Johnstons of Elgin

[Scot]

I had the chance to thumb through some Johnstons tweed today and was very impressed with it. Beautiful colours and a great feel to the cloth (to the untrained hand!). It looks as though it will last about a hundred years. Has anyone had it made up?

[old henry]

I like Johnstons very much. Very Very Much. Get it.. FS

[cathach]

I had the chance to thumb through some Johnstons tweed today and was very impressed with it. Beautiful colours and a great feel to the cloth (to the untrained hand!). It looks as though it will last about a hundred years. Has anyone had it made up?

I contacted them before and they said they didn't weave anything over 360g, that might have been for their cashmere though.

[old henry]

Yes, the thorn is 700gm.

[Slewfoot]

Bookster has a bunch of their fabrics online. Most are tweeds around 600 grams I believe. I particularly like this one:

[Rowly]

I think they do a wide variety of weaves from Cashmere, Saxony to heavy Estate tweeds. I don't see anywhere online where their cloths can be perused...which is a great pity

[JCH]

Rowly, there are a few hanging about on the Bookster site.


Regards,

[Scot]

Slewfoot, that is the one, along with its green twin, I was particularly tempted by. It's rare to find that kind of glen check on a solid backround. The cloth has a great spring to it.

[old henry]

The tailoring on the coat above is great also. There is a new Johnstons Chocolate Brown in the tweeds. It is rich and old . Hard to find a good brown these days.

[cathach]

old henry,

your comments on finding a decent brown brought this piece of documentary footage to mind http://www.youtube.com/user/HandsIrishC ... xtuiG-C3kk . Its about the production of brown yarn and how yellow, orange and blue must be added to produce a colour that is alive. It shows the making of yarn in the Kilmainham Woollen Mills. Its only a short piece but fascinating.

The footage is from the RTÉ (Irish national television) show 'Hands' about traditional crafts in Ireland.

[old henry]

Ho very interesting Thank you..

[Rowly]

Rowly, there are a few hanging about on the Bookster site.

Yes, and the good thing about Bookster is that they show pics of the finished piece, which is extremely helpful in deciding on a pattern. They feature a few nice Worsted Alsports and Bateman Ogden Glenhunt, etc. They use their own names but it's easy to cross ref. to the actual books ...e.g. Duddingston is Glenhunt #874. It would be a great help if some of the Merchants would show pics , perhaps of a large banner of the cloth draped over a person's shoulder, to give a better indication of how the pattern makes up....instead of tiny swatches that don't even show all the checks in a pattern. I cannot comment on Bookster's tailoring ( they look a bit like photo-fits to me, with no overall flow, but I haven't seen them in the flesh)...but I will give them full marks for how they market their cloth. Even the samples they send out are big enough to give a good feel for the pattern. The way they do it is simple and cost effective...some of the big names in cloth could take a leaf out of their Bookster.

[Badden]

I have 2 coats made from JoE's estate tweeds (560g cloth). Amazing stuff - love the cloth.

[kolecho]

I like Johnstons very much. Very Very Much. Get it.. FS

Frank,

Does Johnstons have a 600-700g dark grey herringbone tweed that would work as a city overcoat? Thanks.

[old henry]

No , Sir, I do not believe they do. Johnstons makes authentic Estate Thornproof Tweeds. Harrissons might do this cloth. Can anyone else help this Gentleman ? Heavier weights are getting hard to find even in top coating. I will look into it. FS