Welcome everybody another episode of the Oki podcast here in Studio 1 I’d like to start with a I think you call it a shout out to all our followers Facebook subscribers on YouTube and people on Instagram thank you all very much your comments are all well-received interesting literate aidite and
Everything else I can say about them so thank you this evening or today rather the subject is evening wear I’m of course dressed for the evening my colleague here is dressed for the morning so that provides us with a little bit of a contrast we’ll be talking about formal and informal
Evening wear so bear with us and I think we’ll have an exciting discussion welcome OK thank you as always beat most welcome and you’ll notice Oak is as usual very sharply dressed in a new jacket yes sir it is okay it’s a new jacket black stripe trousers and this is
The outfit that some years ago I must say bank managers used to wear when I worked in a hotel in London back in the 80s the managers all wor or a stroller which is I think what you call it that is correct I think nowadays about the only people who wear these are
Undertakers and that doesn’t detract at all from the uh the effect so tell us about it Bara black Baria well shall I stand or shall I sit let’s stand okay let’s have a look there we have it so this beat is what you might call a
Stroller yes and it’s done uh the coat of course is done in bar which is the fabric that it’s used for any other sort of formal coat including Su like this one such as you have an but I noticed it it’s it’s what should I
Call it a lumpy Baria it’s quite a a you can see the The Weave The Weave whereas on for example this one you don’t see because it’s heavier this is a thicker this is a 21 Oz barath by Fox it’s a it’s a well it’s a special edition cloth
Um so it’s a bit more of a it’s a I guess what they would call a connoisseur Bara yes yes and of course the trousers are cashmir Stripes I’m not sure why they call them cashmir Stripes because they’re not made of cashmir no these are actually made of wool but
Traditionally they’re called cashm stries and these are trousers that are paired with a morning dress or a stroller and known in London at one time possibly still today as sponge bag trousers because they used to make sponge bags in a similar pattern I I I’m absolutely I have no idea what sponge
Bags are well there we go that that’s what they they used to be used to be called that now you’ve also got these cloth covered buttons here correct so it’s all it’s it’s like a dinner jacket but without the facing absolutely and the idea when I design this or when I
Configure this I thought about um versatility yeah now this I could have designed as a dinner jacket which means it should have come with either silk facings or gr how do they say gross grain gross grain a a which is what you have on but that
Would limit the coat it would limit it strictly to dinner jacket the way I’ve sort of configured this I wouldn’t say design it’s more like configuration but the way I’ve conf configured it is with essentially self lapels yes that way it can be one after 6:00 p.m. um at dinner
Or it can be wor in the daytime as part of a strolla which is exactly how I have it on indeed correct and you could wear a black and gray hounds tooth tie that would look quite smart actually absolutely absolutely if you were say going to a daytime wedding for instance
This would be a good substitute for a morning yes it it would and in that event you might wear a silver tie or a Hound stew tie or even of uh what you might call uh or or just the something very simple but in gray however uh we’re
Shooting at night as we are want to do and so uh since we’re shooting in the evening I thought it would be more appropriate uh to wear a black tie a black tie and there we are we’ve both got black ties on absolutely indeed absolutely and just a plug for the
Design and the manufacturer or production um Ari features here in fact I think we can say very I think we can safely say without sounding like we’re blowing our trumpet here that it’s Unique you don’t get this really anywhere else the extra fabric here the way the collar sits the
Extra bits in the shoulder the drape in the chest and the drape in the chest which is achieved by adding a bit here in the shoulder so you’ll notice that o is an extension cuz his his shoulder actually doesn’t come out this far probably about half an inch absolutely
And then that enables you even on a 4×1 Oki which is doesn’t have that same quite the same vshape as the 4×2 the 4×2 or 6×2 correct you notice that the fundamental sort of ASI silhouette is not not is not sacrificed it’s not compromised no it’s not compromised
Absolutely absolutely the shape is there as you said again shoulder extensions help with enhancing the bloom in the chest uh some people call it a balloon chest the balloon chest we call it a drape chest drape chest and of course the other thing is it’s not something that you notice when the jacket’s
Hanging up on a hanger you only notice it when somebody’s wearing it and of course if I were to wear it it wouldn’t look quite as good on me because my chest’s different shape from what oki’s got and and vice versa so this is what
