Twelve's Red Pyramid Shirt

Though there were several unusual outfit choices during Series 10, the one worn in 'The Pyramid at the End of the World' is quite high up the list. A plausible canonical explanation for this unusual style was that the Doctor was blind at the time, though he had dressed strangely before his loss of vision.

It's a weird combo, trust Capaldi to pull it off.

The 'Wild Flowers' Liberty London fabric used to make this shirt is still available and several people have already made replicas of Capaldi's shirt using this screen accurate fabric. In this article I will be discussing how to make a replica of this shirt as accurate as possible. Although I will not be going into specific dye blends or the exact buttons used on the shirt I will be discussing the design features and pattern of the shirt.

Importantly, regarding this shirt's design, although it was based on the Budd white soyella shirt this one was not actually made by Budd and does have at least one design difference. Unlike the Budd which has an unusually wide 1.50 inch button placket, this shirt is devoid of any placket around the front buttons. There is what appears to be a seam on the other side of the buttons but no folding of the fabric to make the symmetry of a placket. Given that most of this shirt is covered by the coat it is impossible to tell if there are any other small design differences hidden away but on the balance of probability it is most likely the same, hence I will assume they are otherwise identical and will be using the Budd shirt as a design guide.

Note the lack of a placket around the buttons.

When conveying to a tailor the key features about this shirt the following observations will help to make a replica as accurate as possible, these observations have been taken directly from a screen accurate Budd soyella shirt with all Capaldi spec customisations and measurements taken to the nearest quarter inch. The collar should be made to be 3.25 inches in length with a height at the rear of 1.50 inches, in addition the points of the collar are 4.00 inches apart at their widest point. Capaldi's Budd shirt has 3.25 inch French cuffs (being slightly different in size to the stock soyella shirt) and no button fastening on the sleeve placket, though obviously this detail is less important than the collar and placket-less front. Although never seen, the rear of the Budd shirt has a split yoke and pleats but is otherwise plain. Finally, the shirt is cut rather long in order to remain tucked in, though Peter rebelliously wears it untucked, see pictures for the exact base design.

One further thing to note is that Capaldi's shirt was specially tailored specifically for him, hence is an excellent fit. When considering sizing for yourself be sure to go for a fitted cut, on the slimmer side of things but certainly not overly tight or skinny.

This shot gives a good insight into the cuffs.

Although I will not be discussing exact dye blends as Thomas Dunn has already covered that well in his blog I feel it is important to make a few observations about it. The shirt was hand dyed in multiple dye baths to achieve the final colour, the heat shrinkage around the seams suggests this was done after the shirt was made, assuming it wasn't just washed at too high a heat before filming. This is an odd order of doing things, ideally fabric should be dyed before tailoring to avoid shrinkage like this. Unusually, the stitching in the shirt matches the final red colour of the fabric save for the cuffs, which use white thread. Stitching is nearly always synthetic, meaning it should be unaffected by the dye. The only explanations I can really think of is that either a red fabric pen might was used to touch up some of the stitching or that the shirt was made with two different colours of thread.

Personally, if I were having a shirt made I would probably dye the fabric before tailoring, then have it made with contrasting white stitching on the cuffs, that way there is a lesser probability of shrinkage issues. As for where to go to have your fabric tailored I would ideally recommend a local tailor however certain online tailors like ModernTailor are willing to work with fabric they are sent. None of their stock collars are exactly like the Budd so if going this way it would be best to ask them to extend the length slightly of their classic medium collar to 3.25 inches (83mm) and keep the back height around the same get it as accurate as possible.

Special thanks go to 'skc_III' on Instagram for the measurements of the Budd shirt.

Coatless Cosplay - Beat the Heat

Although adding lots of layers to a costume helps make it visually distinctive it can be downright uncomfortable to wear some of the Doctor's outfits on a hot summer's day. Here I've created a compilation of some of the Doctor's cooler, more summer friendly outfits that can be rolled out when temperatures start to rise. 

For this list I've only included outfits that are distinctive enough in their own right without wearing a jacket or coat, though as you'll see there is a bit of a grey area with that definition. For example, although there are plenty of occasions where Tom's outermost layer is his unfastened waistcoat there's little to mark it out as a story-specific look, though I've included one occasion as an example.

