School me on smoking jackets

[Cornrow_Wallis]

Anyone wear these things anymore? Do they work? If I start wearing one do I get to take over Hugh Hefner's job?

[replicant_argent]

fleece lined hoodies are popular, as are Carhartt jackets. Sartorial splendor in the classic sense of the smoking jacket is mostly gone, I think, sir.

[markem]

My smoking jacket is a gray hoodie

[gijoey959]

My smoking jacket is a can of ZEP smoke odor eliminator

[ninjavanish]

A simple Single-Breasted Velvet Blazer gets the trick done with style. It's not merely enough to wear something that keeps you warm. (Would you merely smoke something that you could catch on fire!?!?! NO!)

The idea of a smoking jacket is almost as important as the function of it... if not more!

The Importance of Being Earnest gives a nice idea of how important this article of clothing is.

"[Lane presents several letters on a salver to Algernon. It is to be surmised that they are bills, as Algernon, after looking at the envelopes, tears them up.]

Algernon: A glass of sherry, Lane.

Lane: Yes, sir.

Algernon: To-morrow, Lane, I’m going Bunburying.

Lane: Yes, sir.

Algernon: I shall probably not be back till Monday. You can put up my dress clothes, my smoking jacket, and all the Bunbury suits . . .

Lane: Yes, sir. [Handing sherry.]"


It comes between Nice Dress Clothes and Suits...

I know I know... to each his own. I'm not knocking the hoodies... but I'm also saying... Bah. Whatever floats your boat I suppose.

[gijoey959]

O.o this makes me want a smoking jacket

[Bill86]

O.o this makes me want a smoking jacket

This.

[Patrick B]

I wish I could find an old one that fit. I'd wear it to every herf.

[ninjavanish]

I wish I could find an old one that fit. I'd wear it to every herf.

How do you think old ones become old? they are bought new and worn into submission!

[Lumpold]

I wish I could find an old one that fit. I'd wear it to every herf.

one word... EBAY! Should you not like the idea of this, three words... vintage clothes shop! (if you location is correct... click here (http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?q=Cincinnati+OH&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-GB:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hq=&hnear=Cincinnati,+OH,+USA&gl=uk&ei=3kS-TKaPFo6t4Aa37JWLAQ&sa=X&oi=geocode_result&ct=title&resnum=1&ved=0CBwQ8gEwAA) for google's take on vintage clothes shops near you!)

How do you think old ones become old? they are bought new and worn into submission!

This man is quite correct...

[DocLogic77]

The smoking jacket: like the cigar itself, it's a timeless emblem of leisure, idleness, "the good life." First widely worn in England during the Victorian period, the smoking jacket has undergone a bit of a resurgence in recent years, as younger consumers turn to it - as they have to, again, the cigar - for a touch of old-fashioned elegance.

Though the term is sometimes used to mean "any old jacket you do most of your smoking in," a proper smoking jacket is a considerably more formal affair. Typically, they're made from velvet or silk of a rich color - not a plain black but, perhaps, bottle green, dark blue, or claret red. A classic smoking jacket features a shawl collar, turned-up cuffs, rich colors (burgundy and green, bottle green, dark blue, claret).

They're ventless, and come in either coat-shaped or sashed form. Coat-shaped smoking jackets can be single-breasted with shawl lapels, or double-breasted with braided closures - usually called, no kidding, "frogs."

We don't know precisely who was the first to wear one, but many sartorial historians trace the smoking jacket back to the same moment in history that brought smoking to the West - the beginning of the sixteenth century, when trade opened up between England and the countries then known to Europeans as the Far East, especially Turkey and India. (It was, of course, this same trade, along with tobacco farming in the New World, that introduced the English to tobacco.)

Silk and velvet robes de chambre, designed for indoor wear by a wealthy and leisured minority, made a great status symbol and comfortable daywear. This fashion development was so intimately bound up with trade and colonialism that when famous seventeenth-century diarist Samuel Pepys rented one to sit for his portrait, he refers to it, in his journal entry for that day, as an "Indian gown."

