Silk and linen blends for summer dinner jackets

In hot weather you can still wear a dinner jacket without feeling like you are standing in an oven. A silk blend gives a soft sheen and a gentle drape, a linen blend gives coolness and an easy look, though linen creases readily and silk is sensitive to water marks. Choosing between them is choosing between lustre and airiness, and once you see that, you are halfway there.

Silk blends: a soft sheen and a gentle drape

Pure silk is rarely used alone for a jacket body because it is soft and creases easily. Tailors usually use wool-and-silk or silk blended with other fibres, so the cloth keeps some body and a muted lustre.

• A soft, expensive-looking sheen. Silk gives the face a fine glow under low evening light.
• Gentle drape. The jacket follows the body naturally and feels less stiff.
• Moderately cool. Silk conducts heat better than many synthetics and feels comfortable on the skin.
• Sensitive to marks. A drop of water, sweat or oil can leave a ring on silk, and it is hard to remove.

On a tuxedo, silk's lustre suits ivory and cream. If you like the classic dinner-jacket idea but want something lighter, this is a direction worth considering.

Linen blends: cool but creasing

Linen is among the most breathable and coolest of natural fibres, so it is the familiar choice for summer jackets. Its drawback is that it creases very easily. Tailors usually blend linen with wool, silk or cotton to lessen creasing while keeping airiness.

• Breathable. Heat escapes quickly, ideal for sunny days and high temperatures.
• Natural slub and texture. The surface has character and gives a more relaxed look than a smooth cloth.
• Creases. Even blended, linen creases more than wool. The wrinkles are part of its character, but for a dinner jacket ask your adviser about the blend so they do not look untidy.
• Little sheen. Linen is matt and lacks the glossy richness of silk, so it suits the most formal evenings less well.

A common combination is silk with linen in the same cloth, taking linen's coolness and silk's soft glow.

Which occasions

• A beach wedding: sun, wind, sand. An ivory or cream dinner jacket in a breathable cloth is the natural choice. See beach weddings.
• An outdoor dinner: a garden, poolside or rooftop. Breathable cloth lets you sit for hours without feeling stifled. Our piece on outdoor evening dinners covers the dress code.
• An air-conditioned indoor party: such airy cloth is less necessary, and you might choose a tropical-weight wool.

For the style, browse the ivory – dinner jacket collection. TUX-015 is an ivory tuxedo with a black satin shawl lapel and satin-braided black trousers, while TUX-042 is an ivory dinner jacket with wide black satin peak lapels, worn with onyx shirt studs and a black self-tied bow tie. These show the cut only, and the summer cloth for your suit is chosen separately.

Care to keep it looking right

• Hang it straight after wearing, on a broad-shouldered hanger somewhere with air, not stuffed in a bag or folded.
• Steam lightly to ease creases, holding the steamer a little away from the cloth. Never press a hot iron directly onto silk.
• Keep perfume, sunscreen and oils off the cloth. Apply them, let them dry, then dress.
• Dry clean when needed, and tell the cleaner it is a silk or linen blend. Do not wash by hand or machine.
• Avoid harsh sun, which yellows and dulls natural fibres. After a beach trip, brush off salt and sand and let the jacket dry in shade.
• With ivory, keep it away from dirty chair backs and red wine.

And the lining

A summer jacket should carry less lining so it breathes. The choice between half lined and unlined is worked through in fully lined, half lined or unlined.

Book a fitting at Mon Amie

The surest test is to pick up the cloth, crush it lightly in your hand and release it to see the creases. Book a fitting and your adviser will set a few summer cloths side by side and suggest a blend for the occasion.