Fourth Doctor - The Deadly Assassin

This voluminous 18th Century style shirt is probably the coolest outfit ever worn on the show, just one layer with plenty of room for air circulation. The downside is that it's a pretty obscure outfit and it might not be terribly recognisable.

Fourth Doctor - Shada/The Five Doctors

Although in the unbroadcast Shada story the Doctor dons his coat and scarf soon after this gondola trip, the reused footage in The Five Doctors only shows Tom in this outfit hence why this makes the list. Plus it's my absolute favourite lightweight look.

Fifth Doctor - Planet of Fire

This embroidered waistcoat made its only appearance in this story, presumably to give Peter a more lightweight alternative to his usual cricket jumper in the hot Lanzarote climate. It's not an easy look to replicate due to the unique fabric, but should great at avoiding overheating.

Sixth Doctor - The Two Doctors

Much like Davison's Planet of Fire look, this waistcoat was only used for the one story when filming in sunny Spain. Realistically the Hawaiian shirt fabric makes this virtually impossible to do replicate accurately but there are plenty of close alternatives to use as donors.

Eleventh Doctor - Journey to the Centre of the Tardis

An unusual look given the return of the trousers and boots from the Christmas special, this is the only occasion where more than just the bow tie and gold accessories have been borrowed from the Snowmen outfit. If you have a Clara to hold hands with then even better.

Twelfth Doctor - Hell Bent

Despite a very short screentime this image is instantly recognisable amongst fans, the coat thrown over the shoulder makes this so identifiable. It also gives one flexibility, allowing a quick change into a Face the Raven/Heaven Sent look.

Fourty Nine Shades of Black, One of Blue

This is going to be a shorter post than usual as it was written rather quickly but here I'll be discussing the black overdyed trousers again as well as the blue John Lewis cufflinks.

Black:

My previous post discussed the dye treatment done to my Paul Smith trousers in order to modify them to be suitable for the S10 black overdyed trousers. Well this post is going to discuss colour, as many of you might know it's a tricky thing to pin down. Sometimes between dye batches there are noticeable differences, much like different production batches of nearly everything. In addition, inevitable washing and exposure to sunlight will fade the fabric to a degree as I'm sure anyone with an old pair of black jeans will know. All of this is assuming you have the fabric in hand, through a camera lens with various filters and lightnings it can be extremely difficult to pin down a specific shade. Essentially, what I'm getting at is that colour is a tricky thing to pin down.

Well by sheer dumb luck I managed to very recently get hold of a pair of Paul Smith stretch cotton twill trousers in my size with completely unaltered leg length that were made in black out of the factory, unworn and with no overdye needed. What's interesting is that despite being newer and black out of the box, they don't seem as accurate as the overdyed ones. As I said, colour is tricky to pin down. My camera isn't really good enough to accurately show what I mean hence the lack of pictures but I'll try my best to explain.

If you've ever tried to put a black three piece suit together out of mismatched items you'll know it doesn't work, different fabrics are different shades of black and some will look darker or lighter than the others. The trousers I dyed both ended up a fairly comparable shade to the Palmer waistcoat, perhaps a little lighter, but were both definitely a sufficiently dark shade to be categorically called black. The trousers that came out of the factory black however are a noticeably deeper black than my overdyed trousers or the TM Lewin waistcoat.

If you look at the pictures in my previous post you might notice that the screen worn S10 overdyed trousers appear to be a lighter shade of black than basically all of the other black clothes in the picture, though are definitely overdyed to be black as stated by Hayley Nebauer on Twitter. The reason for this is that the trousers are 97% cotton and 3% elastane, the cotton takes the dye readily however the elastane will not do so using conventional dye methods due to its synthetic nature. Despite only being a small percentage of the overall blend it is enough to prevent the trousers reaching the deepest shades of black. The reason the trousers that left the factory as black are deeper is due to the more effective industrial dye processes employed during production. Despite one of the two pairs of my overdyed trousers starting as a rather dark colour (both the cotton and elastane content) additional hand dyeing is not capable of making it colour match the ones that started out as black.

So now I've got three pairs of black Paul Smith trousers, one is a deep production black colour and the other two are a slightly lighter black as a result of the overdyeing. The lighter overdyed black appears to be be a more accurate shade however the newer production black ones have longer legs more suited to my height. As a result of this I will probably auction off my size 32 overdyed trousers and keep the factory black ones, if I use them regularly day to day they'll fade to a more accurate shade in time. So if anyone is after a pair of black overdyed size 32 trousers they'll probably be made available via auction in the near future.

