A few years ago I came across a double-breasted brown velvet jacket in a vintage shop in London. It was far too large and, at the same time, far too short. But I loved the contrast between deep-pile brown velvet and grosgrain lapels, both in colour and texture. And it struck me as a particularly elegant colour for velvet: other than dark green and possibly black, velvet jackets for me always looked a little cheap or a little gimmicky.

It helps that I haven’t seen a brown velvet jacket since.

Dark brown, as a future post will likely say at greater length, is my favourite colour for most things other than suits. Certainly all things leather. And for while I’ve hankered after an alternative to my Lesley & Roberts black tie.

Timothy Everest has taken on the task of turning my imagination and vague memory into a piece of tailoring. It will feature large, long lapels intended to mask my slim shoulders – straight and sharp with little belly. The length of the lapel will be aided by a 1×1 fastening: just one length of frogging across the waist. There will be one loop of simple frogging (sewn by hand, of course) on each sleeve.

The shoulders will be relatively padded, to accentuate the effect (this is black tie, after all: an Atlas silhouette seems fitting). Pockets will be jetted; there will be no vents. The velvet selected is a cotton/silk mix, which should create a finer pile with greater colour depth.

I promise many pictures.