What is the history of the dinner jacket?
The dinner jacket started life as a less formal alternative to the tailcoat which at the time was worn most every evening for dinner by the upper class gentlemen.
As with the evening tailcoat, gentleman continued to wear their dinner jackets with the usual formal accessories such as white bow tie, black or white waistcoats matching trousers, white wing collar shirt and black formal shoes.
The dinner jacket lapels were faced in silk, satin or grosgrain, adding a touch of elegance to these now popular shorter jackets.
As the dinner jacket was seen to be far less formal wear than a full evening dress tailcoat with cutaway front, and etiquette dictated that it was not appropriate as formal wear in mixed company.
The dinner jacket or tuxedo as it is called in the USA first came into fashion in the Victorian era, named the tuxedo after " Tuxedo Park" where it was first worn in the US.
The history of the tuxedo is said to be that Victorian Lord Dupplin who was a good friend of the Prince of Wales was invited on the Princes Yacht.
Not sure what to wear he asked his tailor, Henry Poole of Savile Row what to wear for this occasion and as a result of this an early version of the tuxedo jacket was made.
The Prince of Wales was quite taken with the dinner jacket and he also started wearing a similar style jacket for informal events.
When Lord Duplin returned to New York members of the club at Tuxedo Park decided they would also like a dinner jacket and started wearing them for informal dinners and gatherings.
Apparently eventually gentleman seen out in these dinner jackets would hear people say "That's what they wear for dinner up in Tuxedo", and the tuxedo jacket was born.
During the Edwardian period there was shift in practice for the dinner jacket, gentlemen started wearing a black waistcoat and black bow tie with a dinner suit / tux thus heralding the start of the traditional black tie and white tie dress codes.
During this period, the dinner suit / tuxedo was becoming ever more popular at less formal evening occasions, so for an evening with friends it was accepted wear.
In time the classic dinner suit became the most accepted formal evening wear leaving the evening tailcoat to be worn to only the most formal of occasions and events.
The double breasted dinner jacket then became a popular choice, the shirts were now often turn down collar shirts and gentlemen started wearing cummerbunds. In warmer climates white & cream dinner jackets started being worn by some gents.
Many early dinner suits were made using barathea wool, a heavier weight wool cloth but modern tuxedos can often be wool, velvet, mohair mix or even silk.
Eventually formal black tie became only necessary for special occasion attire rather than standard evening wear as was the case before, men started wearing lounge suits for dinner with friends and family.
During the 1950's and 1960's the lapels were often narrower or shawl collar.
During the 1970's dinner suit colours became more adventurous, many had braiding to edges, lapels became wider, trousers more flared and flamboyant shirts with frills and ruffles were worn.
When I think dinner suit, I can't fail to think of James Bond , each actor who has played James Bond has worn a slightly different style of dinner suit but all have looked very dashing and they always get the lady!
Modern men's formal dinner jackets are now mostly black or midnight blue ( midnight blue looks more black than does black in artificial light ) but a less formal style are coloured dinner jackets, often in velvet.
Now the dinner jacket or DJ is a hugely popular item of clothing, it is currently seeing a huge trend in younger wearers and is seen as a smart fashion piece to be worn at even the most informal of events. Velvet dinner jackets are particularly elegant and stylish.
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