The London Lounge

I have two of these and am planning to get two more, often to wear under a sports coat. I have chosen merino wool here to for, but is this the best choice? The House of Bruar offers merino, lambs wool and shetland.

Cardigan/waistcoat or slipover?

I think the choice of wool type mainly depends on how warm you want to be and how "rustic" the jacket texture is. I like Shetlands (LL had a custom batch made a few years ago to match a Fellowes illustration) including Fair Isles with a sturdy tweed jacket, and lambswool is probably (if well made) the most durable and versatile of the lot (not counting cashmere), with a typical merino being light and thinner, so looking well under a blazer or other less rustic cloth. In my experience the Shetlands wear the warmest under jackets, followed by dense lambswool, with merino adding the least insulation and so accommodating more indoor contexts. I wear a cashmere knitted waistcoat most often under jackets. I think you can still find some decent ones from Scotland without breaking the bank.

I wear these sweater vests often. Mainly with a sports jacket and trousers, but sometimes with my suit. (Apart from anything else, my wife thinks I look slimmer when I wear them). Consequently I have several in cashmere or wool. I might opt for a Shetland if I see a nice one

That low-neckline Shetland adds a bit of interest to a flannel suit. As well as concealing braces if you decide to hang up the jacket. Cheaper and more casual than a waistcoat.

Concordia wrote:That low-neckline Shetland adds a bit of interest to a flannel suit. As well as concealing braces if you decide to hang up the jacket. Cheaper and more casual than a waistcoat.

If only I could find a good one. That is you can wear with high-rise trousers. I never can find these, they always end up lower than my hips

Don't laugh, but I found some nice Scottish-made Fair Isle Shetland slipovers at a shop called Stumper & Fielding in the Portobello Road last summer. They were closer to the vintage '30s cut with the wider solid waistband, low V-neckline, and shorter than current fashion (though not as short as the real vintage item). I find, even with a 38.5" chest measurement, because I have an 8" drop I can wear a size small in a slipover, since sleeve length isn't an issue. That also means some additional reduction in length, and the snug (not tight) fit in the chest helps under a jacket.

Stumper & Fielding is clearly marketing British heritage to the sort of folks, including tourists, who might show up in the Portobello Road market. It's a bit of an overdose on tweed and Shetland and waxed cotton and leather, and not all the cuts are great, but the quality of some of the materials is quite respectable. I bought one of the slipovers with good colors and wear it regularly.

Like you I'd love to find a good source for the same item in solid colorways to complement the RAF blue LL one I already have. There was a small firm (possibly just one woman) somewhere in the Shetland Islands who would make them to size, as Michael arranged for the LL offering, but the web site no longer works.

Thank you all for your good advice. Based upon it, I am going to go with lambs wool for the first slip-over and see how it works.

Lambs wool is better than cashmere, at the moment. It doesn't cause overheating to the same degree, and is a little sleeker under a jacket.

You also find cardigan vests as well as v-neck slipovers made from a wool called Geelong. Very fine, and the companies that use it seem to care about what they do.