Blue:

As many of you know I managed to obtain a very limited number of the blue enamel John Lewis cufflinks. I had three spare initially, one was put aside for a friend and two were made available for trade offers. The friend passed on them and I received a fair screen accurate trade offer for one of the sets so that brings the number of spare unreserved pairs I have back to two.

A set of the beautiful enamel John Lewis cufflinks.

I would've preferred to trade each set for something discontinued of similar original retail value, such as the Label Lab tees, I received very many offers (both trade and cash) for the cufflinks however I ultimately only ended up accepting that one trade offer. So this leaves me in a bit of a pickle, how to fairly divide such a limited supply amongst such high demand? Well to be honest I'm amazed I even got one pair, let alone multiple, given that I found them in a John Lewis shop quite some time after their identity was revealed to the community. So I decided to use my astoundingly good luck to do a little good and have come to this decision:

One set of the remaining cufflinks will go to auction through eBay with half the money going to Cancer Research UK. This way I'll at least cover my costs and maybe make a small profit, someone will get a set of screen accurate cufflinks and a small amount of good might be done as a result. A link to the auction can be found within the sales page. The final set I will hold onto until I've decided what to do with them.

Wouldn't You Just Dye Without Paul Smith?

Over the course of Series 10 the Doctor seems to have acquired three known new pairs of trousers, all of them black rather than the various dark navy ones seen in the last two series. In order of appearance these are:

• Chris Kerr forward pleated trousers made from Harrisons super 150 wool
• Unknown Victorian style trousers
• Paul Smith flat fronted stretch cotton trousers (originally blue but overdyed black)

The black overdyed Paul Smith trousers as part of the 'all-black' variant.

Of these three the only off-the-shelf ones are the Paul Smiths, from their appearance they more than likely started life as the dark navy stretch cotton trousers that first appeared towards the end of Series 9. They are sometimes called 'chino-style' however this is a slightly misleading name as they are really formal trousers that just happen to be made of cotton.

Series 10 promo picture featuring what I believe to be the black trousers.

Both the navy and black versions have returned for Series 10, with the black ones being worn as part of multiple different costumes. Given that these SA trousers have sold out and the bottle required to attempt to overdye such expensive trousers I decided to look for alternatives.

Only the coat is navy, everything else is black.

The closest alt pair I could find on the high street weren't bad but had accuracy issues with all four pockets and the fabric was fuzzier and thinner than the Paul Smith stuff. I therefore decided instead to try and find a second-hand pair of Paul Smith trousers and dye them myself.

I'd be happy too if I were wearing such an awesome outfit.

Initially I found a lovely pair of dark navy cotton trousers by Paul Smith, from the inner lining strip near the zipper I could tell that they weren't the Screen Accurate ones however they were externally completely identical in terms of fabric and design features so could be classed as a Screen Accurate Variant (SA-V). After they arrived however I began to realise the leg was slightly too short for me, being fairly tall I decided these trousers would be better suited to someone slightly shorter who could appreciate them more as a nearly perfect pair of navy trousers. I reluctantly put these trousers to one side and continued my search.

The SA-V trousers directly compared to the SA ones.

Some time later I managed to find two more pairs of SA-V stretch cotton trousers, one a washed out black, the other a dark grey. The faded black one was a size 32 as well, making it a more suitable size for me than the dark navy ones (size 34) I originally got ahold of. The legs had been shortened so I decided to get both, that way given the fabric for both would be identical after dyeing I could cannibalise the second to add cuffs if there was not enough excess leg length on the first.

The two new pairs of trousers fated to be overdyed black.

As soon as they arrived I opened up the base of the leg to release as much fabric from the inside as possible, both had been amateurishly shortened using iron-on tape. Fortunately after pinning I decided there'd be enough surplus leg length to add cuffs without sacrificing the second pair. After removing as much of the adhesive as possible and nearly completely ironing out the crease where the leg originally ended I made up a dye bath and dropped them both in to stew.

A brief pause to take a picture between the hour of constant stirring to ensure an even dye.