You get when when you have your own shop and you can go in and get them to make it but it’s also what you you could get conceivably from Oki and I think the the kicker really is the collar you’ll notice how the collar sits and this is this is a
Trademark of genuine bespoke also the back drape if you wouldn’t mind just for a moment there the back drape now you might think well oh dear look at that excess in fact it’s there for a reason because that if you don’t have this back drape you won’t get
The front drape yes so a little bit of a lesson there for the kenti in our audience absolutely I am I’m afraid I’m not wearing aski um well it is still a beautiful 4×2 dinner Jack dinner suit uh this is what you might call a proper traditional 4×2 dinner suit it is made
In bar AA of course we haven’t made this this is not an ass this is Pete’s grandfather’s dinner suit believe it or not this is your grandfather’s D it is yes yes and it’s been slightly altered because he was taller a fair bit taller than you he waser than and so you’ve
You’ve altered it at the sleeves and certain other things but this C this uh suit has to be at least 60 70 years old no no no no 80 80 years old 0 years old and it still looks absolutely stunning well it’s not worn very often you see
That’s that’s perhaps it doesn’t matter the point to make there is that classic dress when well done is Evergreen and this is this is the same style that was worn then it’s still quite fitting and appropriate today yes I call I call this ask oki’s grandfather because what you’ll notice is what oki’s
Got was made very recently designed and produced very recently but it doesn’t look all that different absolutely if you see we stand stand stand by stand we’re both wearing 4X two coats that’s right this was made 80 years ago yes 80 years ago that’s right and this was made
Well quite recently but you can see the fundament fundamental PR principles are still there you can see the shoulder extension you can see the drape in the chest you can see sort of you know the full cut trousers of course and yeah overall it’s just a Timeless timeless
Yes it is yes absolutely Timeless look yes and of course you can tell it was made during the war because they’re using regular buttons as opposed to as opposed to clo covered buttons yeah using regular buttons and the trousers have no lining ah and I can only imagine
That during wartime they couldn’t get satin or whatever they used as the lining the trousers have no lining and they’re using regular buttons so it’s which a little bit unfortunate but it’s not something we have to worry about right let’s have a seat sure and let’s talk about evening wear so first thing
Is does evening wear have to be a black suit like mine no okay what are the options well you have formal evening wear and then you have semiformal evening wear and and I’ll um perhaps break this down or sort of provide practical uh examples or anecdotes and
So Black Tie when you say black tie specific if of course a black tie um very often it’s going to mean a dinner suit or a toxedo um or say a cream dinner jacket or a Navy dinner jacket such as you have up there just happen to have one that is a
Semiformal that that would be sort of a semiformal code the Sha lapel would be more formal we’ll look at that in a moment okay this one here you see this this looks like a regular jacket doesn’t it correct so you’ve got um sort of fa colored or tan colored buttons double
Breasted um little bit broader in the lapel than what Oak is wearing right now or maybe it just looks that way well that’s a 4X two it is actually a different design okay and this coat equally made in baratha is something that could be used casually in the
Evening now if you’ve noticed we haven’t done the buttons with with a self cover no that’s right they’re not S cover but if they were proper if this was a proper formal coat it would be covered in the self cloth and you will see when you
Pick up the Sha lapel dinner jacket in in a similar cream the buttons are covered in self yes in the self cloth like on your coat absolutely so this is something that could double as a casual you know sort of a dressy but casual evening jacket and you could wear this
With with for example you could wear it with black trousers correct if you wanted to Black formal trousers black formal trousers and if you had a white shirt for example with a camp collar you could actually wear it with an unbuttoned well I wouldn’t wear it with
A cam color I would always wear something like this with a proper color with a proper color and a tie with or without a tie right okay you know since it’s semi casual so again this is not very this is not very formal so something like this you could wear with
An open neck or with an ass cut in the even and probably for the summer because it’s it’s a light color and traditionally I suppose um light colored dinner jackets are for the summer absolutely right so that’s one there which um which might give you some ideas let’s check the next one
Here now this is slightly flashier more dress dressy and of course those of you who are old enough to have seen a film called Casablanca recognize will recognize the shaw lapel jacket and it’s interesting because the lapels go they’re not wide at the top like most lapels they’re wide
Actually at the bottom which is uh which is an interesting effect and as Oki was saying the buttons are covered with fabric so they’re self buttons other than that um what can you tell us about this one well these are certainly more dressy than the other um the uh pel