During the Crimean War (1853-1856) Turkish tobacco - the lusty, semi-sweet, full-flavored tobacco that makes Middle Eastern travel such a joy for the nonallergic - was made generally available to Europeans for the first time, and smoking swept England, becoming as universal a pastime for Victorian gentlemen as cricket and grouse-hunting.

But these Victorian gentlemen worried that their new hobby posed certain problems for the Victorian lady - who was generally imagined as an infinitely delicate creature barely hardy enough to breathe on her own. (Ironically, this assumption was most widespread at the very moment when industrialism, combined with barbaric social policy and the popularity of social-Darwinist ideas that forbade charity to the poor, forced many working-class Englishwomen not only to work while pregnant but to actually give birth on the factory floor.)

Tobacco, these gentlemen reasoned, has a strong scent, perhaps offensive to the nostrils of proper ladies. Therefore, well-equipped Victorian homes began sporting smoking rooms, parlors designed specifically for masculine inhalation and conversation. That kept the fumes out of the lady's boudoir, but what about the smell?

As even casual smokers know, the odor of tobacco settles on furniture, hair, clothes - it's impossible to segregate. "Indian gowns," now rechristened and repurposed as "smoking jackets," came to the rescue - along with caps, slippers, even waistcoats specially designed for smoking. The entry for "smoking jacket" first turns up in Cunningham's Handbook of English Costume, a standard reference, in 1852 - the beginning of a long love affair between the smoker and his (always his) jacket.

In the twentieth century, as dress became less an art form (with an entire wardrobe for every occasion) than a matter of convenience, and as tobacco went from being a social ritual to a private addiction, the smoking jacket disappeared along with the occasion that gave rise to it, relegated to old movies and certain flamboyant TV personalities (Liberace, Hugh Hefner).

During the 1990s, though, an overstressed, overdriven American workforce began turning to such old-fashioned pleasures as the coffee house, the tea room, and the fine-tobacco store to restore a sense of specialness and ritual to the pressure-chamber of postmodern life. Smoking jackets, like smoking, made a comeback. Today they're considered a perfect alternative for social occasions when a suit-and-sweater won't do but a tuxedo's too formal. They're more distinctive than dinner jackets, and their rich colors and romantic connotations make them perfect for entertaining. Women are turning to them, too, as a form of brisk-weather outerwear.

http://www.content4reprint.com/beauty/fashion/clothing/the-smoking-jacket-old-fashioned-elegance-meets-modern-day.htm

http://www.nextag.com/Men-S-Velvet-And-787766511/prices-html?nxtg=5e8e0a28050f-925222A9AEE57663

[Patrick B]

I've been checking ebay for months. People were skinnier 75 years ago. I'd need a 2xl most likely. I'll call some vintage shops, thanks for the link!

[Wharf Rat]

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/roadshow/archive/200605A40.html

[markem]

I've been checking ebay for months. People were skinnier 75 years ago. I'd need a 2xl most likely. I'll call some vintage shops, thanks for the link!

http://www.ninedeep.com/index.php?cPath=12&osCsid=2aea90a8887d34935c3acc30e89dba37

The new style isn't exactly the old style

[ninjavanish]

The smoking jacket: like the cigar itself, it's a timeless emblem of leisure, idleness, "the good life." First widely worn in England during the Victorian period, the smoking jacket has undergone a bit of a resurgence in recent years, as younger consumers turn to it - as they have to, again, the cigar - for a touch of old-fashioned elegance.

Though the term is sometimes used to mean "any old jacket you do most of your smoking in," a proper smoking jacket is a considerably more formal affair. Typically, they're made from velvet or silk of a rich color - not a plain black but, perhaps, bottle green, dark blue, or claret red. A classic smoking jacket features a shawl collar, turned-up cuffs, rich colors (burgundy and green, bottle green, dark blue, claret).

They're ventless, and come in either coat-shaped or sashed form. Coat-shaped smoking jackets can be single-breasted with shawl lapels, or double-breasted with braided closures - usually called, no kidding, "frogs."

We don't know precisely who was the first to wear one, but many sartorial historians trace the smoking jacket back to the same moment in history that brought smoking to the West - the beginning of the sixteenth century, when trade opened up between England and the countries then known to Europeans as the Far East, especially Turkey and India. (It was, of course, this same trade, along with tobacco farming in the New World, that introduced the English to tobacco.)

