The term "tuxedo cats"is typically used for black-and-white colored cats, but tuxedo patterned cats come in all cat colors. They are called tuxedo cats due to the resemblance to the black tie formal wear of the same name; however, the origins of the term "tuxedo cat" are murky at best, with linguist Cecily Raysor Hancock having been only able to track the term back to the early 1980s in America.