The end result was exactly what I'd hoped for, the dye penetrated the fabric well due to the high cotton content and both trousers ended up black. However, due to the size 34 trousers starting off as a lighter colour the black on them was very slightly more of a faded shade, still definitely black but not quite perfect. I considered simply saying "that'll do" and calling it a day but given that I knew at this point I'd end up selling these trousers I decided to do it properly and give them a second dye bath to fully saturate the fabric. This was a bit tedious and added some additional cost but I'm happy to say it was worth it as the fabric ended up a deeper shade of black afterwards. The only real difference between my overdyed black trousers and the actual ones is that the SA pair is a marginally slimmer cut, though this of course can be a bit subjective depending on the wearer's leg proportions.

The end result against a white background to show the new black colour.

Overall I'm exceedingly happy with how these turned out, I was definitely not going to overdye my actual S9-S10 navy ones so this was the next best thing to 'ruining' an already fully Screen Accurate pair. Strangely enough the SA trousers also came in black so Hayley's overdyeing of the pre-existing navy ones wasn't strictly speaking necessarily. They were probably older, slightly worn pairs that she decided to breathe some new life into, like the characterful distressing done to the older Budd shirts.

Everything cotton soaked up the dye, including the pocket fabric.

As a result of this quest for accuracy however I have ended up with two additional pairs of SA-V Paul Smith trousers, if anyone's been hunting for their very own pair (or pairs) to add to their collection check out my blog's Sale's Page.

Like an Older, Angrier, More Scottish Mr. Darcy

Although fan reaction to some of Hayley's costumes for the new series has been mixed there is little opposition to the Doctor's Victorian outfit in Thin Ice, she really knocked it out of the park with this one. Unfortunately it's one of the hardest outfits to put together, being nearly entirely custom with some of the fabrics long gone.

This outfit gets a 10/10 from me.

There is some good news however, soon after the episode aired I remembered a website that specialises in period clothing. Sure enough, after examining all their Victorian era shirts I discovered one that looked absolutely perfect and after comparing it to screencaps it's even plausible that it might be the screen accurate one, though I'd imagine the original was probably custom given how many items this season are.

Note the very high collar on the linen shirt.

The Napoleonic Shirt from Darcy Clothing appears to have the exact same collar style as the original, being both sufficiently high and having the points swept slightly back. They sell another close shirt (product code SH120) however the shorter collar on it is slightly too forward pointing. The Napoleonic Shirt is made out of an ivory linen, the screen used one looks like it might be more of a pure white linen however some fabric bleach like Rit Colour Remover would easily sort that out.

Darcy Clothing's Napoleonic Shirt (SH120N).

Both the cuffs and buttons of the Napoleonic Shirt are a perfect match to the original too. It would seem the original has barrel cuffs with a single button to fasten positioned towards the sleeve. The white linen buttons are a two hole variety featuring metal eyelets.

Note the cuff and button style.

It's not the cheapest shirt in the world (£65 + VAT) but if you're putting together this outfit cost is probably a secondary consideration. If only the patterned fabrics used in this outfit were still available.

The Lecturer's Suede

With the advent of the latest series, Capaldi was seen sporting many new costume variants. The most prominent of these used in 'The Pilot' was what I'm calling his 'Lecturer Variant', consisting of the velvet frock coat, puce hoodie, ladder jumper, pink custom knit, Paul Smith trousers and Affleck boots.

The Lecturer Variant.

The lowest of these layers (the pink one) was confirmed by Hayley Nebauer to be custom and said via Twitter, 'it is a fine mottled crepe texture, with a thin tan suede binding at the edge, overdyed to a deep dusty rose colour'. The suede binding seems to be a very close colour match to the puce hoodie when you look carefully at screenshots and promotional photos, perhaps the pink dye bath altered the colour of it too.

Pink jumper's suede binding is a good colour match to puce hoodie.

I asked Magnoli about the possibility of doing a run however he replied saying that the S9 henley wasn't a great seller hence it was pretty unlikely. So it would seem the only options now are to go fully custom (long and expensive job) or modifying the neckline of an alternative pink t-shirt or thin jumper by adding suede binding held in place by two lines of stitching. This would be a cheap and easy job for any seamstress and there's a good alt currently available from boohoo so I thought this was the path I'd choose. Having ordered several suede swatches from different companies I eventually whittled it down to a single fabric:

My suede compared to AllSaints Damson hoodie and boohoo t-shirt.

