It's not all that surprising that when it comes to purchasing a black tie ensemble, one's shirt is not garment that delivers the anticipatory excitement. The dinner jacket wins all of the plaudits all of the time, while the shirt is most often secondary thought. 'If it's white, has a collar and buttons, it'll do' is not the attitude to take, of course, because your choice of shirt can make a huge difference to the impact of your outfit. Don't forget that it occupies a very important part of the real estate of black tie - directly beneath your face - and any shoddiness or imperfections will be immediately noticed.
While a plain white dress shirt is fine, why stop at 'fine' when you can have fantastic? One of our favourite styles at Favourbrook is the pleated front dress shirt. The pleats themselves are created using beautiful pintuck stitching and offer a wonderfully textured and tactile contrast to the smoothness of your silk dinner jacket or cotton velvet jacket. The horizontal lines that the pleats create provide a smart uniformity that subtle leads the eye from the fastening of the jacket up towards the bow tie and the face.
Sky Blue Poplin Cotton |
Dusk Pink Poplin Cotton |
Now, not surprisingly, white pleated front shirts are the norm, since white is the traditional black tie shirt choice, providing a crisp contrast to the black or midnight navy tuxedo jacket. But white is not the only choice you have. This season at Favourbrook we have created the pleated front dress shirt in five other equally as fetching and sophisticated hues which you can use to elevate your eveningwear arsenal. Black, ivory, sky blue, dusky pink and burnt orange make up a dashing sextet of dress shirts, each with its own unique styling preferences.
Black Poplin Cotton Pleated |
Ivory Poplin Cotton Pleated |
The black style, for example, looks fantastic when worn with our green and burgundy velvet jackets, but especially our white and ivory jackets, creating a bold and vivid contrast. The ivory shirt is a straight swap with the white version, looking very chic with traditional black tie outfits. The same goes for the sky blue and pinks styles, but where we think they particularly excel is when paired with our cotton velvet dinner jackets and smoking jackets.
Burnt Orange Cooper Cotton |
Using a tonal approach, the matching of our burgundy jackets with the pink pleated front shirt is striking, likewise the sky blue shirt with our navy jacket options. The pastel duo are also excellent when paired with brighter tones, such as our corduroy suits in mustard yellow and cream. The burnt orange style, the most vibrant of the choices, is majestic worn with green or navy velvet.
The great thing about the different hues is that they're not overly extravagant or flamboyant. They don't scream attention, but they certainly command it. They are, in short, a brilliant way to zig when everyone else zags.
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