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The Made-to-Measure Velvet Jacket
A velvet jacket is the least forgiving thing a man can wear. The pile catches light along every seam, so a shoulder that sits half an inch wide or a sleeve that runs long doesn't just look off — it looks off in a fabric that draws the eye straight to it. Which is the argument for having one made to your own measurements rather than picking the closest size on a rail.
Our made-to-measure velvet jackets are cut in Italian velvet to the measurements you supply, and arrive in about ten working days. Here is what that actually involves.
The double-breasted smoking jacket in green Italian velvet, with frog fastenings.
Three ways to wear velvet
The range divides into three silhouettes, and the choice is really about how much occasion you want the jacket to carry.
The single-breasted blazer is the one that does the most work. Notch or peak lapel, clean front, twin vents — it reads as a dinner jacket with black trousers and a bow tie, and as something considerably more relaxed over a shirt and dark jeans. If you are buying one velvet jacket, buy this one.
The double-breasted smoking jacket is the traditional article: frog fastenings across the front instead of buttons, cut for the drawing room rather than the boardroom. It is a deliberate piece of dressing. Worn well, nothing else in the room competes with it.
The Nehru collar jacket does away with the lapel altogether. Five antique brass buttons, a standing collar, an out-breast welt pocket — the cleanest line of the three, and the easiest to wear if you would rather not knot a tie. It suits a man who wants formality without the semaphore of black tie.
The single-breasted blazer in burgundy — the most versatile jacket in the range.
What you don't see
Most of the work in a jacket like this is hidden. Each one is fully lined in smooth satin and carries two inner chest pockets, so a wallet and a phone sit flat rather than breaking the line of the front.
The outer flap pockets are worth a word. They can be worn out, as flaps, for a softer and more relaxed look — or tucked in, which turns them into jetted pockets and makes the whole jacket read as considerably more formal. One jacket, two registers, depending on the evening.
The sleeves finish with four fabric-covered buttons. The back has twin vents, one on each side, which is the detail that stops a jacket riding up and bunching when you sit down — the difference between a jacket that looks composed at the table and one that doesn't.
The flap pocket, which tucks in to become a jetted pocket.
Choosing a colour
Black and midnight navy are the safe evening choices, and the black is offered with satin peak lapels if you want it closer to a true dinner jacket. Burgundy is the classic smoking-jacket colour and photographs beautifully under warm light. Green — dark or light — has become the one people ask about most.
Beyond those, there is dark and light brown for something quieter and more autumnal, and pink and purple for a man who has already made his point and would now like to enjoy himself. The Nehru comes in navy, green, maroon and black.
The Nehru collar jacket in navy, with five antique brass buttons.
How it works
There is no fitting appointment and no tailor's shop to visit. You take your measurements in inches, following the instructions on the product page, and enter them with your order. Take them carefully — the jacket is cut to what you send, so ten minutes with a tape measure is the single highest-value thing you will do in the process. If you are between figures, measure twice rather than round.
From the date of your order, your jacket arrives in hand in approximately ten working days. Every jacket in the range is $549.95.
Finishing the look
If the jacket is going to black-tie duty, we make trousers to go with it: a wool-mix grey with a black satin stripe, and a wool-rich black with a satin stripe, both $259.99. Worn with the black or midnight jacket, they make a full evening suit; worn with the burgundy or green, the satin stripe picks up the lapel and ties the two halves together.
Ten working days from now, you could own a velvet jacket cut to your own shoulders. Explore the made-to-measure velvet jackets.
A velvet jacket is the least forgiving thing a man can wear. The pile catches light along every seam, so a shoulder that sits half an inch wide or a sleeve that runs long doesn't just look off — it looks off in a fabric that draws the eye straight to it. Which is the argument for having one made to your own measurements rather than picking the closest size on a rail.
Our made-to-measure velvet jackets are cut in Italian velvet to the measurements you supply, and arrive in about ten working days. Here is what that actually involves.
The double-breasted smoking jacket in green Italian velvet, with frog fastenings.
Three ways to wear velvet
The range divides into three silhouettes, and the choice is really about how much occasion you want the jacket to carry.
The single-breasted blazer is the one that does the most work. Notch or peak lapel, clean front, twin vents — it reads as a dinner jacket with black trousers and a bow tie, and as something considerably more relaxed over a shirt and dark jeans. If you are buying one velvet jacket, buy this one.
The double-breasted smoking jacket is the traditional article: frog fastenings across the front instead of buttons, cut for the drawing room rather than the boardroom. It is a deliberate piece of dressing. Worn well, nothing else in the room competes with it.
The Nehru collar jacket does away with the lapel altogether. Five antique brass buttons, a standing collar, an out-breast welt pocket — the cleanest line of the three, and the easiest to wear if you would rather not knot a tie. It suits a man who wants formality without the semaphore of black tie.
The single-breasted blazer in burgundy — the most versatile jacket in the range.
What you don't see
Most of the work in a jacket like this is hidden. Each one is fully lined in smooth satin and carries two inner chest pockets, so a wallet and a phone sit flat rather than breaking the line of the front.
The outer flap pockets are worth a word. They can be worn out, as flaps, for a softer and more relaxed look — or tucked in, which turns them into jetted pockets and makes the whole jacket read as considerably more formal. One jacket, two registers, depending on the evening.
The sleeves finish with four fabric-covered buttons. The back has twin vents, one on each side, which is the detail that stops a jacket riding up and bunching when you sit down — the difference between a jacket that looks composed at the table and one that doesn't.
The flap pocket, which tucks in to become a jetted pocket.
Choosing a colour
Black and midnight navy are the safe evening choices, and the black is offered with satin peak lapels if you want it closer to a true dinner jacket. Burgundy is the classic smoking-jacket colour and photographs beautifully under warm light. Green — dark or light — has become the one people ask about most.
Beyond those, there is dark and light brown for something quieter and more autumnal, and pink and purple for a man who has already made his point and would now like to enjoy himself. The Nehru comes in navy, green, maroon and black.
The Nehru collar jacket in navy, with five antique brass buttons.
How it works
There is no fitting appointment and no tailor's shop to visit. You take your measurements in inches, following the instructions on the product page, and enter them with your order. Take them carefully — the jacket is cut to what you send, so ten minutes with a tape measure is the single highest-value thing you will do in the process. If you are between figures, measure twice rather than round.
From the date of your order, your jacket arrives in hand in approximately ten working days. Every jacket in the range is $549.95.
Finishing the look
If the jacket is going to black-tie duty, we make trousers to go with it: a wool-mix grey with a black satin stripe, and a wool-rich black with a satin stripe, both $259.99. Worn with the black or midnight jacket, they make a full evening suit; worn with the burgundy or green, the satin stripe picks up the lapel and ties the two halves together.
Ten working days from now, you could own a velvet jacket cut to your own shoulders. Explore the made-to-measure velvet jackets.