Mysteries of vernacular: Tuxedo - Jessica Oreck

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How did tuxedo's roots extend from Native American history to black tie evening wear? Jessica Oreck reveals what the Delaware Indians and formal fashion have in common.

Lesson by Jessica Oreck and Rachael Teel, animation by Jessica Oreck.

Mysteries of Vernacular

Tuxedo:

men's evening wear for semi-formal occasions.

Tuxedo, surprisingly, has its roots

in Native American history.

The Delaware Indians of what is now

the Northeast United States,

were divided into three subgroups,

distinguished by their animal totems:

the turkey,

the turtle,

and the wolf.

Members of the tribe belonging to the wolf totem

were often referred to

by the indigenous word for the four-footed canine,

p'tuksit.

In the 18th century,

Europeans who settled in the former region of the P'tuksit

Anglicized the name as "tuxedo"

and slapped it on a town in southeast New York.

Decades later, in the late 1800s,

a lavish resort was constructed

and christened "The Tuxedo Club".

It was at The Tuxedo Club,

around the turn of the century,

when a dress jacket was required

for almost every occasion,

that a brash young man,

heir to an enormous tobacco fortune,

caused a stir by flaunting tradition

and donning a formal dinner jacket

without tails.

His bold fashion statement was quickly popularized

and nicknamed, "tuxedo,"

which in Northern America,

is the headache of high school prom attendees

across the nation.