Silk and velvet robes de chambre, designed for indoor wear by a wealthy and leisured minority, made a great status symbol and comfortable daywear. This fashion development was so intimately bound up with trade and colonialism that when famous seventeenth-century diarist Samuel Pepys rented one to sit for his portrait, he refers to it, in his journal entry for that day, as an "Indian gown."

During the Crimean War (1853-1856) Turkish tobacco - the lusty, semi-sweet, full-flavored tobacco that makes Middle Eastern travel such a joy for the nonallergic - was made generally available to Europeans for the first time, and smoking swept England, becoming as universal a pastime for Victorian gentlemen as cricket and grouse-hunting.

But these Victorian gentlemen worried that their new hobby posed certain problems for the Victorian lady - who was generally imagined as an infinitely delicate creature barely hardy enough to breathe on her own. (Ironically, this assumption was most widespread at the very moment when industrialism, combined with barbaric social policy and the popularity of social-Darwinist ideas that forbade charity to the poor, forced many working-class Englishwomen not only to work while pregnant but to actually give birth on the factory floor.)

Tobacco, these gentlemen reasoned, has a strong scent, perhaps offensive to the nostrils of proper ladies. Therefore, well-equipped Victorian homes began sporting smoking rooms, parlors designed specifically for masculine inhalation and conversation. That kept the fumes out of the lady's boudoir, but what about the smell?

As even casual smokers know, the odor of tobacco settles on furniture, hair, clothes - it's impossible to segregate. "Indian gowns," now rechristened and repurposed as "smoking jackets," came to the rescue - along with caps, slippers, even waistcoats specially designed for smoking. The entry for "smoking jacket" first turns up in Cunningham's Handbook of English Costume, a standard reference, in 1852 - the beginning of a long love affair between the smoker and his (always his) jacket.

In the twentieth century, as dress became less an art form (with an entire wardrobe for every occasion) than a matter of convenience, and as tobacco went from being a social ritual to a private addiction, the smoking jacket disappeared along with the occasion that gave rise to it, relegated to old movies and certain flamboyant TV personalities (Liberace, Hugh Hefner).

During the 1990s, though, an overstressed, overdriven American workforce began turning to such old-fashioned pleasures as the coffee house, the tea room, and the fine-tobacco store to restore a sense of specialness and ritual to the pressure-chamber of postmodern life. Smoking jackets, like smoking, made a comeback. Today they're considered a perfect alternative for social occasions when a suit-and-sweater won't do but a tuxedo's too formal. They're more distinctive than dinner jackets, and their rich colors and romantic connotations make them perfect for entertaining. Women are turning to them, too, as a form of brisk-weather outerwear.

http://www.content4reprint.com/beauty/fashion/clothing/the-smoking-jacket-old-fashioned-elegance-meets-modern-day.htm

http://www.nextag.com/Men-S-Velvet-And-787766511/prices-html?nxtg=5e8e0a28050f-925222A9AEE57663

Wow. That was a freakin history lesson. Very interesting though... at least to me. I really enjoy a lot of the old English traditions. It's just so rich and thick... steeped in history. Timeless!

[DocLogic77]

If you ask me smoking jackets are a corny cool. I actually like them but it would take some serious balls to wear one to a herf. :)

[gorob23]

If you ask me smoking jackets are a corny cool. I actually like them but it would take some serious balls to wear one to a herf. :)

You should meet my friend Long Hung ... no really you should :=:

Rob :tpd:

[T.G]

After what happened to DA Burr once Johnny gave him that smoking jacket while he was drinking that beer, I just don't know if I could wear one. What a way to go out... trampled... eeehh... *shudder*

[mariogolbee]

I've been wanting one for a while now.

[CasaDooley]

I want this one. :ss
http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/kk110/casadooley/afgomez1.jpg

[RRocket]

I actually have a few of them. I have one from the 50s waist length (brocade, real wool fleece lined similar to the one in the picture above)) one from the 60s waist length (looks like something from Sgt. Peppers album) one from the 70-80s full length (silk) and one a bit newer...cotton full length, fake fleece lined. I'll try and get some pics up. The full length silk is great in the summer...especially with nothing on underneath. Feels great on the skin. The 50s is great for outside, cool weather. It is rather gaudy. The 60s one is CRAZY. I'm not sure if it has palm leaf pattern on it, or pot leaf pattern on it. It also has dangly tassles on the button holes. I never wear it..just a great conversation piece.