Like the original's suede it is an excellent colour match to my damson Mode hoodie, being only very slightly lighter however this may actually mean it's a better match to the true puce hoodie, although I don't have one for direct comparison. It's surprisingly hard to find such a colour as the hoodie isn't a very standard shade so most places don't have suitable suede. Overall I think this suede is as perfect as is possible to find without the original piece in hand for direct comparison.

Given that the store requires a minimum order of 1m this would be expensive overkill for a little bit of binding. Therefore I am going to order some for myself and allow people to order just what they need to add the neck binding, saving both money and fabric. The price for sufficient fabric to bind a neckline will be as follows:

• £3 (including UK postage)
• £4 (including international postage)

The fabric should be with me sometime next week, if you're interested in some get in touch with me via my Instagram account or blog email.

iTailor Trousers for Twelve

Unlike the more elaborate patterned trousers that make up his ‘Space Hobo’ look, Capaldi’s plain trousers are much easier to find off-the-peg alternatives for. Unfortunately, if you’re an unusual size or a bit of a stickler for detail it’s not so easy to find something that ticks all the boxes. I ended up returning three different off-the-peg trousers due to either accuracy or sizing problems.

Luckily though there is a budget friendly solution to this that achieves a level of accuracy close to the original Paul Smith trousers. A fairly well known website called iTailor uses a configuration tool to create custom pieces of clothing; these are tailored to your measurements in the Orient and usually take about a month to arrive. The quality of their work is as good as anything you’ll find in high street shops and their website’s 3D designer gives a wide array of customisation options, they’ll also sometimes do small things not listed on the website’s options if you ask specially.

Now, after ordering several shirts through them there is one piece of advice I would definitely give. The measurements section asks for you own body measurements, it’s very easy to take these incorrectly and you’ll end up with a garment that’s their idea of the ideal fit for your body rather than yours, for example their shirts have very tight arms. Although they don’t advertise this, they also allow you to give them measurements taken directly from a pre-existing well-fitting garment. I cannot recommend this enough. If you’re going to order something send them an email first and ask for their garment measurement guide for that specific item, after you order it send them an email with your order number and the garment measurements you want for your tailored item.

My Doctor Mysterio outfit (minus the coat) featuring SA TM Lewin waistcoat, iTailor trousers and ModernTailor shirt.

Please note that navy, charcoal and black are quite difficult to photograph accurately and can easily be mistaken for each other in photos depending on the camera and lighting. I've tried to selectively use photos that show the fabric colour accurately however as I'm just using a phone camera the colour quality is slightly limited.

The Trousers:

Moving back onto Capaldi, his Doctor has been seen in many different trousers, some of which have only slight differences. I've tried to list all the ones seen so far below, though as Series 10 hasn't aired yet there may be more to come:

1.     Paul Smith dark navy pleated (Series 8)

2.     Unknown black pleated (Series 8)

3.     Chris Kerr dark navy pleated (Series 9)

4.     Chris Kerr grey houndstooth pleated (Series 9)

5.     Mendoza navy check flat front (Series 9)

6.     Hugo Boss Caleb grey check flat front (Series 9)

7.     Hugo Boss Caleb grey check [inverted pattern] flat front (Series 9)

8.     Paul Smith 'chino style' dark navy flat front (Series 9/10)

9.     Custom dark navy 'jeans inseam' flat front (Series 10)

10. Custom black pleated (Series 10)

11. Custom black Victorian flat front (Series 10)

I ordered some pleated black trousers for my Dinner Suit outfit (trouser #2) a while back however much to my surprise the Doctor has been seen in some black pleated trousers for Series 10 (trouser #10) that are basically exactly the same. Note that as nothing has been seen of the rear I'm assuming they are made in the same style as Paul Smith trousers (two welt pockets with double darts above each. More recently I ordered some dark navy flat fronts from them as an alternative to the Paul Smith 'chino style' ones (trouser #8) however these I was less satisfied with. Firstly, iTailor failed to pass on my special sizing requests despite acknowledging it resulting in a three week delay whilst they made me a replacement pair, I did end up with a spare pair of trousers from this so it wasn't all bad. Secondly the dark navy colour was not quite as dark as it looked in the pictures, this I'll discuss further down.

