I noticed that the summer dinner jackets on offer by one of this country's larger retailers have peaked lapels this year, and thought I had better remind those few men contemplating the purchase of a new jacket that if one is going to wear the white it is best when shawl lapelled.
Peak lapels you see are descended from white tie and are the more formal style for evening. Shawl lapels are descended from the less formal smoking jacket, though that is less important than the fact that the style looks considerably more graceful with a soft turndown collar shirt than does the peak.
Now there are those that argue that the white dinner jacket should only be seen on cruises, if then, but I find it easier to wear these summer days than its darker counterpart. Without the black jacket's silk facings on its lapels it attracts less undesireable attention in venues where the typical dress is considerably less formal, such as any casino in Las Vegas. Pit bosses, on the other hand, definitely notice.
Accept no substitutes.
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15 comments:
Very timely post as I am looking to purchase one. The details - ivory color, self-faced lapels, besom pockets, no vent. I do wonder about the buttons. Single button in front and four on each sleeve. Is MoP the preferred material? Does a pair of linked buttons for the front make sense? I am also thinking of getting a buttonhole added to the lapel to hold a boutonnière. Your thoughts? Many thanks!
I would not have a lapel button hole on a shawl lapel but I don't think badly of them.
The most important thing about the buttons for this jacket is that they blend in. And I would not get a link closing as there is no basis for them that I'm aware of. If you want an unusual feature, consider turnback sleeve cuffs.
Will,
Are shawl collars acceptable at all - from a dandification point of view - on single breasted lounge suits?
Well, I guess it's a good thing that Mr. B is posed in one and cropped in another photo as he is or we would see that he is indeed wearing a double-breasted shawl dinner jacket, and heck, that's a pretty good looking style too, isn't it?
The white dinner jacket is gentleman's choice in the summer after six regardless of the occasion as Will suggests.
Perhaps one would have had made the midnight blue formal trousers to wear with just such a jacket.
Soft collars in the summer, please!
Will, check your photos support the points you are making, particularly your emphasis on SB. I seem to remember that the Casablanca (?) shot is a 4×2 DB, and extremely elegant it is too. SB is nice, but there is a long tradition of DB descended from the wide overlap on smoking jackets with frogging.
Will,
Rick in Casablanca wears a double-breasted shawl lapel.
Goes to show the importance of proofreading. That one reference to "single breasted" was supposed to be stricken when I chose to use Photos of Rick instead of what I'd originally planned.
Satorial, I've never seen a shawl on a lounge suit. Descended as they are from dressing gowns, a shawl would be a stretch indeed.
When it comes to dinner jackets, both shawl and peak lapels are considered correct, though, as Will points out, a shawl lapel on a white dinner is not only more "historically correct," it just looks better. Single- and double-breasted are also equally correct and are a matter of personal preference. (Incidentally, Peter Lorre wore a double-breasted white dinner jacket with peak lapels in Casa Blanca.) And yes, no wing collars with white dinner jackets! If you wear a wing collar with a white dinner jacket, you'll spend the event taking other guests' drink orders.
LaoHu,
The Duke of Windsor had buttonholes on both lapels of at least one of his dark dinner jackets with shawl lapels--but he put a flower in the left one only.
I’ve seen manufacturers experiment with shawl collared lounge suits, but only in places similar to a J.C. Penney catalog. They look dreadful!
Will, great post. Attended a charity dinner last Saturday night outside of Middleburg Virginia, a good 15% of the men wore SB summer ivory jackets, shawl lapels and soft collars.
Saw a great film last night called 1900 which is set on an ocean liner during the first 45 years of the last century. The story revolves around a piano player and there are many scenes of the main dining room with patrons and staff in dinner rig. Ivory jackets were very common and it was interesting to note that every ivory jacket had peak lapels, didn't see a shawl among them. The art direction seemed very authentic and the clothing was great.
David
Will, love the turned-back cuffs idea. If I ever get a custom-made dinner jacket it will have those cuffs . . . and midnight blue fabric.
dsmddm, thanks for the tip on "The Legend of 1900". I will have to rent that this weekend.
Great pix from a great pic. My first image of a white DJ is of Connery in Goldfinger, but then I saw this film and I guess Bogart may have been the first to popularize it on film. William Holden wore one in Sabrina--another film with Bogie--and their characters' father negatively commented on the white DJ. Holden's version had a center vent. Do you have any photos of you in a white DJ?
As I'm sure you know, there was a major plaid craze in the mid-50s, allegedly inspired by this suit worn by the Duke of Windsor on a trip to America. Life magazine photos are a treasure trove of American history, and this site has done us the favor of collecting some Life photos of plaid evening wear.
Which is just a long-winded way to ask a question: Will, what's your opinion of plaid with formal wear in the modern day?
I realize a notch lapel is a no-go on a true dinner jacket, but would one be able to get away with a notch on a cream colored jacket meant for the Rick look?
My white dinner jacket has peak lapels faced in white grosgrain. Connery wears this cut of dinner jacket in the first scene of Goldfinger and in my opinion he's never looked better.
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