Pure white or ivory dinner jacket: which one to pick

If you have to choose one shade for a white dinner jacket, start with ivory. It is the traditional colour of the garment, easy on the eye in sun and lamplight, and rarely causes trouble in photographs. Pure white is modern, crisp and striking, but asks more of you in skin tone, lighting and the people standing beside you.

Ivory: the traditional dinner jacket colour

The white dinner jacket was made for warm evenings and hot climates, where black wool is too heavy. Its cloth is usually a pale cream, tilted very slightly yellow, which suits ballrooms lit by warm bulbs and late afternoons outdoors. That warmth is what makes the jacket look like proper eveningwear rather than a medical coat or a chef's whites.

In hard sunlight ivory is gentler: it does not throw so much glare onto the face, and the folds, the lapel edge and the cuffs stay readable in pictures. For the same reason small marks and light creases show less than on pure white.

TUX-015 is a good example: an ivory tuxedo jacket with a black satin shawl lapel, paired with black trousers trimmed in satin. Only two colours, yet the warmth of the ivory keeps the whole look refined, not harsh.

Pure white: modern and bold

Pure, or optic, white is clean white with no warmth added. It feels new, tidy and fashion-minded. Beside groomsmen in black, the groom is picked out at once with no extra effort.

The price is glare. In direct sun, pure white swallows detail, and photos can burn out at the shoulders and chest. It is also demanding on cloth: thinner white fabrics can show the inside seams, so lining and weight need care.

TUX-114 is a single-button white jacket with a contrasting black satin shawl lapel, worn with black trousers and black loafers. The black lapel frames the white and stops the bright tone from looking flat.

Matching your skin tone

This is workroom experience rather than a hard rule:

• Deeper or warm yellow skin: ivory makes skin look healthy and bright. Pure white also works, with strong contrast, but can overpower the wearer if the rest of the outfit is not balanced.
• Fair, slightly pink skin: pure white next to the face can make it look paler. Ivory is much softer.
• Neutral skin: both are fine, so the occasion and the light decide.

The surest test is to try the cloth in front of a mirror near a window, because white changes with natural light more than any other colour.

Matching the bride's gown

The simple principle: the groom should not be whiter than the bride. An ivory or champagne gown next to a pure white suit looks yellowed, as though it were old. In the other direction, a pure white gown beside an ivory jacket makes the jacket look dull.

So the safest route is to ask for, or look at, the gown fabric first, then choose both outfits in the same family, warm with warm or cool with cool. If the gown is ivory, pick an ivory jacket. If the bride wears pure white, you can go pure white or step into a dark tone instead.

Where to wear it

A white dinner jacket suits outdoor weddings, beach parties, yachts and summer dinners. By black tie convention it is worn with black trousers and a black bow tie. For more, read white tuxedo and dinner jacket or browse the ivory collection.

A suggestion from the Mon Amie workroom

White is hard to judge from a photograph, so we let you see the real cloth beside your face before deciding. You can book a fitting at Mon Amie and bring a swatch or picture of the bride's gown, so the consultant can match the white on both sides.