Black, Midnight Blue or White: Choosing a Dinner Jacket Color

Black tie is the most exact dress code most men wear, and color is where it is strictest. A business suit can be navy, gray, brown or blue; a dinner jacket has two standard colors, one warm-weather exception and a family of velvet and colored jackets that belong to looser evenings. Choosing well is simple once you know where each one fits, and the choice matters more than it seems, because a dinner suit can last twenty years.

What color should a dinner jacket be?

A dinner jacket for black tie should be black or midnight blue, with trousers in the same fabric. Both colors are correct everywhere, from a charity gala to a winter wedding. The one standard exception is the ivory or white dinner jacket, worn with black trousers at evening events in hot weather. Velvet and colored jackets are a separate family: right when the invitation says creative black tie or festive, or when you are the host, and a deliberate statement anywhere stricter. Our full black tie guide covers every other item of the dress code.

Why are dinner jackets black?

The dinner jacket began in Britain in the second half of the nineteenth century as a shorter, more comfortable alternative to the evening tailcoat for informal dinners. Victorian evening dress was black, so the new jacket was black too. The American name came from Tuxedo Park, New York, where members of the Tuxedo Club adopted the tailless jacket in the 1880s. Our guide to tuxedo vs suit explains how the jacket differs from a business suit.

Midnight blue became fashionable between the two world wars. White dinner jackets spread in the same era, first at warm-weather resorts and in the tropics, where a black wool jacket was a burden. The decades after the war brought colored and patterned tuxedos, peaking with the pastels and ruffled shirts of the 1970s, before black and midnight blue settled back in as the standard.

Black or midnight blue: which is better?

Neither is more correct. Midnight blue is a very dark navy that, under artificial light, reads as a deep near-black with a little more richness than black itself, and it shows the shape of the lapels and the cut a touch more clearly in photographs. In daylight it is visibly blue. Black is the simpler choice: it matches every black tie accessory exactly and can never be mistaken for a navy suit. Choose by taste and by where you will wear it most.

With either color, the rest of the outfit stays the same: a white dress shirt, a black self-tie bow tie and black shoes. A black jacket is faced in black satin or grosgrain. A midnight blue jacket is usually faced in black silk, which looks crisp, or in matching midnight blue silk, which looks softer. The trousers always match the jacket and carry a single braid down each outside seam.

When is a white dinner jacket correct?

An ivory or white dinner jacket is correct at black tie events in warm weather: evening parties in the tropics or the desert, summer weddings, and outdoor events on hot nights. It is worn with the standard black dinner trousers with braid, a white dress shirt, a black bow tie and black shoes. The trousers are never white; an all-white tuxedo reads as a costume.

The traditional shade is ivory or off-white rather than brilliant white, which looks stark and shows every mark. The jacket is single-breasted, usually with a shawl or peak lapel, and its lapels are normally faced in the same fabric as the body rather than in silk, which keeps it quiet. Buttons are covered in the jacket fabric or in a matching material. It is out of place at a winter event in a cold city, where it looks like a costume, and it does not belong at a daytime event, because black tie is evening dress.

At a wedding, the groom may wear ivory at a warm evening ceremony, with the groomsmen in black or midnight blue, or the reverse. Guests should avoid outshining the groom with a white jacket unless the couple has asked for it. Our guide to beach and warm-weather weddings covers the rest of the outfit.

What is a velvet smoking jacket?

The smoking jacket is a Victorian garment from the middle of the nineteenth century. Men put it on at home after dinner to smoke, so that the smell and ash stayed on the jacket rather than on their evening clothes. It was made in velvet or silk, usually with a shawl collar, braided toggle fastenings called frogging, turned-back cuffs and sometimes a tie belt, in deep colors such as burgundy, bottle green and navy. It is loungewear for hosting at home, not black tie.

The dinner jacket grew out of the same informal evening tradition, which is why it is still called a smoking in French, German, Italian, Dutch and several other languages. The shawl lapel on many dinner jackets comes from the smoking jacket too, as our guide to lapels explains.

Can you wear a velvet dinner jacket to black tie?

Today's velvet dinner jacket is a different garment from the smoking jacket. It is cut like a dinner jacket, with one button, a shawl or peak lapel often faced in satin, and jetted pockets, but made in velvet. It is worn with black dinner trousers, a white dress shirt and a black bow tie. It is the classic choice for creative black tie, December parties and hosting at home, and it suits black tie optional evenings well. At a strict black tie event it signals that you chose to step outside the code, so wear it only where the host would welcome it.

Bottle green, burgundy and deep navy are the traditional colors. A black or midnight blue velvet jacket is the quietest version and the one most at home in a formal room. Velvet slippers, the traditional partner of the smoking jacket, suit a party at home; at a public event, wear black patent or highly polished plain oxfords. Our guide to what to wear to a holiday party shows how to wear velvet at less formal events.

Are burgundy, green and other colored dinner jackets acceptable?

Dinner jackets in burgundy, bottle green, deep purple or a silk jacquard are acceptable when the invitation says creative black tie, festive or something similar, and at your own party. They are not correct at a strict black tie event or at a formal wedding unless the couple has asked for color. The rule that keeps them looking deliberate is one twist only: a colored jacket with black trousers, a white shirt, a black bow tie and black shoes. Add a colored bow tie and patterned cummerbund as well and the outfit tips into costume.

Which fabric suits each dinner jacket color?

Wool-mohair blends are popular for dinner suits because they resist creasing and have a subtle sheen under evening light; our guide to mohair explains why. Velvet needs gentle care. Hang it on a broad hanger with space around it, steam it rather than pressing it flat, and leave stains to a specialist cleaner, because heat and pressure crush the pile.

What do you wear with each dinner jacket color?

The shirt is white with every jacket color; our guide to tuxedo shirts covers collars, fronts and studs. A self-tie bow tie looks better than a pre-tied one with any color, and learning to tie a bow tie takes about ten minutes of practice.

Which dinner jacket color should you buy first?

Buy black or midnight blue first, as a two-piece dinner suit in a year-round wool or wool-mohair. It covers every black tie event you will be invited to, in any season, and it never dates. Add an ivory jacket if you regularly attend evening events in hot places; because it is worn with your existing black trousers, it is a single garment, not a second suit. Add a velvet jacket third, for winter parties and hosting. Our guide to renting, buying or commissioning a tuxedo compares the costs.

Whatever the color, fit matters more than shade. A black or midnight blue dinner suit that fits well will look right at almost any formal evening for decades, and our tailor rankings list the houses we would trust to make one.

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