Double breasted he just showed us that can be dressed down it could be also one with a bow tie but that’s something that sort of you could cross over between four more but this is strictly uh I suppose you might call certainly more formal yes um you can see signature
Baratha it’s a Bara cloth done in in uh the buttons that are all done in the self cloth H so it’s covered um all the Hallmarks it’s a 4X two yes or 4X one uh so all the Hallmarks of uh of a of a dinner a proper proper dinner jacket so
Something like this I would wear certainly only wear with a bow tie and You’ and a dinner shirt and you notice you don’t have flaps on the pockets no all formal garments are done with flaps all foral garments have to come with what you might call Basin Pockets Bas pocket
Or some call them jetted Pockets jetted Pockets correct now tell us a bit about Bara because we’ve mentioned that this is Bara this is Bara um and this is Bara now what is Bara Bara is wool essentially it’s the weave that makes it baratha the way it’s woven Now sort of a
Basket very very tight basket weave yes and don’t hold me to account on why uh it’s woven that way I my you know my my history uh should I say my uh knowledge in history doesn’t go that deep uh but I do know that all formal garments are
Woven uh this specific or this particular way uh in this cloth called baratha of course but the underlying cloth itself is is uh 100% wool and you could I suppose use mohare certainly in the summer more hair of course breeds better uh it’s more
Openly well it’s s of the more hair is a completely different MO is a goat actually uh it’s a made from mountain goat and so it’s a different fiber it’s not sheep fiber it tends to be a bit loser and it breeds a lot better so if you’re looking for an alternative a
Summer alternative or tropical alternative to baratha then MO is certainly perhaps the only option really you have out there but you you didn’t put satin uh facings on this one no I haven’t I just thought cream or off-white is a very strong color yeah uh
Now there are those who do it you know there are those who might put uh satin or silk uh facings on the lapel I just thought it might be overwhelming yes cu the color itself is already it’s quite uh it really sticks out um and so the
Whole idea behind design is balance you seek balance and I just didn’t want to overpower the jacket with shiny lapel so to speak and you’ll notice it’s not white it’s off-white it’s a cream color and a white dinner jacket um should never happen no you I was going to say um
Bands like big bands or band leaders you look like band Le absolutely but not Not A A A well-dressed gentleman absolutely it is what they might call verbolten there you go so you’ve got the semiformal and the more formal in the same color but this is still not quite fully
Formal well I mean I suppose you could say in the summer um it could be considered formal I mean it’s as formal as they get in the summer in the summer yes okay now this one everybody take a really good look at this uh bottle green single breasted with Peak
Lapels and it’s made of velvet this is Velvet absolutely which is cotton you know velvet velvet is cotton uh or derived from cotton or derivative of cotton it’s just a beautiful Lush velvet by Harrison of Edinburg and uh a velvet jacket is certainly what you might call
Formal yes and so you wouldn’t wear this to a very formal black eye event but certainly to a Christmas party or something of that nature um that calls for being somewhat dressed up but not over the top uh and it’s a christmy sort of color isn’t it it’s a christmy sort
Of color butter green uh or burgundy and you’ve done also be nice you’ve done some piping along the edges of the lapels and down the front in satin in satin absolutely and that is purely aesthetic uh that is just sort of a design element I just wanted to sort of
Give the jacket a little bit more umph a bit more character umph is certainly what it has uh some of us would I think not quite have the what’s what’s the right word I’m trying to well I’m trying to think of a polite term to yes or The
Moxy to wear something like this but those those of you who have who really want to make an impression this will definitely help you to make an impression absolutely and of course it’s it’s made in the standard sort of Ari way so it’s not just something you it’s
Not a throwaway it it’s a single breasted PE Lael it’s a single breed single breast pel design but I mean it’s it’s got the padding and everything in it and it’s got a full lining and a quite a it’s fully canvas it’s got all the um all the essentially all the
Fundamentals of any ASI coat it probably would get about two wearings a year well it depends on your social life right so it you could in fact have it for quite a long time velvet when it wears out looks pretty awful but I think this given that you wouldn’t be wearing
This very often it would it would last a long ABS time and you could have uh you could do it in a dark burgundy velvet for example or Navy or n even Navy yes yes and those are the three primary colors for velvet at least in my book um Navy or midnight
