Silk jacket

[snapper]

Yesterday I saw a lovely jacket in a tailor’s window marked down to half price and described as a ‘’Silk Jacket ‘‘ But I wondered how robust that might be, how well would it hold its shape and would it wear for any length of time. I guess it might be combined with another cloth type but what would be the best combination and at what ratio? Any advise please would be much appreciated. Many thanks.
Regards Snapper

[andy57]

Yesterday I saw a lovely jacket in a tailor’s window marked down to half price and described as a ‘’Silk Jacket ‘‘ But I wondered how robust that might be, how well would it hold its shape and would it wear for any length of time. I guess it might be combined with another cloth type but what would be the best combination and at what ratio? Any advise please would be much appreciated. Many thanks.
Regards Snapper

The answer, as so often, is "it depends".

Shantung silk is a classic jacket fabric and is made up into suits, jackets, and dinner jackets. It has a rich texture and needs no extra support. Silk in heavier weights is not fragile and holds up well to wear. It is, however, as snapper writes, quite a warm fabric. I have a dinner jacket made from a Thai silk fabric that is intended as a lady's skirting or sarong material. I allowed the tailor who made it (also Thai) to apply a fused backing to the silk in order to give it some body for use as a jacket. The result turned out pretty well and I'd do it again, if needs be. In fact, I have a length of a vintage Chinese ivory silk jacquard that might be enough for a jacket, but which would certainly need some extra backing. I also harbor ambitions to have a dinner jacket made in a shantung.

Silk is a versatile fabric, used for suits and jackets for decades.

[Mark Seitelman]

I have not found Dupioni silk to be either fragile or hot. In fact, it is lightweight and perfect as a summer suit.

The problem with Dupioni is that it comes from a limited number of merchants in a limited range of colors, such as white, tan, and navy.