The London Lounge

Hello,

I just got some Irish Donegal tweed (from a mill long gone)



Fabric is slightly brighter than the picture. The small colours are pink and sunshine yellow.
Was originally making a suit. Now thinking it might just be a bit too blue.

Any opinions?

Much thanks

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Nice sport jacket in there somewhere. Probably too blue for a suit, especially if you have to ask.

Agreed. Given compatible coloring in the wearer, that could be a smart jacket on a bright winter day with dove-gray or winter white flannels, perhaps with a bulky natural blond turtleneck. Or a spring day with linen trousers, if the cloth isn't too heavy . . . .

What a pretty cloth! But not for a suit that's to be taken seriously.

That you have to ask sums it up. Maybe a sports jacket if you have the ability t pull it off without being thought costumey.

Suit never.

The fabric is perfect for a winter sport jacket to be matched with flannel trousers in any gray tonality (light, medium or dark). For a very sporty and stylish outfit You can also combine it with cream or sand cotton drill trousers.
Absolutely not suitable for a suit.

Angelo

you might have a shot at a bespoke dog mattress...

couch wrote:Agreed. Given compatible coloring in the wearer, that could be a smart jacket on a bright winter day with dove-gray or winter white flannels, perhaps with a bulky natural blond turtleneck. Or a spring day with linen trousers, if the cloth isn't too heavy . . . .

Quoting for agreement. Great as a sportcoat for sunny winter days or fall days or summer if the weight is right. I don't see this as a suit - too bright and blue, but that doesn't mean I wouldn't wear trousers from that cloth separately.

I agree with Dopey: potential for a fine sportcoat (along the lines already laid out by others), by no means a suit, possibly a very interesting pair of super-casual, cold-weather trousers.

dopey wrote:

couch wrote:Agreed. Given compatible coloring in the wearer, that could be a smart jacket on a bright winter day with dove-gray or winter white flannels, perhaps with a bulky natural blond turtleneck. Or a spring day with linen trousers, if the cloth isn't too heavy . . . .

Quoting for agreement. Great as a sportcoat for sunny winter days or fall days or summer if the weight is right. I don't see this as a suit - too bright and blue, but that doesn't mean I wouldn't wear trousers from that cloth separately.

&

RWS wrote:I agree with Dopey: potential for a fine sportcoat (along the lines already laid out by others), by no means a suit, possibly a very interesting pair of super-casual, cold-weather trousers.

Much thanks for your words of wisdom. I have been financially burned before with some of my more adventurous sartorial experiments. I have a linen plaid suit that looks ridiculous no matter what I have paired it with.

i.e the first suit here:
http://thelondonlounge.net/gl/forum/vie ... light=suit

There are a few other fabrics in my stock, which my tailor has gently discouraged me from pursuing. (note to self: Big christmas present for tailor). I think that he feels his reputation would be dirt no matter what he did with some of them.



I am presently carrying the blue Donegal fabric in my car, and at lunch time, I have taken a look at it in bright sunlight. If it were any brighter and I may have called it florescent. Why oh why am I railroading down another sartorial trainwreck with making this into a three piece suit. But the kind souls here have much more experience than me in these sartorial hinterlands and I shall heed the kind advice.

Was building a safety net by considering the advice of wearing the trousers separately from the jacket.

I do not know if any of you get Vanity Fair, but there was an issue with some Irish earl or duke. Anyway, he had the castle, was married to an Indian lady (maybe a maharani) and had either created or revived a record label that focused on Irish music. The photo spread on him featured him wearing a lavender waist coat and jacket of either tweed or irish linen. I was inspired by that. Would any of you know who I am talking about?

No, I am not an earl, nor do I have pretensions of being one.

Much thanks for your kind advise.

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OF, we dress to please ourselves. If you really want to wear a three-piece suit of this bright tweed, you should have it made.

The trouble is that we naturally -- well, most of us naturally -- balance our delight in form and color with the social constraints of shame, embarrassment, even the peacock's strut. Not for nothing did the Beau remark that no gentleman wishes to stand out by other than the fine quality of his clothes!

If, as the Irish nobleman (I suppose), you so love the idea of the blue-tweed suit that the crowd will not chagrin you, hie thee to thy tailor!

But, for most of us . . . . (I remain fascinated by the idea of a pair of violet-cordovan saddle shoes, but will I ever have them made? I'm not certain . . . .)

It occurs to me that, in addition to making a nice sports jacket, this would be a lovely fabric for a ladies' suit. Some of the more colourful tweeds over the years are intended for that.

HorseGunner wrote:. . . this would be a lovely fabric for a ladies' suit. . . .

I suppose that this cloth was indeed woven for women's wear. (It puts me in mind of chic American women of the 1950s.)