Yep nav midnight blue uh bottle green and burgundy the three standard colors for velvet dinner jackets and then we have oh this is heavy because this is 25 O Bar that’s 17 o 17 O Bar still pretty heavy now what we have here is a little bit like mine um black formal dinner
Suit uh the gross grain shiny lapels and this is a 4X two two right done as a 4×2 4X two and we have the full rig here and you can see the difference when I stand you can see the difference between this
Is a 4×2 and what I have on is a 4X one there we are so there you have yes you’ll notice on the 4X two everybody that the two buttons are directly in line with each other whereas this one they’re over to the side and of course
The the effect of that is it kind of accentuates the the vshape vshape absolutely and is there any particular reason you made a 4×2 for the dinner jacket and not a 4×1 well uh it’s just an option option of course um you can have it done as a 4×1 if you wish now
For shorter gentlemen I always recommend a 4×1 because it has a longer lapel line it gives you sort of that illusion of height the 4×2 has a shorter lapel line so they buttoning here by the way everybody just uh you’re buttoning here about right about at your waist and this
One here like ois you’re actually buttoning at the hip at the hip absolutely so it gives you a longer sweeping long sweeping Lael so if you’re if you’re tall you could pull this off certainly yes if you’re tall you could pull off a 4×2 uh very easily if you’re
Shorter then I certainly would recommend a 4×1 and you’ll notice a slightly different color you see I said this was black but of course it isn’t it’s actually it is black actually I was thinking it’s midnight no this is black it’s black is it okay this is okay
They’re both black now let’s take a look at what goes under the don’t worry it’s all perfectly decent what goes under the dinner jacket um what goes under it is a single breasted waist coat and the the evening trousers now let’s take a look at the the waist coat first
You’ll notice that this doesn’t look like the sort of waste coats that you’ve seen Oki wearing which come up very high and is in fact what a waste coat should be but an evening waist coat you got a sort of scoop here and a a very low
Front correct and you’ve only got three or four buttons you have single breasted waste coat single breasted waist coat so you got a actually got a a clip on the top and then you’ve got the the three buttons that you see corre okay unlike a regular waist coat where you’ve got five
Or six buttons and as I said that the fastening does up now the idea behind this is essentially you want to create the scoop to show off the Marella ah yes yes the the dinner shirt so when you wear a proper dinner shirt the bib is made from a fabric called Marcella which
Is sort of a textured fabric and also you wear studs when you’re wearing a dinner shirt you wear studs so the idea behind cutting a low front on the vest is to enable one to fully Express the Splendor of the outfit the male chest yes well not just the chest but you want
To express sort of the entire Splendor meaning the starts that go in the shirts and then the Marcella which is a very very nice textured that goes on the front of on the on the bib of the shirt and they used to be um you too young to
Remember this but they used to be actually they used to call them boiled shirts because they they were literally starched the front was starched it was starched as stiff as a collar mhm and of course if you weren’t very careful the studs would pop out because you might it
Was like it was literally like a sort of suit of armor that went down in front of your in front of your dinner jacket so things have changed a bit now you have a soft uh a soft front but it’s a Marcela front it’s it’s that textured stuff with
Your diamond studs or whatever they are in there and then we’ve got the dinner jacket or evening trousers uh similar I suppose to what I’m wearing what you have they’ve got a a shiny stri down there and no cuffs okay this is a a a a big thing that dinner jacket evening dress
Trousers don’t all formal trousers as a matter of fact including day formal and sponge trousers yes of course they have they come without cuffs and of course these are made in the asgi way so trousers may I sit so go ahead OK yes sorry yes trousers waist coat
And dinner jacket now wearing a waist coat with a double breasted dinner jacket might be a little bit too much for some people but of course if you’ve got a single breasted in a jacket you can wear the waste coat and leave it open correct uh well if you live in a
Warm in a coold climate for instance in the winter then certainly you you can wear a double well double rested uh dinner jacket and you can have a waste coat now where the coat would actually be functional okay now so far we’ve seen double breasted jacket uh the ivory
Jacket the shaw lapel jacket the bottle green velvet peaked lapel jacket now let’s take a look at another waist coat and this is a double breasted evening waist coat correct so this could be worn I suppose with the bottle Green Jacket well this is part of a complete suit unfortunately we don’t
Have the coat here because I had to send it back to the workshop but it is part of a single breasted P lapel dinner suit right okay and so this is done in mid I blue yes I was going to say and you can correct possibly see the color if it
