Clothing: Where and Wear

The history of the tuxedo, and other garments named after historic people or places.

Christopher Winn | Published in 08 Oct 2012

Man wearing a tuxedo, c.1896 (Library of Congress)

James Potter Brown attended the Autumn Ball of the Tuxedo Club in New York State 126 years ago this October. He was wearing a new kind of short, tail-less evening jacket tailored for him by Henry Poole & Co of Savile Row, on the recommendation of Edward, Prince of Wales, later Edward VII, with whom Potter had been staying at Sandringham that summer.

The jacket was admired by other members of the club, who had  ‘dinner’ jackets made up for themselves for when they were dining at the club. One evening a group of members wore their new jackets to a dinner at Delmonico’s in New York City and upon being asked about their attire replied: ‘This is what we wear for dinner at the Tuxedo.’ From then on the dinner jacket was known in America as the Tuxedo or ‘Tux’. Here are some more articles of clothing named after people and places.

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