Clothing Definitions — definitions of garments and clothing terms from Apparel Search
A smoking jacket is an item of clothing, now relatively rare, specifically designed for the purpose of smoking tobacco, usually in the form of pipes and cigars. The classic smoking jacket is a waist-length jacket usually made of velvet or perhaps silk, with a shawl collar, turn-up cuffs and toggle fastenings, in rich colours such as burgundy and bottle green. It became a popular accessory in Victorian times, when it was thought considerate for a gentleman to change into his smoking jacket before lighting a cigar or pipe, usually after dinner, so that tobacco fumes would not cling to his everyday clothing.
The smoking jacket became a popular accessory in Victorian times, when it was believed that the sensitive and delicate nostrils of ladies would be assailed by the pungent fumes of tobacco clinging to everyday clothing. Consequently it became de rigueur for every considerate gentleman to don his smoking jacket before lighting his cigar or pipe, usually after dinner. Smoking caps were also sometimes worn for the same reason.
The comparative rarity of serious and dedicated pipe and cigar smoking as well as the vagaries of fashion mean that in today's world the smoking jacket is a rare item; the relatively high cost of quality items also militates against their widespread use. Other than vintage clothing stores a quality smoking jacket (which can, and frequently does, last a lifetime) would now usually have to be specially made by those few outfitters still in the habit of creating them.
In German, French, Brazilian Portuguese and Mexican Spanish, smoking has been adopted as a pseudo-loanword, but in reference to what in English is known as a dinner jacket or tuxedo.
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| The above article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/smoking_jacket). 1/14/06 |
The smoking jacket belongs to a class of clothing that exists because of manners rather than weather. Victorian houses separated smoking from mixed company, often in a dedicated room, and the jacket was the uniform of that ritual: changed into after dinner, worn for the cigar or pipe, and changed out of again, carrying the smell away with it. The smoking cap completed the set, protecting the hair on the same principle. Velvet and silk were practical choices as well as luxurious ones, dense fabrics that resisted absorbing odour better than wool suiting and brushed clean of ash.
The smoking jacket's decline followed its purpose. Serious pipe and cigar smoking became less common, houses lost their smoking rooms, and fashion moved on, so the garment became a rarity. Its relatively high cost also counts against it: a quality smoking jacket is a substantial piece of tailoring, and since it can last a lifetime, the second-hand and vintage market supplies much of the demand. A new one usually has to be specially made by one of the few outfitters still making them. What survives in general dress is the jacket's silhouette, the shawl collar and rich velvet reappearing in evening and lounge wear, detached from tobacco entirely. Within the jacket family it sits at the most specialised end, opposite working garments such as the waxed jacket and the ski jacket, a jacket designed for a single room and a single hour of the day.
To keep tobacco smoke out of their ordinary clothes. In Victorian etiquette it was believed that the pungent fumes of tobacco clinging to everyday clothing would assail the sensitive nostrils of ladies, so a considerate gentleman put on a dedicated jacket, and sometimes a smoking cap for the same reason, before smoking after dinner. The jacket absorbed the smell and could be left with the smoke.
Waist length, in velvet or silk, in a rich colour such as burgundy or bottle green, with a shawl collar, turn-up cuffs and toggle fastenings rather than buttons. Quality examples are heavily made and can last a lifetime, which is one reason most surviving smoking jackets are vintage.
In German, French, Brazilian Portuguese and Mexican Spanish, smoking was adopted as a pseudo-loanword from English, but attached to the garment worn at the same after-dinner occasion in those countries' usage: the dinner jacket, or tuxedo. The English smoking jacket itself is a different, informal garment worn at home.