velvet tuxedo

[vitaminc]

I just had an realization. So I was at a San Francisco Symphony concert the past Friday. Male members of the orchestra were in black suits and some of the female members were wearing black velvet pants/dresses. Those black velvet pants/dresses appeared blacker than black.

Since the reason of wearing mid-night blue tuxedos is because they appear blacker than black under artificial lighting, so how appropriate would it be to have tuxedos made from black velvet which will be more black than both black/mid-night blue worsted wool?

 

[jmix1]

Black velvet dinner jacket is ok. Matching pants? eh? Unless you're George Costanza I would avoid it.

 

[binge]

The texture of velvet is quite different than most wools. From afar, a velvet jacket might look "blacker than black" but if you're talking to the person, the fact that it's velvet will be apparent immediately. Whether or not it matters is up to you, but it will be easy to distinguish.

 

[rjmaiorano]

Velvet is also usually cotton-based isn't it? Won't be as durable...

 

[binge]

Usually, but LabelKing was rocking a sweet silk velvet jacket at the most recent SF in SF meetup.

 

[ysc]

I often wear a very dark blue velvet jacket to black tie events and in photographs it often looks blacker than everyone else's dinner jackets, and a lot more luxurious, and frankly expensive, even though it was cheap as hell, its just a peak lapel jacket (so its double vented and the buttons are not fabric covered, but the buttons I will deal with one day and the vents I can live with).
I also have a vintage brown velvet dinner jacket, shawl lapel with mother of pearl fastening. I think they are appropriate, and awesome.

Here it is not uncommon to wear a velvet jacket, either one that was deliberately made as a DJ, or just a dark coloured velvet jacket to black tie events. Even my father, a very conservative dresser has a velvet dinner jacket for special occasions.

Don't limit yourself to black though, you could have one in deep red etc. just maybe don't get matching velvet trousers.