A journalist I quite respect recently asked if we’d ever done anything that might specifically be termed as Bespoke Formal Yacht Wear.

After thinking a moment, and assuming that he was referring to the millionaire (and his wife) rather than to the Professor, (let alone the Skipper or Gilligan), I admitted that while we do indeed make quite a lot of bespoke formal wear — ranging from classic evening wear to dinner suits (and jackets),  and extending to truly special white tie and tails (and even, just recently, the most elegantly sophisticated cobalt blue velvet smoking jacket that you can imagine), I really couldn't recall anything that was ever crafted with the high seas – or even the Intercostal Waterway — specifically in mind.

However, I believe the very notion of purpose-built  oceangoing evening wear conjures up the some of the best images of an opulent, sybaritic lifestyle imaginable.  Although having said that, I'm also convinced that in the modern era, any impulse to pack a steamer trunk with every conceivable black-tie treatment wants putting aside — to be replaced with a more resolutely contemporary solution. 

With that in mind as you head for the harbor my recommendation runs more to, say, a beautiful single-breasted bespoke Dupioni silk blazer (with either notch or peaked lapels, and flap pockets). Or maybe a double-breasted black linen suit which might also effectively serve as a proper —albeit slightly more casual — choice for evening.  (Better still, the suit trousers could be paired with the aforementioned bespoke silk blazer, while the black jacket might just as effectively double as a blazer paired with anything from made-too-measure shorts to custom white duck trousers — thereby neatly multiplying one's options for day or evening.)

In any case, either of these ship-to-shore examples pretty much guarantee that the wearer will be strolling amidships in style.

Which, on further reflection, reminded me that we did recently make a bespoke ’nautical blue’ blazer for one of the world’s great bon-vivant’s; and really, can anyone’s imagination fail to envision no less a luminary than Mr. George Hamilton sporting it while swanning down the gangplank with unequivocal aplomb.

Ahoy, all.