Summer Cocktail Jacket

The Halfhearted Challenge

I'm halfheartedly challenging myself to try a different cocktail a day through August, so I thought a jacket and tie combination similar to the Duke of Windsor's above might be nice for cocktail hour.

Locating a suitable jacket was an absolute breeze. I found a jacket from Dolce & Gabbana (below) as soon as I started my search. As I will be situated off the Adriatic for most of August, something Italianate seemed perfectly rational.

After a deep examination and several tries on, the jacket and I bonded quite inseparably.

I checked for fashionable affectations and could discern nothing obvious. I noticed all the hand-work in the jacket as I weighed up the pros and cons. You can see the lapel fold-back and canvas dimpling of a hand-sewn canvas here:

The jacket was made in Italy from super-soft and ultra-fine buttermilk-coloured cashmere. Quite the draw. The spotted lining in pure silk, which is also used in the sleeves, was rather alluring too. Could I pin down similar in my time-frame? I decided I could not and invested with confidence.

Keep people at handshake distance

Obviously, what with the colour and delicacy of the cloth no one is allowed to come within a two-foot circumference of me. I think it's always best to keep people at handshake distance anyway. Let's have a sense of decorum.

Tie Trouble

Happy with my choice of jacket, try as I might I had no such luck locating a red gingham tie. I tried all the usual places and spoke to all the right people, but no joy. I'm still looking, so please let me know if you spot one anywhere. I did however locate a splendid English-made ancient madder tie in red. Stay tuned to see how it works with this jacket.