Tailor Oughta Be Cuffed for His Suggestion

Dear Fashion Police: I recently purchased a Hickey-Freeman tuxedo. When I was having it fitted, everything was going great until the tailor asked, “Do you want cuffs?” I thought he was kidding--cuffs on a tuxedo? He explained that over 60% of the tuxedos they sell are tailored with cuffs. The tailor said that since the pants are now pleated, more and more men are going for the cuffs. This didn’t make any sense to me, but since he’s the expert and it’s been years since I bought a tux, I went for the cuffs. Now, I’m having severe second thoughts. Help.

--CUFF ‘EM

Dear Cuff: You should be having second thoughts. And third. And fourth. And then you should march right back to that store and have those cuffs taken out. Honestly. We can’t believe you fell for that. So what if 60% of his customers get cuffs on their tux pants? If 60% of his customers jumped off a bridge, would you jump, too?

OK, maybe you had a weak moment. We’ll try to forgive you. But you should have gone with your gut reaction, that cuffs are never appropriate on a tuxedo, even if the pants are pleated.

We spoke to Edwin Pairavi, manager of Gary’s Tuxedo Shop in Beverly Hills, and he confirmed that a few naive, wayward fellows have asked for cuffs. “They’re used to having cuffs on their other pants, so they think it’s OK,” he explained. Once the customers are set straight on the no-cuffs rule, Pairavi said, “They’re totally cool with that.”

We’d hate to think of you showing up at some fancy-shmancy party with your new tuxedo and have people secretly thinking you’re more than a little style-challenged. So have those cuffs removed, and do it pronto. The party season is upon us.

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Dear Fashion Police: I hope you can get me out of what I call “dress sock hell.” I work in a medium-size office where I am required to wear slacks, a dress shirt and a tie every day. The shirt doesn’t have to be white. I have a lot of colored dress shirts, which range from pale yellow to deep teal. My problem is that sometimes I wear socks that match my darker-colored shirts, which creates a near-mania from my female co-workers. They claim that I should always match the socks to my slacks. I disagree. Since I wear colored shirts, my outfits aren’t that formal. I never wear white socks on the rare occasion that I do wear a white shirt. Your help would be appreciated.

--SOCK IT TO ME

Dear Sock: Lord knows we’ve advised countless male readers to add color to their wardrobes. Life is too short to wear just black, white and gray. But we don’t think we’ve ever told men to add a spark of color with their socks, or to match their socks to their shirts.

We’ll just cut to the chase: There’s no good reason to draw attention to your ankles, and that’s just what you’re doing with those colored socks. Here’s how we picture the scenario: You’re standing up, talking to a co-worker, everything’s great, then you sit down and--whoa! Look out! A shirt-sock color combo!

You should listen to those women in your office; they know whereof they speak. Socks should match your pants, not your shirt. We hate to say it, but there’s something vaguely ‘80s about that look, like skinny leather ties or big, freaky hair. On second thought, maybe not so vague. And forget the fact that some of those ‘80s looks are back again. This is not one of them.

Thank goodness you have enough sense to not wear white socks with white shirts, since that would be a whole Jimmy Hoffa thing going on, for which we’d also have to cite you.

So nix the rainbow socks and concentrate on the shirts, and your co-workers will just have to find something else to talk about.

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Write to Fashion Police, Los Angeles Times, 202 W. 1st St., Los Angeles, CA 90012, fax to (213) 237-4888, or send e-mail to socalliving@latimes.com.