Looks very black it almost looks black but you can tell it’s um it’s midnight blue yes it is there we are and you can tell the difference yeah you can and this has these big scooped lapels uh you see this on evening dress but you never
See a lapel like this on daytime clothes and again you got three buttons here and it’s a double breasted evening waste coat uh something looked very very smart because you can leave the jacket open and let everybody admire the way you’ve done your waist coat and this by
The way typical Ari waste coat it’s it’s built up and well padded and it’s got the back made of the same fabric as the front correct which you like yes okay and then the standard ASI trousers now is this a is this Bara that is Baria midnight feels like a rougher or thicker
Weave of well it’s the same weave as what I have on it is it okay okay exactly and where is this from this is by Fox Fox okay and it’s a very heavy baratha it is isn’t it yes it really is and for those of you who new to this fox
Uh the merchant fox in England has been selling fabric since 1773 or something it’s very very old and highly revered outlet and of course producer and they have a mill in I believe Somerset and they get their sheep as our partners Harrison by the way as do our
Partners Harrisons but Fox is quite well known Shameless plug Fox is quite well known for limited edition cloth um some very very heavy cloths and some very very lightweight cloths as well by correct um quite adventurous with patterns if you like Innovative patterns you might want to check the fox website
But obviously if it’s evening wear patterns is something you you well except tartans actually you could wear black watch at let’s think about that because there was when I was young there was a sort of trend to have plaid jacket with black lapels and then the black trousers yes again very popular with
Musicians um and then it died well never quite died it’s still there actually I do have a pair of uh Tartan what they would call Black watch trousers which black watch Tartan which I pair with uh with either dinner jacket or or even sort of a Navy Blazer and
They’re still quite um they’re still quite appropriate but could you have a jacket made of black watch oh absolutely absolutely I mean there are those who actually make complete dinner suits out of black watch I think it’s a bit overpowering I wouldn’t do it myself but
There are those who uh make uh a food dinner suit out of black watch uh however the more typical conf configuration is a dinner jacket in Black watch one with uh dark um so one or the other Jack trousers and black watch Tartan um green
And black as as you know uh is is pretty muted yes unlike for example something like hunting Stewart which is very got a lot of red in it yes I I think the The Plaid dinner jacket probably was something that really couldn’t I mean I don’t mean black watch I mean very
Bright plaid probably something that didn’t have a lot of life in it these fashion trends that come and go um pop very popular at one time as I said when they used to make dinner jackets with quite narrow lapels Shaw narrow Shaw lapels smaller bow ties than for example
What I’ve got on and and and the black trousers now we’re talking about evening wear and you’ve got a full a full set of evening wear for different occasions when does one wear evening dress these days well I think that’s the big um one of the major things you’d hear
From most of that well when am I going to wear a tuxedo um obviously there are less uh there are not as many events where these uh things are uh absolutely required however I am a firm believer in just dressing um for yourself well I wouldn’t say for yourself but you dress
How you want to be received sure sure sure sure and um and and uh in my own experience uh when you dress well uh properly uh you’re you’re very well received and and so even if the occasion doesn’t call for it specifically yes I think one could
Take some license and dress up if you wish to and so there are no shortage of occasions to wear a dinner suit if you wish to on a on a weekend you could take your date out or your wife out if you’re married if you have a significant order
Uh a beautiful dinner on a Friday night is occasion enough uh to wear at least the semiformal dinner dinner suit well you see that Ivory jacket the one that we looked at the the less formal evening jacket I wouldn’t call it a dinner jacket call an evening jacket you could
Wear that even with a straight tie correct you could wear that with literally with a straight black tie correct yeah so there’s still a place still a need to have at least one dinner suit I think there will always some occasion um today weddings or things of that nature um you
May I own a morning dress so I would probably wear uh a morning dress for a wedding what most don’t so most people would wear a tuxedo even in the daytime even though tuxedo should be one only in the evening but I’ve seen them one to daytime weddings
For instance hence the name evening dress um yes what’s what’s odd is that at one time people used to wear evening dress a lot okay and in fact this before I was born um certain areas of society they wore they wore it very very often indeed so
