Why Did the Tuxedo Become Synonymous with Casinos?
Casino di Venezia, which opened in 1638, is believed to be the very first operational casino. It featured many casino table games that you can still play today both online and in person. Located on the stunning Grand Canal in Venice, the Casino di Venezia remains one of the grandest casinos in the world to this day.
When its doors first opened, only noblemen, aristocrats and other high-society individuals could come and enjoy the casino poker games and other delights on offer. Of course, this class of individuals dressed up wherever they went, so a trip to the casino simply meant wearing their best outfits. For the men, this was undoubtedly their beloved dinner jackets, tailcoats and so on. Down the line, this would turn into tuxedos.
Today, the Casino di Venezia is incredibly formal and has a strict dress code, so visitors can still get to enjoy the glitz and the glam that is associated with casinos for the foreseeable future at least.
The first tuxedo is made
Edward VII (then the Prince of Wales) is said to have ordered the first tuxedo in 1865. The Palace approached the tailor Henry Poole & Co. to create an ensemble that didn’t have the trimmings of a tailcoat but that was still more formal than a lounge suit. The Prince commissioned the creation in blue and it had matching pants. It was at this moment that the “dinner jacket,” as it was called at the time, really took off.
Millionaire James Brown Potter and his wife Cora took a trip to Britain in 1886, during which they met the Prince of Wales. The Prince sent Potter to be fitted for a dinner jacket similar to his own. Potter took this jacket back with him to the US, where he wore it to a private country club in Tuxedo Park, New York. It was from this moment that this particular type of dinner jacket was coined “the tuxedo.” And that was all it took to create sartorial history!
Famous figures begin to take note
The tuxedo and formal wear, in general, went through a bit of a slump after both of the World Wars. Given how tough life was at the time, it was completely understandable that over-the-top formal dos weren’t exactly the highest option on the agenda.
However, tuxedos had a mini-renaissance in the 1960s when famous folk like Frank Sinatra and Sammy Davis Jr. were seen out and about playing table games at casinos in their formal wear.
Celebrities have always influenced fashion considerably and this has an impact on the rise in popularity of the tuxedo in casinos.
