What counts as a fashion faux pas can be subjective, but there are some style choices that suit designer Christopher Cuozzo just can’t stand.
Cuozzo, a bespoke menswear and womenswear designer whose clients include White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, told Business Insider that fashion is an art form like any other. Inevitably, people express different tastes and preferences when it comes to their personal style.
“Everybody’s going to have their opinion on how something should fit or how something should look, and that’s the beauty of it,” he said. “Nobody’s necessarily right, and nobody’s necessarily wrong.”
That being said, Cuozzo does have certain pet peeves as a craftsman who cares deeply about how a suit is worn.
Here are five style mistakes he wishes people would stop making.
Mistake #1: Buttoning the bottom of a 2-button jacket
If a jacket has two buttons, Cuozzo says only the top one should ever be buttoned. The bottom one should never be closed in order to maintain the proper fit and style etiquette.
“One of my pet peeves on a two-button jacket is seeing the bottom button buttoned,” he told BI. “It’s a massive faux pas. I can’t stand that.”
Mistake #2: Wearing an unbuttoned tuxedo
Tuxedos are about as formal as it gets. Wearing one unbuttoned sends mixed messages, especially at black-tie occasions such as weddings.
Cuozzo urges grooms and others wearing tuxedos at weddings to walk down the aisle with the jacket buttoned to avoid looking too casual.
“It’s the most formal day of your life. Please, button your tuxedo jacket,” he said.
Mistake #3: Wearing a suit with an untucked shirt
Similar to an unbuttoned tuxedo, an untucked shirt undermines the formality of a suit, Cuozzo says.
“Your dress shirt is untucked, but you’re wearing a suit — that’s a complete oxymoron,” he said. “That would drive me insane.”
Mistake #4: Leaving stitching in the vents of a suit
Off-the-rack jackets typically come with the vents, or slits, stitched closed on the back or sides. Those vents are supposed to be opened after purchasing, but not everyone realizes that.
When Cuozzo makes a custom suit, he removes the stitches for the client to help them avoid this style misstep.
“We actually don’t give the suit to a client unless it’s open,” he said. “If you go and you buy a suit off the rack, you’ll see people wearing it with the vent still closed, and it just drives me bananas.”
Mistake #5: Wearing sneakers with suits
Cuozzo told BI that pairing sneakers — especially high-top shoes like Jordans — with suits is “extremely overdone.”
“The pant doesn’t even fit the sneaker. The tongue is in the way. That is one of my biggest pet peeves,” Cuozzo said of the suits-with-sneakers look. “And then, you’ll see guys on the red carpet wearing sneakers with a tuxedo, and I’m just like, ‘This has gone way too far.'”
Cuozzo says that there are rare cases where he’d style a suit this way, such as a more casual suit with a drawstring closure worn with a white T-shirt and clean white sneakers. Otherwise, he says formalwear requires formal footwear to match.
“There’s just these colliding philosophies where you’re wearing a shirt and tie, which tells me you’re all business, then I look down at your feet, and you’re wearing Jordans. Like, what’s going on here?” he said. “Are we going to a meeting, or are we going to a basketball game? You can’t do both.”
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