"I do think men sometimes try to stand out on the red carpet," says Anna Roth, a Hollywood stylist who has dressed Morgan Freeman for events. Standing out is one thing. Wearing—as Adrien Brody did to a movie premiere this fall—a bastardization of the tuxedo so shiny it could be mistaken for a hazmat suit is another. The only person who could have looked at Brody without squinting, had he been there, is Heath Ledger, who, in addition to wearing shorts and satin-trimmed fedoras, sometimes accessorizes with bright plastic sunglasses on the red carpet.

Has the Kodak-preserved memory of how tux manipulation can go horribly awry—MC Hammer—style black pants and purple cummerbunds—been collectively suppressed? Riffing on the classic is like riffing on a gimlet or a Beatles song. The results are always lame.

"The only alternative to a tuxedo is a black suit," designer Isaac Mizrahi says. "A bolo tie? An ascot? I want to barf."

What makes this particular fashion misstep worse is that it's so public. You don't put on a tuxedo to have dinner with your wife at a local bistro. You wear one to a formal event—one where you will probably be photographed. So why choose this moment to let loose with sartorial self-expression? You're better off saving that for a show you're too old to be going to—or better yet, your own birthday party.