The London Lounge

It's getting a tad late for this, but I'm thinking about getting a crisp looking suit for very warm weather. I do have a mohair blend in not-quite-navy, which seems to be the natural color for this material. But there are some real navies and a midnight blue mohair blend in the Smiths book.

Do those look OK when made up, or do they have shortcomings not obvious in small swatches? Any other suggestions? My first thought was an Oxford grey but those don't seem to exist in mohair blends.

If you like the slightly rougher texture of Fresco, you will find that there are a number of very suitable Oxford and grey shades in the book. Also, apparently, there is now a Fresco II book, which is slightly more refined, in a Finmeresco way.

Midnight, rather than navy blue?

I won't have access to the Fresco II until the firm visits, and I'd like to at least make an intelligent query to get things started before then. There is a new lightweight batch of Finmerescos (9oz or so) that I have seen, and I was thinking about getting a SB charcoal/oxford from that book. I also already have a dark grey "crush-proof" DB from a Super 120s Fresco-like house fabric from A&S that does fine in that way. I'm hoping for a bit more elegance, though,if that can be found without too many other sacrifices.

And I am undecided about the midnight/navy question. One of the hardest things about coordinating colors is getting blues to talk to each other well. I have a lot of electric/royal blue ties that I bought because I like the color, and have since found that they don't really work with many blue suits. The suits are often too grey, or too light, or some other problem. I'm thinking that a very cool, dark shade would accept all those other blues. The question is how dark is necessary, and does midnight create its own problems.

Concordia wrote:there are some real navies and a midnight blue mohair blend in the Smiths book. Do those look OK when made up, or do they have shortcomings not obvious in small swatches?

The mohair blend from the Smiths book, once in the suit, feels really light but has a wonderful drape at the same time. My DB dinner suit is made of that midnight blue and I´m very happy.
The only shortcoming that I can think of (and you may not see it in a small swatch) is that the cloth might be a bit shiny for some tastes.

I have a navy blazer made from the Finmeresco book. It's a great colour and would make up well as a suit. However, I had my blazer made unlined and with patch pockets, both mistakes. The cloth needs some underlying structure, I think, and the patch pockets bag quickly

Unlined, or unstructured?

rogiercreemers wrote:Unlined, or unstructured?

Good point. It is what I think is described as "buggy lined" but there is a canvas in the chest. It's DB so the effect of the self-lining and canvas at the front and no lining at all in the back gives it a curiously unbalanced feel.

Scot wrote:I have a navy blazer made from the Finmeresco book. It's a great colour and would make up well as a suit. However, I had my blazer made unlined and with patch pockets, both mistakes. The cloth needs some underlying structure, I think, and the patch pockets bag quickly

I also did a SB jacket from the 9oz Finmeresco-- not the original 4-ply. That would work well as a suit. And, yes-- the patch pockets were a mistake.

hectorm wrote:

Concordia wrote:there are some real navies and a midnight blue mohair blend in the Smiths book. Do those look OK when made up, or do they have shortcomings not obvious in small swatches?

The mohair blend from the Smiths book, once in the suit, feels really light but has a wonderful drape at the same time. My DB dinner suit is made of that midnight blue and I´m very happy.

I'm afraid I have never seen the Smiths Finmeresco book in my life. Are the mohairs/mohair blends you refer to inside the Finmeresco book or some other book from Smiths?

Thanks in advance.

of the hardest things about coordinating colors is getting blues to talk to each other well. I have a lot of electric/royal blue ties that I bought because I like the color, and have since found that they don't really work with many blue suits

One of the reasons to prefer gray if you like blue.

Summer evening suit, mid-gray Brisa, or navy linen.