Best way to make a shlub look good

There are some men for whom dressing up means finding a shirt that doesn't have ketchup stains on it, who, when confronted with the prospect of a formal affair, will wedge themselves into musty old tuxedos that have the texture and aroma of sackcloth. These guys are easy to spot -- they're the ones whose legs are visible from the mid calf down, who make reaching for a gin and tonic look like an exercise in modern dance, whose eyes bear the haunted look of a man whose loins are slowly having the life strangled out of them. But donning formal wear doesn't have to entail discomfort and humiliation. Classic Tuxedo sells and rents formal attire in all manner of styles and colors. It even has top hats and canes. Most important, each store's attentive and skilled staff is committed to making sure everything fits right. So while your bow-legged, wattle-necked Uncle Frank may never look quite as good as Cary Grant or 007, at least he won't resemble a refugee from the Belgrade Philharmonic Orchestra. And that's a start.

Classic Tuxedo, 249 Newbury Street, Boston, (617) 424-7707; 2 Bow Street, Cambridge, (617) 354-0380; 158 Needham Street, Newton, (617) 244-1889; and other locations; www.classictuxedo.com.