I do want a black or brown velvet one to complete my "set".

Wife's sister is a fashion designer...both asian. So they have an "eye" for these types of things.

[mariogolbee]

I actually have a few of them. I have one from the 50s waist length (brocade, real wool fleece lined similar to the one in the picture above)) one from the 60s waist length (looks like something from Sgt. Peppers album) one from the 70-80s full length (silk) and one a bit newer...cotton full length, fake fleece lined. I'll try and get some pics up. The full length silk is great in the summer...especially with nothing on underneath. Feels great on the skin. The 50s is great for outside, cool weather. It is rather gaudy. The 60s one is CRAZY. I'm not sure if it has palm leaf pattern on it, or pot leaf pattern on it. It also has dangly tassles on the button holes. I never wear it..just a great conversation piece.

I do want a black or brown velvet one to complete my "set".

Wife's sister is a fashion designer...both asian. So they have an "eye" for these types of things.
:banger

[Lumpold]

Wife's sister is a fashion designer...both asian. So they have an "eye" for these types of things.

Did anyone else think 'custom designed CA smoking jacket?' when they saw this?

[GreekGodX]

Did anyone else think 'custom designed CA smoking jacket?' when they saw this?

Well first I thought if his wife's sister is asian, I sure hope his wife is asian too. Then I thought of how much I'd like to meet his wife's sister. THEN I thought about the custom smoking jacket :ss

[Powers]

I know I'd sure like to have one. Not just as a cigar smoker but a history nerd as well!

[Eleven]

did anyone else think 'custom designed ca smoking jacket?' when they saw this?

group buy!

[wayner123]

I have never seen one in person before, but I assume it has a long tradition. The coolest one I saw was from a B&M in NYC. It was an older Fire Department Jacket (the kind with relflection cloth, that firefighters wear).

[shilala]

I want a smoking jacket and a pan flute. Then I'm going to make everyone call me Zamfir. Except in the evening, in which case it will be proper to call me Loretta.

[mariogolbee]

Did anyone else think 'custom designed CA smoking jacket?' when they saw this?

I know I'd sure like to have one. Not just as a cigar smoker but a history nerd as well!

group buy!
:tu:banger

[gvarsity]

http://www.brooksbrothers.com/search.process?q=smoking%20jacket

Still available to the rich and powerful. There is one available on new york craigslist for only 750$.

[waffle]

Seriously, this (http://www.cordarounds.com/smokingjacket/) may be my next purchase!

[Patrick B]

$200, though. I want one for about $5.

[waffle]

$200, though. I want one for about $5.

I'm hitting up the local Goodwill on the way home tonight... if I see anything promising I'll give you a buzz.

[Brian D.]

I've been checking ebay for months. People were skinnier 75 years ago. I'd need a 2xl most likely. I'll call some vintage shops, thanks for the link!


Elderboy02 says he gets his smoking jackets here:

http://www.gettent.com/catalog.pdf

[Wolfgang]

Check out good will. They have fantastic jackets.

Ive got a green plaid wool jacket with leather elbows that I love to death and only paid 25c

[Nefari0us]

I think a CA smoking jacket would be rather cool. I have a smoking jacket of the robe type that I wear in the house as I think I'd look like Hef if I were to wear it out. I want to get one of the blazer style ones when I get some money that isn't dedicated to box purchases

[RRocket]

$200, though. I want one for about $5.

Search Ebay under Vintage Smoking Jacket and see what turns up....

[RRocket]

I think a CA smoking jacket would be rather cool. I have a smoking jacket of the robe type that I wear in the house as I think I'd look like Hef if I were to wear it out. I want to get one of the blazer style ones when I get some money that isn't dedicated to box purchases


Ok...I've just contacted my better smelling half to put the feeler out to her sister to see if it's possible to do CA jackets.

Bear in mind, these will each be individually handmade, so I'm not sure of cost.

