted in the directional early work of the mighty Yves Saint Laurent. I'm talking, of course, about menswear's black-tie standard, which, for four decades, has been inspiring the wardrobe staples of the world's best-dressed women. I'm tempting you into the world of tux-redux.

Sometimes this look has involved a very literal "lift". One of the 20th century's most evocative fashion images, for example, must surely be Helmut Newton's 1975 photograph of an elegant Yves Saint Laurent tuxedo pant-suit. The location? A back street of Paris by night, the wet pavement gleaming like polished jet. The model's hair is slicked back, her stance is defiant. Oh, the look isn't merely androgynous; it's almost man-drag.

But even the mighty Saint Laurent constantly refined, redefined, and feminised those signature "Le Smoking" looks. Some seasons, for example, the satin lapels found their way on to extremely womanly dinner gowns. At other times, the tux jacket might be abbreviated to become a dainty bolero – or extended into a full-length coat. As the rest of the fashion world dutifully (and repeatedly) followed suit, frock, coat… well, tux-redux has always been in flux.

You might want to restrict your 2009 interpretation of the look to the gamine charm of an ivory satin shirt teamed with slender black satin trousers and braces, la Diane Kruger. But right now, with the multi-faceted challenges of dressing for the party season on the horizon – and strong-shouldered jackets making such an insistent comeback – a great tux jacket could be this month's smartest fashion investment.

In fact, the best thing to pop over any of the season's Eighties-inspired party frocks (or tunic and leggings combos) is a "boyfriend" interpretation of the tux, with sleeves rolled up. It's a hot look that members of the why-pay-less brigade have already been snapping up from designers such as Stella McCartney, but brilliantly cost-effective high street interpretations currently include a great black sequin jacket from the Signature collection at Next and a sequined blazer in either black or pewter at Wallis.

There are also excellent versions at Warehouse, M&S and Dorothy Perkins. But many of this season's best takes on tux-redux have the added shimmer and sparkle of sequins, giving the mannish silhouette of fashion's new trophy jacket a vampy playfulness that's totally reflective of the new, harder, Goth-influenced glamour.

This means your nails may be painted jet black. And hot accessory choices will include cage or bondage sandals in metallics – gold, bronze or pewter.

If you must have a jolt of bright colour, make it retina-searing hot pink. French Connection's pink sequin shift will work wonderfully under a plain black "boyfriend" tux. But much more fashion-forward choices to slide inside your new trophy jacket are black leggings and tunics embellished with metal studs. This party season's boldest eveningwear look is tux with guts. And no-one will mess with the chick in tux-redux chic.

AN ICONIC LOOK

&#149 In 1966, the late, great French couturier Yves Saint Laurent created what was to become one of his most iconic looks: the Le Smoking tuxedo for women. At once androgynous and sexy, stylish and effortless, the Parisian fashion house has since reinvented the look in velvet, silk, lace, cashmere and satin, yet the 1966 version – a three-button dinner jacket, worn with a frilled white silk blouse and masculine trousers with a satin side-stripe – remains the most famous.

&#149 The tux is flattering and easy to wear. It can be worn by women of any age and can be easily dressed up or down. Celebrity fans include Gwyneth Paltrow, Madonna, Angelina Jolie, Faye Dunaway and Diane Keaton.

&#149 One of Saint Laurent's muses, model Betty Catroux, says she has "always worn one with nothing underneath". Actress Catherine Deneuve described the look as "virile and feminine", while Pierre Berge, Saint Laurent's long-time business partner and former lover, described Le Smoking as "the moment when Yves empowered women".

&#149 Saint Laurent himself said: "For a woman, Le Smoking is an indispensable garment with which she finds herself continually in fashion, because it is about style, not fashion. Fashions come and go, but style is forever."