Formal mens clothing query

[Moondog55]

The Boss [ AKA Cecile] and I are cruising with Cunard over Christmas.
I was bullied into it.
We'll be dressing for dinner each night but with special outfits for the "Gala" nights.
On one such night I'll be wearing my short white mess jacket but rather than a cummerbund I'm wanting to wear a proper waist sash as I've seen Indian and Gurkha soldiers wear.
I am having real trouble sourcing such an item and I'll have to MYOG/DIY one. Anybody know how many times the real deal has to wrap around your waist, twice or three times? And also any hints on how to properly dress the ends so they sit flat and flatteringly?
Next question is what fabrics are suitable if I can't afford silk satin?

TIA
Ted

[ErrolFlynn]

Bullied into enjoying yourself. Pull the other one...

Isn't this meant to be enjoyable? I can't help wondering if in 'dressing' for dinner you'll end up counting the minutes until you can get out of the dining room and peel all that stuff off. Why don't you go for comfort - a pair of strides or jeans and t-shirt (or a proper shirt if you don't think a t-shirt isn't formal enough).

[Moondog55]

Contrary to public opinion I actually do enjoy the drama and theatre of dressing well. I've gone from not owning a dinner jacket to owning three, one being that aforementioned mess jacket. Also on the ship the dining room air conditioning is set at "ARCTIC" so you really do need a jacket. I do get a bit bored when cruising because I really do miss being able to cook for us and I missed my own kitchen towards the end of the last cruise.
Personally I'd rather go camping and hunting but the Boss likes her comforts

[ErrolFlynn]

Persuade her to go Glamping next time.

[Moondog55]

Persuade her to go Glamping next time.
We've tried that and not enough comfort and too many bugs

[Slowrenos]

DIY sash could probably be done with any of the polyester satins available in Spotlight, but you'd need to add more body to the end bits. Several mock-ups required, with different grades of backing-stuff - very time-consuming.
Worth the trouble, if you can get the exactly correct look.

[Moondog55]

I've got some Tussa silk coming, because it is woven in an 850mm width so I only need to do one cut and join. It's the same silk some people use to make those long flyers scarfs from so should be OK

[Slowrenos]

Wow, class! Looking forward to the photos!

[ErrolFlynn]

Yes, and it'll allow everyone to see what a Moondog born in 1955 looks like.