Tailored Tips for Truly Decadent Dinner Dress

There’s no question, midnight blue or black barathea is an elegant, timeless and practical choice for dinner dress and should really be the cloth you choose for your first, sensible dinner suit. Even so, once there’s a classic tuxedo in the wardrobe, those of an adventurous disposition can afford to experiment a little more with their eveningwear. Essentially, formal dress codes are in flux and as the modern definition of ‘black tie’ continues to become less rigid and society less formal, there's ample opportunity to think outside the box. As Chris Modoo, formalwear expert and Senior Creative at Chester Barrie puts it, “other evening-appropriate cloths include kid mohair and wool blends, which are a great vehicle for colour” – think French blue, steely grey or burgundy evening suits with silk faced lapels – “alternative cloths to consider are clean-cut, open-weave wools, silk jacquard or for cocktail dress, an unexpected shade of flannel.”

Black tie need not mean matte tie. Of late, just about every luxury brand in tailored menswear has embraced a more richly textured, tactile eveningwear aesthetic and the creations of Savile Row’s Gieves & Hawkes are a case in point. From chocolate brown and midnight silk jacquards, to wool and silk paisley designs or large graphic boucle checks, the house has presented an empowered, debonair eveningwear collection for several seasons. The house’s Head Cutter, Davide Taub explains thus; “a silk jacquard dinner jacket is ideal for a party atmosphere; in an environment where individuality, creativity and flair are appreciated, then it’s a fun way to present a inventive look.” Paired with dry mohair evening trosuers, or alternatively drapey superfine barathea, a pleated dress shirt and a velvet or even dark tweed bow tie, a textured evening look feels modern and arguably more sophisticated than the classic clean-cut dinner suit, whilst also bring a welcome touch of informality into the equation.

If an all-out break with tradition isn’t your thing, an elegant alternative is the addition of an evening waistcoat – which can be either backless or lined depending upon personal preference. If you’re not wearing a matching three-piece with waistcoat and jacket both sporting faced lapels, waistcoats cut in a subtle silk jacquard or faille present a rather sophisticated art deco edge. For a particularly sharp aesthetic, one might also wish to play with tradition and pair a black two-piece dinner suit with a white Marcella cotton formal waistcoat. Although conventionally associated with a white tie dress code, black and white waistcoats were interchangeable for much of the early twentieth century, and a white evening waistcoat with a black dinner suit remains sartorial yet subtly subversive today. Campbell Carey, Co Head Cutter & Creative Director at Huntsman advises thus: “make sure the waistcoat isn’t cut too high in the opening as it will shorten the body. The name of the game here is all about the contrast between black and white.”

We mean it, all the coolest dinner suits (as seen about the shoulders of film stars and pop icons) are cream - Humphrey Bogart in Casablanca, Sean Connery and Roger Moore as James Bond and Bryan Ferry in Roxy Music, the list goes on. Appropriate to wear during the warmer months, lightweight cream plainweaves, gabardines and even raw or shantung silks all look rather effortless and they’re certainly more heat-friendly than barathea. Tradition dictates that the lapels on a cream summer dinner jacket should not take facings, but have the buttons faced instead. Adhere to the rules and you’ve got yourself an effortlessly cool seasonal dinner-come-cocktail coat. In the same vein, avoid white dinner jackets like the plague; the soft summery warmth of cream is the height of sophistication, so wearing a dinner jacket in bright white is tantamount to bleaching one’s teeth.

Plain white dress shirts are the undisputed classic, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t have a bit of fun when the occasion allows. Very pale blue voile looks utterly rakish beneath a navy or midnight blue dinner suit and pastel shades of pink or lilac can work equally well under blue or black. Alternatively, ivory silk or voile dress shirts look less harsh against the skin than bright white and help to soften the impact of a particularly formal dinner suit. For an utterly decadent look, The Rake recommends a cream dress shirt beneath a dark chocolate velvet or mohair dinner jacket, Noel Coward style. By subtly softening the colours of your eveningwear away from jet black and bright white, you’ll look a little less brash than your penguin-suit clad compatriots and yet the most confidently dressed man in the room.

Evening scarves have come quite close to some unpleasant associations with the aesthetic of slightly greasy, open shirt-necked playboys in recent years, but are undergoing a chic renaissance. In soft ivory satin, double-faced black and white silk twills or even navy with subtle white spots they are the ideal accompaniment for eveningwear. They make a traditional dinner suit look even more classic, or else jazz-up a cocktail coat a treat, adding a touch of flair and informality in equal measure. Fringed ends are very à la mode, but brash printed silk paisleys are not; they detract from evening scarf’s understated quality.

Public health warnings be damned. The Rake thoroughly approves of smoking, particularly when dressed in a smoking jacket. Low-buttoning double-breasted coats cut in rich, thick velvet with shawl lapels and faced buttons offer the height of contemporary sophistication. A great proponent of the smoking suit, Parisian master tailor Lorenzo Cifonelli says, “you don’t have to look too serious in a smoking suit and you can accessorise it with unexpected details to break up its formality. Personally, I love to see it with a crewneck T-shirt and a pair of sneakers.” For those who favour something a little more traditional but equally voluptuous, a more aristocratic design with silk facings and frogging does just the job and represents a reassuringly old school look. Anderson & Sheppard’s Audie Charles understands this perfectly; “it’s hard to beat the sense of classic glamour that a velvet smoking jacket conjures up. It begs to be paired with dark silk shirts, evening scarves and needlepoint or patent slippers.”

Wearing something that’s unexpected and yet somehow has the touches of technical correctitude is a surefire way to steal the show at a formal soiree. If you’re off to a dressy event that feels relatively cosmopolitan, opting for a well-cut cocktail suit over a traditional dinner suit can hit the perfect anti-establishmentarian note. What’s more, cocktail suits offer the opportunity to wear an evening appropriate look that’s fundamentally more expressive than the staid black dinner jacket. The Rake recommends louche double-breasted or three-piece suits in rich colours with broad peak or shawl lapels, which channel something of the classic dinner suit whilst updating it’s aesthetic at the same time. It’s also an opportunity to play with styling details that are tricky to pull off on business or lounge suits; try a low button stance, double-breasted waistcoat and jetted pockets. Modoo says, “the cocktail suit is the modern reincarnation of the Victorian smoking jacket. In it’s simplest form, a midnight blue mohair suit can be styled with a black bow tie to create an ersatz tuxedo. In a sea of often badly fitting dinner suits, I admire the gentleman who can rock a blue suit with broad shawl lapels.”