[TheDudeAbides]

Got mine free from Black & Mild, I think the promo is over..... but still classy t-shirt.
http://i950.photobucket.com/albums/ad341/thedudeabides47/free-smoking-jacket-tshirt.jpg
-Dude
{Owns a Tuxedo t-shirt, too}

[Powers]

Got mine free from Black & Mild, I think the promo is over..... but still classy t-shirt.
http://i950.photobucket.com/albums/ad341/thedudeabides47/free-smoking-jacket-tshirt.jpg
-Dude
{Owns a Tuxedo t-shirt, too}

:r

[Nefari0us]

Ok...I've just contacted my better smelling half to put the feeler out to her sister to see if it's possible to do CA jackets.

Bear in mind, these will each be individually handmade, so I'm not sure of cost.

Awesome, keep me posted

[Nefari0us]

We need a matching CA fez :banger

[Superbad]

I would so be all over a CA fez and smoking jacket. http://www.fez-o-rama.com/ make great Fezzes. They do them for groups all the time.

[kaisersozei]

Therefore, well-equipped Victorian homes began sporting smoking rooms, parlors designed specifically for masculine inhalation and conversation.

This is my favorite line in the whole piece.

I'd love to see a B&M adopt it as a slogan: "New Cigar Shop--a parlor for masculine inhalation & conversation" :D

[rizzle]

I would so be all over a CA fez and smoking jacket. http://www.fez-o-rama.com/ make great Fezzes. They do them for groups all the time.

I'd wear a smoking jacket, but I'm drawing the line on a fez.

:su

[Nefari0us]

I'd wear a smoking jacket, but I'm drawing the line on a fez.

:su

Oh C'mon, all the cool organizations have there own fez's... It'll be sweet :noon

[shilala]

I scored myself a smoking jacket, and to one up you guys, I hired a dwarf to tear my toilet paper for me this weekend. :tu

[Nefari0us]

I scored myself a smoking jacket, and to one up you guys, I hired a dwarf to tear my toilet paper for me this weekend. :tu

I want one!!! where could I hire such a dwarf?

[kaisersozei]

I scored myself a smoking jacket, and to one up you guys, I hired a dwarf to tear my toilet paper for me this weekend. :tu

Sure it wasn't a midget? Or a pygmy? How can you tell?

[Beklage]

http://www.ninedeep.com/index.php?cPath=12&osCsid=2aea90a8887d34935c3acc30e89dba37

The new style isn't exactly the old style

Those are epic robes!

[Slow Triathlete]

My smoking jacket for many years has been a thick-ass flannel shirt that I bought at Walmart. Cheap and it has done its job for over 10 years now. I also do winter yardwork in it because I'm always smoking when I'm doing that stuff.

[waffle]

I scored myself a smoking jacket, and to one up you guys, I hired a dwarf to tear my toilet paper for me this weekend. :tu

Cheater... I'd hire them to follow me around so I feel like Andre the Giant!

[shilala]

I want one!!! where could I hire such a dwarf?
If she works out, I may keep her on full time and rent her out. Step ladder is gonna be extra.

[OLS]

And don't forget, the jacket covers the trunk, but you need a fez for your hair.

DANG, good ol search funchtion. I hit SEARCH THIS THREAD for the word FEZ
before i posted this and came up empty. Sheesh.

[BloodSpite]

I'd wear a smoking jacket, but I'm drawing the line on a fez.

:su

I'm with you dude.

Fedora? I can for that. Even a flatcap.

Fez? No thanks

[OLS]

I had 5 fezzes in my shopping kart and then right as I was putting in my CC information I thought
"What the HELL am I doing???" But I like this one.

[Lumpold]

That is a rocking fez.

[Nefari0us]

I'm with you dude.

Fedora? I can for that. Even a flatcap.

Fez? No thanks

You need a Fez to be in the "cool" club!

[RRocket]

Bad news, fellas. At this time, her busy schedule doesn't permit her to take on any new projects. Apparently, as a designer, this is her "busy" time of year.

If anything changes, I'll keep you posted.

[BloodSpite]

You need a Fez to be in the "cool" club!

What was Mickey Rourke said?

"Better to be dead and cool, then alive and uncool."

