Need advice with design of dinner formal evening wear jacket --cannot locate silk fabric for jacket-

[Farmgate]

I am trying to design a formal dinner jacket that has color and swag, yet remains understated, and elegant. I located a few pictures from magazines and zeroed in on a medium blue print silk jacket with peaked lapels. I attach them here, and I am most interested in the jacket on the left, in blue.

This photo in hand, I visited at least a dozen local shops and stores, and looked at hundreds of swatches of fabric, however no one seems to have vibrant fabric such as a blue-ish silk pattern, or anything vibrant for that matter. I have located a few blue wool swatches for formal wear with basic designs, but nothing that I am in love with at the moment.

I live in a major southern city in the U.S., with numerous department stores, most with made-to-measure events and custom suit opportunities.

Can anyone make a recommendation as to: 1) what looks best for a formal evening wear jacket, where one is trying to wear a cool jacket that is fun and colorful, and 2) where one can find a vibrant silk print fabric, for a reasonable price (budget is about $1,500); 3) as for the photo below, does the blue silk evening jacket appear appropriate for a black tie event?

(Normally I would buy an off-the-rack formal evening jacket, but my size if 40 short, and designers tend to ignore my size).

Thank you for any advice.





http://blog.freshneck.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/swag-dinner-jackets.jpg [ATTACHMENT=11613]swag-dinner-jackets.jpg (297k. jpg file)[/ATTACHMENT]

 

[deadAngle]

Forget a silk brocade, they have almost no place in formalwear. Instead, go with a deep blue silk velvet.

 

[GBR]

At any function to which you might be likely to go you would look either:

utterly stupid
totally out of place
or a member of the band or
the turn.

or all of them

Forget this and get a conventional MTM or bespoke evening dress.

 

[GBR]

At any function to which you might be likely to go you would look either:

utterly stupid
totally out of place
or a member of the band or
the turn.

or all of them

Forget this and get a conventional MTM or bespoke evening dress.

 

[GBR]

At any function to which you might be likely to go you would look either:

utterly stupid
totally out of place
or a member of the band or
the turn.

or all of them

Forget this and get a conventional MTM or bespoke evening dress.

 

[GBR]

At any function to which you might be likely to go you would look either:

utterly stupid
totally out of place
or a member of the band or
the turn.

or all of them

Forget this and get a conventional MTM or bespoke evening dress.

 

[GBR]

At any function to which you might be likely to go you would look either:

utterly stupid
totally out of place
or a member of the band or
the turn.

or all of them

Forget this and get a conventional MTM or bespoke evening dress.

 

[Andy57]

@GBR 's advice was indeed worth repeating five times. He's utterly right.

You have a number of choices: Get a good quality, black, dinner jacket and trousers and get the right accessories. Get a good quality "tuxedo shirt". Get studs and formal cufflinks. Get good quality black captoe oxfords that will take a shine (ideally, get black patent shoes). Get a rig that fits you and you will stand out simply by being correctly dressed when 90% of the other men at any function you are likely to attend will not be.

If you want to go further, consider one of the following: an ivory dinner jacket; a midnight blue jacket; a velvet jacket. You trousers should still be black in all cases. These are advanced options and should only be attempted once you've mastered the basics.

Black tie is about elegance. Color and swag (whatever that is) are unlikely to achieve that. You are more likely to look like a rube.

 

[EliodA]

Strictly speaking, these two grumpy old men are right, of course. But I believe there is a middle ground that may be more attractive to a young man who's looking for something less conservative. The examples you posted are ghastly because everything is too far off the established norm. Not just the fabric, but weird styling, proportions are off etc.
But you can have something that combines a classic cut with a bit more adventurous cloth for a more contemporary look. For example:

 

[grdbeavmn]

These are advanced options and should only be attempted once you've mastered the basics.

 

[Andy57]

Strictly speaking, these two grumpy old men are right, of course.

Grumpy?

 

[EliodA]



Grumpy?

 

[Andy57]