Canadian Tuxedos

I'd like to open the discourse on Canadian Tuxedos. Depending on the situation and the extremity of the denim involved, they can be tacky (and memorable--see exhibit A below) or minimalistic and chic.

I was introduced to the Canadian Tuxedo when I was fifteen. At my mom's insistence that I spend the after school hours between four and six doing something other than falling asleep in front of ABC Family's afternoon repertoire, I had joined my high school's cross-country running team. I walked away after four years an expert on my town's topography due to my natural skill of cutting six mile runs down to two miles and armed with a drawer of neon shirts that said things like "fast girls have great times" in Comic Sans MS.

Part of the bonding experience that came from being a member of the cross-country team was wearing coordinated outfits to school on race days. So-called "psych wear" usually took the form of wife beaters and Nike running shorts, but the team captains sent an email before one race suggesting we make a statement the next day in Canadian Tuxedos. As much as I wanted the spunky, dirty-in-a-cool way senior girls to accept me as their equally spunky freshman friend, I didn't have the self-confidence to wear contrasting denim pieces to school. Plus, I had already committed to the usual wear and bought a new pack of wife beaters to show off my flat chest. That was that.

I stayed strictly anti-Canadian Tuxedo until 2009, when chambray shirts began to crowd the pages of Madewell.com. Chambray shirts had the same effect on me as donuts--I could never have just one, and I inadvertently introduced denim-on-denim into my outfit cycle. Then I went to France blah blah blah and saw the minimalist value of a Canadian Tuxedo, and here I am, preaching in favor of it. See below for some looks culled from my fav Tumblr, French Voguettes.