Eventually, I’ve reached the tuxedo (dinner jacket) order. The embarrassing fact is I don’t live a life, which makes a tuxedo a top priority. It shall not stop me though. I pretend ordering a dinner jacket will create a need for the garment.
I decided to place the order with Volkmar Arnulf. He is a great tailor evidently, yet it is also important that there is something old worldly about his style and approach, for instance his strong shoulder, which relates well to a tuxedo in my view. A rippled soft spalla a camicia on a tuxedo cannot be a happy marriage.
I chose a fairly light fabric for the project, a black barathea mohair (from Dugdale). I cannot imagine a much better fabric for a classic tuxedo. The barathea weave is traditionally the default weave for a dinner jacket, presumably because the tiny zigzag design creates a pleasing shine in artificial lighting, and the mohair makes the fabric very crease-resistant, which supports a semi-formal dinner jacket in general and Arnulf’s clean cut in particular. And, a lightweight fabric is a convinient solution in the heat of the night.
Another classic and less shiny fabric option would have been a black herringbone or better, a featherbone worsted. I was afraid that fabric would be too warm, though, so I skipped it.
As you can see from the pictures I opt for a double breasted cut with shawl collar.
Photos: The Journal of Style
Great decision, I cannot wait to see the next stages of the creation. My tuxedo is easily my favorite garment. The approx. 6 times I get to use it for black tie events a year are all highlights of the social season.
Excellent choice. I went with a 4×2 double breasted shawl collared dinner jacket in midnight blue Ermenegildo Zegna Trofeo fabric. As a gentleman of “ample carriage,” the jacket disguises my midsection and does not require wearing a waistcoat. I had a custom bow tie made to adequately reflect the width of the lapels – very happy with the look. The fabric looks great at night and in photographs. I am looking forward to an event in NYC two weeks from now when I can wear it again!