FAI World
The Ivory Shawl Dinner Jacket
For: Black tie in summer — an outdoor dinner, a destination wedding after dark
An ivory jacket over black trousers is the only real variation black tie allows, and it is for warm evenings only. Matte cloth, shawl collar, and nothing in the buttonhole.
- Colour
- Ivory
- Cloth
- Mid-weight mohair-wool blend, half-lined
- Cut
- Jacket to mid-seat
- Detail
- Shawl collar, one button, no vent detail on show
Indicative UK market range: £1,000–£2,000
On your frame
- Broad / muscular — Soft shoulder, wider shawl, and have the waist taken in so the pale cloth does not box out.
- Tall and lean — This is your jacket — keep it clean and let the contrast do everything.
- Compact — Shorten the jacket and keep the trouser high so the black leg reads long.
- Fuller figure — Narrow shawl, open quarters, and a lower button stance.
What to do next
If this is the shape you want, tell me the occasion and date and I will point you at the right house for it.
Tell me the occasion, the date and your budget bracket. Within 24 hours you get back: two or three houses I would actually approach and why those and not others, the alterations to insist on for your build, a realistic timeline for your date, and a short written brief you can hand to the tailor at the first fitting.
- No fee, no commission, nothing sold here.
- If nobody I trust fits your date or budget, I say so.
- Read by me, answered by me.