Review - The Accuracy:

The iTailor 3D customisation tool will allow you to create a decent replica of some of the plain-coloured trousers save for a couple of details. Capaldi’s pleated trousers all use forward pleats, meaning the pleat is the other way round compared to the vast majority of trousers seen today. The pleat direction is not specifiable in the designer so has to be requested specially. 

My specially requested forward pleats.

Also, the majority of Paul Smith trousers have two darts between each of the rear pockets and the waistband whereas iTailor only do one on their trousers. I asked them as a special request to do two on my navy trousers but they didn't so don't get your hopes up too high, it's a relatively small detail so I din't make a fuss about it.

The rear of both my trousers.

Both the black and dark navy fabrics are a slightly shiny wool blend twill that feels no better nor worse than found on any other trousers of this price point. The black is quite similar in appearance to the Palmer waistcoat's fabric although the twill weave is slightly less fine, it is a very slightly different shade of black but does a fairly good job at looking like a matching set as the S10 pleated trousers have been described.

Palmer waistcoat shown against black iTailor trousers.

I can't be totally sure but the dark navy fabric appears noticeably lighter than the original Paul Smith flat fronted trousers (though I believe the weave is similar) and have more contrast against the Palmer than they should. It is also a noticeably different weave and shade of navy compared to the Series 8 Paul Smith trousers and the Series 9 Chris Kerr ones. Given the fabric is too light I may try and overdye mine at some future point to darken the colour, until I attempt this I hesitate to recommend iTailor for any of the dark navy trousers. I've included the dark navy trousers in the table further down just in case anyone specifically wants them anyway.

Palmer waistcoat shown against dark navy iTailor trousers.

Providing you follow the instructions later in this article the actual design features of the trousers should be near identical to the screen used trousers, save for the twin pocket darts. The rear welt pockets are button-less like the originals and the cuffs have a nice 1.5 inch height to them

iTailor's dark navy against a swatch of screen accurate fabric from S9's pleated trousers.

Review - The Fit:

This is where the trousers fall down a bit. If you order using the standard body measurement route they'll basically end up as a regular fitting pair of trousers rather than Capaldi's slim, body-hugging style. Unfortunately, although using garment measurements improves this significantly it does not result in a perfect fitting pair of trousers.

When I ordered the the black trousers I followed the iTailor measuring guide and the resulting trousers were looser round the back of the knee than Capaldi's. In addition the leg width was made within moderate tailoring tolerances albeit at the upper end of the size, resulting in legs than did not quite hug the body as I'd hoped. I assumed that it was down to the guide not asking for many places to measure the leg width so in my next order for the navy trousers I specified several width measurements, each 5 inches further up the leg. After receiving the second, corrected, pair of navy trousers I discovered that iTailor add extra to your very specific measurements from around the mid-leg area and tend to make it baggier than specified. The cut is good enough for the moment but I may have to have the legs taken in slightly from mid-femur to mid-fibular eventually, the leg half-width around the knee is currently about half an inch larger than specified in the order.

How to Order:

Before you order be sure to get in touch with iTailor (info@itailor.com) to ask if they'll take garment measurements rather than body measurements in addition to any minor customisations you require. If they give the go ahead this covers you in case they screw up and forget your special requirements like what happened with my navy trousers.

The table below will guide you through what options to choose in order to achieve as close a replica as possible. Note that I’ve grouped the two pleated trousers together as although they are technically different the differences are way too subtle to really capture in a replica such as this.

	Black S8/10 Pleated	Navy S8/9 Pleated	Navy S9/10 Flat Fronts
Fabric	Black (3799-22)	Dark Navy (3799-20)	Dark Navy (3799-20)
Style	Narrow/Slim	Narrow/Slim	Narrow/Slim
Pleat	Single Pleat	Single Pleat	No Pleats
Pant Pocket	Slanted	Slanted	Slanted
Back Pockets	Single Opening (Both)	Single Opening (Both)	Single Opening (Both)
Belt Loops	Single (Normal)	Single (Normal)	Single (Normal)
Cuffs	Cuff	Cuff	Cuff

After placing the order send an email to iTailor customer service (info@itailor.com) quoting your order number. Ask them to do forward pleats if desired (and maybe twin darts above each rear pocket but they probably won't) in addition to supplying your own garment measurements and asking them to ignore whatever measurements you've put into the 3D configurator. I would also include additional leg measurements as I mentioned earlier to try and get the legs close to Capaldi's, though iTailor may make them slightly looser.

