Nine Exquisite Eveningwear Investments For Spring

Chester Barrie’s dinner dress is the stuff of legend. Senior Creative Christopher Modoo is something of a formalwear guru and a stickler for technical correctitude, so today the house’s black tie designs are amongst the most uncompromisingly executed on the planet. This deep blue three-piece dinner suit is a case in point. Cut in a crisp wool and mohair blend, it’s ideal for the cooler months. With its heavily expressed chest, broad roped sleeveheads and low button stance, the jacket’s silhouette subtly draws attention to the wearer’s shoulders and hips – for a rich, art deco aesthetic. It’s the ultimate in old-school red carpet eveningwear and yet retains a distinctly modern sartorial sensibility.£1100.00, www.chesterbarrie.com

If patent shoes aren’t to your taste, velvet evening slippers are a reassuringly decadent alternative. Crockett & Jones’s are amongst the best, cut in robust heavy-pile cotton velvet with a quilted interior and grosgrain trim. Although many monogrammed designs are available for those in search of something fun, for formal parties or dinners a plain navy slipper feels suitably chic and understated. They’re perfect for pairing with a dark velvet smoking jacket or midnight barathea dinner suit for a luxurious, easy and slightly louche aesthetic. £175.00, www.crockettandjones.com

There are dress shirts, and then there are dress shirts. This exquisite ivory creation from Jermyn Street shirtmaking doyenne Emma Willis is the latter. Cut in a flowing silk pique, with a softly structured spread collar, removable button band, squared double-cuffs and featuring a silk bib for a contemporary take on the traditional Marcella cotton front – this is the dinner shirt that dreams are made of. Like all Emma Willis shirts, it’s handmade in Willis’s factory in Gloucester to the highest sartorial standards - perfect for dressing to impress. £370.00, www.emmawillis.com

If there’s one contemporary British tailor that has come to truly own the jacquard dinner jacket it’s Gieves & Hawkes, who has been offering an elevated collection of silk jacquard evening looks for several seasons now, masterfully contemporising the conventions of black tie in the process. For spring/summer ’16, this dark green-grey double-breasted cocktail coat is a signature piece, available to order made-to-measure. Handmade in Italy with a canvassed construction, it feels lightweight, soft and easy to wear. The English-woven jacquard features a palm-tree motif, evoking a sense of tropical escape and the glamour of the Riviera. Furthermore, the coat’s double-breasted cut, simple jetted pockets and faced buttons all channel something of the traditional dinner suit, all of which allows this coat to be easily dressed up or down for an evening’s fun. www.gievesandhawkes.com

Edward Green, perhaps more than any other English shoemaker, has succeeded in injecting its thoroughly poised, polished Northampton-made designs with an attractive touch of continental flair. This sartorial patent opera pump is no exception, with its sleek low profile, thin sole, trim black grosgrain bow and softly chiseled toe, its a truly superior dress shoe. £345.00, www.edwardgreen.com

Perhaps one of the easiest ways to elevate one’s eveningwear is the addition of a dress waistcoat and Budd Shirtmakers on London’s Piccadilly Arcade have been providing gentlemen of taste with an exquisite collection of evening appropriate waistcoats since 1910. This sumptuous take on the theme is cut in a black silk moire with a glorious iridescent sheen and features a thoroughly traditional cut – with a low button stance, two welt pockets and slim shawl lapels. The backless construction is also traditional and helps to keep one cool and collected when the dancing starts. Waistcoats in black faille or grosgrain are also available, to be better paired with dinner suits with similar lapel facings. £195.00, www.buddshirts.co.uk

As The Rake has testified on many an occasion before, a cream dinner jacket makes for an undeniably cool summer evening look. Also undeniably cool is the work of contemporary British tailors Thom Whiddett and Luke Sweeney, making this two-piece jacket and trouser pairing the unrivalled suit of choice for all your seasonal soirees. Cut with satin faced peak lapels, horizontal jetted pockets and one button closure, it has all the hallmarks of a timeless dinner jacket lent a modern update thanks to Thom Sweeney’s signature trim silhouette and soft construction. With its lightly padded chest, shoulders and shorter skirt, this jacket feels suitably lightweight and louche – it practically begs to be taken out for an evening’s cocktails in warmer weather. £1495.00, www.thomsweeney.co.uk

In fashionable circles, rich shades of brown are very à la mode, and Ralph Lauren’s designs for spring/summer ’16 particularly so. This exquisite Purple Label look feels thoroughly Gatsby-esque with its light chocolate coat and cream trousers, perfect for semi-formal In fashionable circles, rich shades of brown are very à la mode, and Ralph Lauren’s designs for spring/summer ’16 particularly so. This exquisite Purple Label evening look feels thoroughly Gatsby-esque with its light chocolate coat and cream trousers, perfect for semi-formal eveningwear or cocktail dress. The coat features Lauren’s signature cut, with its waisted silhouette, natural shoulder and pin-sharp straight cut peak lapels, whilst the lapels, buttons and pocket jets are faced in a sumptuous chocolate brown silk satin for an immaculate finish. Like all the best eveningwear, it feels aristocratic, nostalgic and yet somehow thoroughly post-modern all at once – ideal for causing a stir at your next formal engagement. www.ralphlauren.com

It’s hard to comprehend a timepiece that’s more suited to black tie than the newly released Bovet Amadeo Fleurier Virtuoso VII. As with all of Bovet’s impeccable creations, the timepiece is crafted to an extraordinarily high standard, both from an aesthetical and technical perspective. In a design intended to showcase the skills of Bovet’s watchmaking artisans, the case is 18crt red gold, the crown sapphire and the dial black polished lacquer with roman applied numerals. The mechanism utilises Bovet’s legendary Virtuoso VII Speciality Caliber and with the watch’s retrograde perpetual calendar complication, reverse hand fitting and double co-axial seconds it’s little short of an evening-appropriate horological masterpiece. What’s more, with its reverse fit functionality, it is wearable either as a wrist or pocket watch - whether that is in the waistcoat pocket of a three-piece dinner suit or on the wrist with a silk smoking jacket and trousers. Available in yellow gold or alternatively with a white lacquered dial, each design of Virtuoso VII is limited to only 50 pieces, so those in search of a sure-fire formal hit really ought to get in quick. www.bovet.com