Guess I'm gonna have to be the latter

[Tredegar]

Let's not forget a fashionable bowler hat for walking outside.

[TNT009]

Way too hot in SoCal for one, but Id still buy one just for giggles!

[sjnovakovich]

Check this out.

http://www.lockhatters.co.uk/Smoking_Caps__amp__Fez-c32.aspx

[theoneandonly]

To me a smoking jacket is just a jacket that you wear whenever you smoke. The one I use is corduroy with a fleece liner that my wife got me one year. I think she spent $50 on it. I use to wear it out all the time and then it ended up with a tiny hole in it. Now when I smoke outside, I wear it. It is very warm.

Bottom line, In my opinion is that you don't need to go out and buy a special "smoking jacket". To me that is something the filthy rich would own. Like the one link that had them for $998, freaking ridiculous. Just get a comfortable jacket and designate it your smoking jacket. So much easier.

[the MacDonald]

I'm a size 50 jacket, and I have been looking for a smoking jacket for years. Vintage sizes that big are rare. I drool over the ninedeep ones and will probably break down and order one at some point, but I bought this one last month and it is perfect. It is not too light or heavy, the classic design and seems like it will wear for a long time. I am not associated with the vendor in anyway, but it is so damn hard to find this thing I thought I should share.

http://www.davisbigandtall.com/davis/product.asp?pf_id=PAMGACAIAAFHNHJA&zmam=97682599&zmas=1&zmac=1&zmap=PAMGACAIAAFHNHJA

[DonAustin]

My idea of a smoking jacket is just a straight vinatge blazer like mentioned throughout this thread. You all have me wanting to purchase one now, so I guess I'll be hitting up the Goodwill on the way home now!

[chicken]

I want one now as well. A CA smoking jacket would be sweet.

[357]

I'm a size 50 jacket, and I have been looking for a smoking jacket for years. Vintage sizes that big are rare. I drool over the ninedeep ones and will probably break down and order one at some point, but I bought this one last month and it is perfect. It is not too light or heavy, the classic design and seems like it will wear for a long time. I am not associated with the vendor in anyway, but it is so damn hard to find this thing I thought I should share.

http://www.davisbigandtall.com/davis/product.asp?pf_id=PAMGACAIAAFHNHJA&zmam=97682599&zmas=1&zmac=1&zmap=PAMGACAIAAFHNHJA

Product not found at the link. What is the description so we can see it on the site?

[the MacDonald]

The link works now. I saw that it didnt work last night, but didnt have time to respond, and today it is up.

[bajaraider]

DocLogic,
great history lesson. Thanks!

[bajaraider]

Also, there is a guy at the local lounge that wears a snuggie!!!
I guess it is functional for the warmth and keeping the clothing smell to a minimum.

[357]

Snuggies are a scam. It's a bathrobe worn backwards. Not the desired look either.

[Jasonw560]

Bump for the fezes.

[icehog3]

8 months of peace and quiet, shot to Hell. :r

[G G]

who woulda thunk it Tom?

[Jasonw560]

I do what I can. Had there not been mention of the all-powerful Fez, I wouldn't have bumped it.

[icehog3]

I do what I can. Had there not been mention of the all-powerful Fez, I wouldn't have bumped it.

Who can resist the all-powerful Fez?

http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa73/icehog3/fez.jpg

[designwise1]

All I can say is, "Wow."

I think I still have a couple of Dad's maroon silk robes from the 70s that would work for a Hef style smoking jacket. If any of you gents want a slightly moth-eaten cool vintage jacket I'll take $750.00 for the pair.

:)

You might be mistaken for one of the three wisemen, however.

[hotreds]

save ur $

[Jasonw560]

:tu:r

[CigarNut]

Bump

[Hippiebrian]

My last smoking jacket was in, I believe, 1977. I was at a Dead show when I dropped a roach and didn't know where it went. When I finally noticed where it was, man, that old Army jacket was smoking big time!

My smoking atire these days is cargo shorts and whatever tee shirt I happen to have put on that morning. When they make a smoking jacket that accentuates the subtle olive drab color of most of my cargo shorts, I'll pick one up. 'Til then, though...:td to the bugie smoking jacket!