People used to go to the theater in evening dress so forth and the unfortunate thing is of course that fortunate or unfortunate is a it’s it’s rather dull I mean it’s just black and white at the same time when everybody is wearing black and white there’s a sort
Of great equalizing effect because you all kind of look the same and you might look really sloppy in a in a lousy suit but in evening dress everybody sort of looks halfway decent provided it’s not appallingly badly cut and and that has changed now of course if you really want
Formal evening dress then you go a step further and then you have white tie and the Tails which I don’t think anybody wears really well I mean there are balls there are specific ball ball that call for white eye but those are very few those
Are very rare um if you go to Vienna for instance I I live partially in Vienna I I keep a place in Vienna and Vienna still sort of has a very strong tradition in dress well not just in dress but just they they still have maintain a very strong tradition
Especially in music and so around the Christmas season there are a lot of balls they have a lot of they have the bnes ball and every society and every group fraternities sororities they all have this dance balls and um and you should you should attend one of those
Balls uh the the outfits are just spectacular uh the gentlemen still dress in tails and the ladies still wear beautiful ball gowns um it just feels like stepping into a completely different time but uh this is something that the Y take a lot of pride in and
I’ve uh had the I mean I haven’t attended but I have been around the occasions and I I’ve have seen the audience or the the the guests dressed up for these occasions and it is just absolutely remarkable wow no I hadn’t hadn’t heard about that and of course I presume you
Have a tail coat I do not that is that is the one thing I haven’t yet I I do not have a tail cat I haven’t made one yet uh I’ve had a morning dress we’re redesigning one I had one made about 6 years ago uh in Italy when I was still
Having uh when I still had my tailoring done in Italy and I still own that um it’s about 6 7even years old now however at asku of course we are redesigning a morning dress or a morning coat so we’re starting from scratch and we’re currently working on the prototype to
Produce a morning dress um morning coat but and that would be what dark gray or black well we’ll have it in two versions so we’ll have it in Black baratha to be one with these cashme stripes and we’ll have it done in Dove gray which would be
Sort of the spring summer version as a complete suit for the RAC track absolutely yeah now do you think anybody wants to wants one oh I’m sure we get a lot of requests on Instagram there are a lot of uh in fact we had a gentleman who’s a
Performer uh some uh couple of about a month ago he’s an artist a performer who uh whose stage persona calls for a morning dress at least a morning coat and so he approached us to make one for him so yes there are people there are we
Get requests here and there um not as often as we do for your conventional suits but yes there is a market there for it and what’s Curious of course is that I’m trying to think where could you go and get one then you might get one from a theatrical
Costumer uh you could go to some of the traditional tailoring houses e and Raven scru am I saying Raven scr Eve and Raven scru Eed and Raven SCU and Raven scrub um they are a shop in London that specialize in these what I call Niche outfits so for
Instance they make um you know things like taals evening uh morning dress uh even uh baristar outfits so things that you don’t find everywhere so there still a few specialty shops that carry some of these things but um these things look absolutely atrocious when made ready to wear because they they’re very technical
Garments a morning coat or evening Tails they’re so Technical and so precise that there is absolutely no way you can make them ready to wear or one size bit all it would look absolutely atrocious atrocious and so when you see anyone morning one of these rented morning dresses or or tails uh it
Screams it announces itself from a mile away and of course when you’re wearing an outfit that already draws attention to itself you don’t want to draw more attention to yourself for the wrong reason for the wrong reasons no that would be most unfortunate so Eden Ravens coft that’s the place if you’re in
London to go and ask for I believe it’s in picad yeah a morning coat or an evening tail coat now we saw jackets we saw waste coats we saw trousers we haven’t seen shirts but let me just ask you briefly do you recommend a wing collar with uh with
With I mean I’m just wearing a regular soft collar do you recommend a wing collar with a with bow tie well I mean Wing collars are absolutely necessary for if you’re wearing a white tie okay so that is nonnegotiable uh if you’re wearing a if the outfit is
White eye then it ca for a wing collar uh with a tuxedo of course not you could but I think uh a point colar or star collar uh is just at least in the current dispensation uh it’s just good enough it’s interesting you mention call it the current dispensation because
There was a time when if you worked in a stock exchange in London if you went in in a soft collar you thrown out bodily and a friend of mine many years ago had had actually been one of a gang through a man out and I asked him why
