The London Lounge

I recently got an interesting garment, which is a vintage British tuxedo from the 20s-30s probably. It has a single-button closure with the one of the buttons attached with a short length of thick thread (sort of like a smoking jacket) with peak lapels faced with slightly ribbed grosgrain or satin. The pants are high-waisted and pleated with a button fly and no cuffs but a single braided stripe down each leg.

At first I thought perhaps someone matched the trousers from tailcoat with this dinner jacket, but the material on each is identical and both have the same amount of wear. Has anybody ever heard of a dinner jacket with that sort of smoking jacket closure? Or with pants with a braided stripe rather than a solid satin or grosgrain stripe?

My first tux was a vintage DAKS model with a braided stripe on the trousers and grosgrain shawl collar coat. The button style you describe is quite nice. Very vintage in look but quite nice if in good condition.

Before the war, both black and white tie trousers were sporting a silk braided stripe down the seam, the difference was that the white tie braid was double width with two shiny stripes woven into it, the black tie narrower, with a single stripe.

The double variety is no longer available, and you can either chose the single stripe, or have two narrow braids sown parallel to each other for white tie.

Interesting! It is in excellent condition and is perfectly wearable. I just wanted to make sure the braided stripe was appriopriate for semi-formal wear so I wouldn't be making some big sartorial faux-pas during a black-tie event. (Not that anybody in my circle would ever notice such a detail of course.)

Vintage clothing is usually great.

Their quality is almost unequalled in modern ways, even in bespoke.

Vladimir Berkov wrote:Interesting! It is in excellent condition and is perfectly wearable. I just wanted to make sure the braided stripe was appriopriate for semi-formal wear so I wouldn't be making some big sartorial faux-pas during a black-tie event. (Not that anybody in my circle would ever notice such a detail of course.)

You still see braid on black-tie gear. My last DJ/trousers nearly came with a satin stripe (even though the lapels were grosgrain). When I raised my eyebrow at the salesperson, he scurried around to get a length of braid and we agreed that this was infinitely preferable. I've also seen grosgrain ribbon used, but for some reason they didn't have or wouldn't recommend. And occasional carelessness aside, this house is notorious for enforcing The Rules.

The button you described is classic continental tailoring giving the wearer the option to close the jacket in one of two ways. The mechanics of closure here should be obvious.

Single trouser braid for black tie remains available. The braid does NOT have to match the grosgrain pattern on the lapels. Braid width varies depending on your intended usage of the garment as one width does not suffice for all occasions. Kindly note I have intentionally ignored satin weaves as they are not correct.

Double stripe braid for white tie is a more daunting task yet remains possible. Ideally, one will locate twin stripes on a single length of braid material. The sewing of two separate braids to achieve the effect causes puckering of the trouser material which gives the impression the garment has been shrunk by your cleaners.

The white tie material is proving rather elusive, I fear. Weldon do not stock any. Any other suggestions?