Verdict:

So to summarise, I would recommend iTailor for the black Mummy/S10 pleated trousers due to how well they match in terms of design (and fabric for S10) to the originals. I would not recommend them for any dark navy trousers as their fabric simply isn't dark enough and looks kinda off to my eye, though maybe mine are salvageable depending on how they dye. If you do order from them be prepared to wait up to 6 weeks though it can be a lot less depending on the time of year. They will likely claim they will do twin darts above the pocket but simply won't do it when they make them and the trousers will likely be a bit looser than they should around the mid-leg even if you give them very specific measurements, this is a fairly easy fix for a seamstress however. If possible try and order the trousers during one of their sales events, I did this with mine, they have a 'fabric of the week' deal where they knock £10 off the price of whatever fabric it is.

Twelfth Doctor Dinner Suit Breakdown

‘The last time I saw you, the real you, the future you, I mean, you turned up on my doorstep, with a new haircut and a suit.’

      Professor River Song - Forest of the Dead (2008)

‘Now that, my dear, is a suit.’

      Professor River Song - The Husbands of River Song (2015)

It could, in one sense, be argued that this particular costume holds immense significance despite only having two appearances so far, in ‘Mummy on the Orient Express’ and ‘The Husbands of River Song’. Not only was this suit first mentioned six years before its first physical appearance on the Orient Express, but it’s the outfit that the Doctor picked (from his near infinite wardrobe) to wear for River in their last night together on Darillium.

Aren't they sweet?

Note that there are some subtle variations between the outfits worn in these two episodes; however I believe that this is due to the change in costume designer and that they are basically meant to be the same outfit. In this breakdown I’ve prioritised the description of the Mummy version but then attempted to highlight the differences in the Darillium outfit afterwards. 

My outfit

Jacket:

The dinner jacket that Capaldi wears with this outfit is a 4x1 double breasted example; this particular style is quite dated (though a revival is being attempted by Paul Smith and similar brands) and reached peak popularity in the 80’s so finding a second hand one is probably the best option. There’s a fair amount of variation in terms of the shape of the lapel and collar as well as button placement with 4x1 jackets, so be aware of this when hunting for one. Due to the 4x1 style being out of fashion I managed to get mine for next to nothing from eBay, all things considered it's pretty close to the original and ended up being the cheapest part of the whole outfit.

High resolution promo picture

The Mummy version has only two buttons on the cuffs, however the Darillium version seems to have three or four. There may be some other minor differences but the jackets are virtually identical, the main difference is that it is worn unbuttoned on the Orient Express and buttoned on Darillium.

My outfit uses a Centaur dinner jacket

Waistcoat:

Throughout the episode there are no direct, clear shots of the whole waistcoat on show, there are however enough brief glimpses to piece together the details. It is a black single breasted dinner waistcoat with a deep U-shape opening, shawl lapels, flat base, two welt pockets and four buttons. It has been mistaken as being double breasted in the past however if you watch closely it is clear that this is not the case.

My outfit as seen the jacket removed

It seems that there is a fair amount of variation in dinner waistcoats, meaning finding a close match is more difficult than one would imagine. On the flip side, due to this variation it made identifying the screen accurate waistcoat significantly easier, details such as the unusually thick welt pockets gave it away. Based on my observations I am pretty sure the screen accurate waistcoat is from Charles Tyrwhitt, fortunately it is still available for £70.

The screen accurate waistcoat on the Charles Tyrwitt website

It is impossible to tell if the waistcoat is worn at Darillium as the jacket is kept buttoned up for the outfit’s brief appearance. If you’re going for the Darillium look then the waistcoat’s optional, just keep the jacket buttoned.

Shirt:

This is a relatively easy and cheap piece to obtain; the shirt is an off-the-peg Marcella dress shirt with French cuffs, standard buttons and a front placket. Marcella shirts feature their collar, cuffs and front bib made out of a diamond weave cotton, the rest is poplin. The actual shirt was probably purchased along with some of Twelve’s other clothes, the Marcella shirts from Budd and Charles Tyrwhitt are likely candidates for screen accuracy. My shirt is a slightly less accurate one from T.M. Lewin but was an absolute bargain at only £20 in one of their semi-regular sales.

