The First Dinner Jacket

[storeynicholas]

The prototype for the world's first dinner jacket is often said to be the jacket that Edward VII had made when PoW. I have seen some references to it and some say that it was black. This, thanks to Angus Cundey, is the exact order-book entry at Henry Poole:

April 1865 A blue silk smoking jacket lined silk, silk collar and cuffs. A pair of trousers lined silk-------------------£13-8-0
Sandringham. Packing Case--------£0-3-0

They are so helpful that I nearly believe that if one asked them to repeat this famous order - but to one's own measurements, holding the 1865 price, they might just agree......
NJS

[RWS]

. . . . Henry Poole . . . . are so helpful that I nearly believe that if one asked them to repeat this famous order - but to one's own measurements, holding the 1865 price, they might just agree......

And might insist upon being paid in 1865 [gold] coin!

Interesting to see that Poole's charged separately for shipping. I'm thankful that my own tailors don't!

[storeynicholas]

. . . . Henry Poole . . . . are so helpful that I nearly believe that if one asked them to repeat this famous order - but to one's own measurements, holding the 1865 price, they might just agree......

And might insist upon being paid in 1865 [gold] coin!

Interesting to see that Poole's charged separately for shipping. I'm thankful that my own tailors don't!

Good point - however, it would still be a bargain as Victorian bullion sovereigns (ie not of special collectable condition) are about £100 each = £1300.

The fact that the account shows destination Sandringham also bears out the fact that he commissioned this jacket to wear at soirees there.
NJS

[Manself]

This is very interesting because I've been looking into this very story recently, and Henry Poole gave me the party line, which is available here:

www.henrypoole.com/henry_poole_story/the_tuxedo.cns

It seems that there's more to this than meets the eye - I'm investigating and will report back.

[storeynicholas]

I have seen this link and there is another reference in the SR Association site (history). There are many referneces all over the place to this prototype DJ and there seemed inconsistencies. Angus Cundey took a little time to go into it and found the original record and it seems to stack up with the fact that, in 1860 the Prince Consort was still alive; relations between the PoW and his father were poor and it is unlikely that the son would have dared to sport something so informal at Sandringham. By 1865, things had changed. The specific facts of the first DJ have probably become obscured over the years but the main fact remains. In the 1860s Henry Poole turned out an enormous number of garments and many volumes of associated records. Moreover, further information comes to light all the time - fairly recently, James Lock & Co have found at least one Brummell order and also discovered that it was not William Coke that ordered the first Coke hat - but another member of the same family. Anyhow, I look forward to anything else that you find on this.
NJS