Did you do it he said because he wearing a soft collar so he was thrown out no I think some of those rules have been relax but certainly um if you’re wearing a toxedo or dinner suit you certainly want to wear um a collar shirt obviously
Obviously with a bow tie or with a with a black tie means B tie of course not not black as I have on and unless it’s the Oscars and I I used to watch the Oscars I don’t watch them anymore people used to wear the oddest things and you’d
Find somebody striding down the red carpet with a dinner jacket and a t-shirt for example or a um a dinner jacket and and a white scarf but but no tie all odd things that people used to wear that’s Hollywood but that’s but of course if you are a movie star you can
Get away with it you have a lot of uh latitude you have license but what’s interesting about this OK is that that there are sort of Unwritten rules as you’re just saying about the wing collar with the white tie and so forth and while they’re not laws they’re kind of Customs that people
Get into and you know about them and you tell everybody about them um obviously there’s a place for them now you said something very interesting before the show which I’d like to talk to you a little bit about it’s not specifically about evening wear Al it could be
Because as you were saying you know people might get interested and take the opportunity to wear evening dress you mentioned that somebody had made a comment I think on one of the social media channels that he’d never thought of wearing a suit but now he was thinking about
It I thought that was an interesting observation is it because so many people see so many horrible suits and they think I wouldn’t be caught dead in one or do they assume that all suits are gray um that all suits don’t fit is it perhaps that now they’re starting to get
An idea of what’s possible and that wearing a suit doesn’t make you dull and doesn’t mean that you ride the tube or the subway to work every day well uh look Pete it’s all about presentation and I think the way uh suits have been presented one is as a corporate
Uniform at least over time historically uh that is changing or that has changed entirely obviously a lot of corporate corporate world has moved on into what what might call uh business casual or whatever it is they were uh today and so that has provided a license for those
Who saw this as sort of some sort of prison uniform to get rid of him yes yes um but as you and I know suits serve a broader function Beyond just sort of something to wear to the office and there are a lot of men who grew up not
Understanding that there is that other aspect or that other uh element to a suit yes than just something you wear to work they they they saw it just as a pair of corporate donges yeah yeah corporate what we’ve done at ASI actually is and you might call this sort
Of a marketing perhaps it by Design or not it’s just I think uh We’ve uh taken a very approachable view yeah to tailor dressing and so uh people have been able to see that there are other ways to express oneself in tailoring besides going to the office and I think that has
Really uh spoke sparked a lot of interest from people who otherwise might have shied away from your you know typical gray flannel suit and uh and who all of a sudden you know want to dress up in a suit because they they now can see how uh it can Elevate
Um so a suit that is not a suit in fact a suit that is not a suit what I mean is a suit that is fun a suit a suit that is interesting that is fun that is not not just like I said a uniform or a pair of donger yes yes and
Obviously the better made and the better designed it is and more comfortable and more comfortable the better you’re going to look the better you’re going to feel about yourself as well um and I think there’s an important point there that it sort of boosts your not self-esteem
That’s too strong an expression but it it it definitely perks you up when you’re wearing a jacket that really fits well correct and of course when you’re wearing one of one of the asok jackets I know this from own experience when you’re wearing one of the a Okie jackets
It fits you to the point that you actually feel different in it because of the way you can move around in it and the way you can uh you can move your arms what have you correct so isn’t that interesting well um I think that wraps
It up for the SE for today we’ve talked about evening wear in some detail I must say you’ve got your semiformal or informal evening wear like the ivory jacket possibly with black trousers and a white shirt if you want to make it look rather formal uh you’ve got the
Shaw colored cream colored jacket if you want to look again not only more formal but slightly slightly adventurous I think and then of course if it requires it the standard black if you’re really feeling adventurous and as we come closer to the holiday season the bottle green evening jacket certainly Bears a mention
Possibly in Black watch if not in Bottle green velvet and you’ve got your evening waste coat and your evening trousers and you put it all together correct thank you very much it’s been a pleasure we look forward to seeing you next time very good always a pleas P thank you
Pleasure thank you very Much
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