Budd's Marcella shirt, possibly the screen accurate one

I think the Doctor wears his standard Budd soyella shirt (with the collar stays removed) on Darillium. If you’ve already got a similar shirt this is an easier look to do. Strangely the soyella shirt seems to be lacking cufflinks with this outfit, leaving the cuffs loose and open.

Trousers:

Series 8 used slim fitting Paul Smith trousers with forward pleats and cuffs, though there had been a little confusion over the exact colour in the past. It is accepted now that the trousers are a very dark navy although distinctly black trousers seem to have been used at the Doctor Who Experience in Cardiff, this however wouldn’t be the first time they’ve used inaccurate items.

Close up of the Mummy trousers

Given the lighting used in the episode it isn’t really possible to tell if the trousers are dark navy or black, although they do seem to be a good colour match to the jacket. It is possible that the trousers used in the episode were black and custom made using the Paul Smith pattern as a guide or simply an off-the-shelf pair by Paul Smith simply in black. This would make it look more like a matching suit, and it's possible the black ones ended up at the Experience as they'd not be so in demand for filming by the costume crew. Although hard to tell for sure, the pleats on these trousers seem to be slightly closer together than the navy trousers, whose pleats seem to line up with the belt loops whereas these do not. My outfit uses iTailor trousers (with specially requested forward pleats) in black purely because that colour fits the look better to my eye and looks more like a matching suit, technically if the jacket and trousers are made of different fabrics it's not really a suit.

Boots:

Capaldi consistently wears the Loake brogue boots throughout all of Series 8, they aren’t cheap but are available online. The Darillium boots aren’t identifiable but are likely the Doc Marten Affleck’s as the Loake boots seem to be being phased out of the series.

Screen accurate Loake brogue boots

Neckwear:

This is a bit of an unusual one; the Doctor wears a long floppy bow tie that is reminiscent of John Pertwee’s first costume and usually associated with the Wild West. If you’re crafty it shouldn’t be too difficult to make one of these out of a little black satin. Mine was obtained from an Etsy seller who makes custom period neckwear, it’s not hugely accurate but is sufficient for my needs. Ideally it should be made of a shinier silk satin and the ends should be V and I/ shaped as opposed to two V ends.

Mummy version

On Darillium the tie is worn looser, resulting in larger loops that hang down rather than standing like a more modern bow tie. I suspect this tie is actually a little different from the Mummy one, but the changed appearance is mostly down to how it has been tied.

Darillium version

Handkerchief:

Capaldi wears a pretty standard white cotton pocket handkerchief folded two point style. The Darillium version abandons this and features no pocket accessory.

My outfit's handkerchief

Belt:

Series 8 used two varieties of belt, but the belt used in this episode is the same one used in Robots of Sherwood and Time Heist. Not sure what the original’s brand was, but I managed to find a great match made by Osprey. The Darillium outfit probably used one of the two M&S belts that were favoured in Series 9.

My outfit's Osprey belt

Cufflinks:

Chain link torpedo cufflinks in white metal, Magnoli sell some but aren’t that accurate as they do not have a spherical cross section. These are a fairly uncommon style but can usually be found on places like eBay if you look closely. As previously mentioned, the Darillium outfit uses no cufflinks leaving the cuffs loose, a precursor to the way his red floral shirt is worn in Series 10.

My outfit's cuffs

Ring:

As always, Twelve wears his ring featuring a gold double band (unconnected) and green amber gem, this was made by Rowley’s Jewellers in Penarth. Magnoli do a nice, reasonably priced replica although purists may want to go down the Celestial Toystore or Rowley’s route.

Capaldi's rings seen during filming

Sonic:

On the Orient Express the Doctor is still using the old sonic inherited from Eleven. By the time he reached Darillium however he had swapped this for his updated blue sonic and sonic shades (Ray Ban Wayfarers).

Mummy sonic (left), Darillium sonic (right)

There are various options for both of these sonics to suit any budget, from £10 plastic toys to the various metal collector's pieces fetching many hundreds of pounds. The general Wayfarer glasses design is quite common and many other brands make cheaper sunglasses that are near-identical in appearance for those with smaller budgets.

Ray Ban Wayfarers (sonic shades)