The London Lounge

I have seen Loro Piana fabric that is 50/50 Cashmere and Linen, and another by Scabal that is 50/35/15 Mohair, Linen and Silk. Members' views on the relative advantages of the two fabrics in context of use for a summer suit would be greatly appreciated

Many thanks

If you want to cook to death in the heat choose the 50% cashmere cloth.

Sator wrote:If you want to cook to death in the heat choose the 50% cashmere cloth.

Yes, I too thought cashmere to be an odd inclusion in a summer cloth.

thank you pvpatty and sator.

I have similar concerns but the Loro Piana people in London say that Cashmere "only maintains body temperature" and that the fabric is a summer cloth. I would have thought that body temperature would be warm too in summers!

novice wrote:thank you pvpatty and sator.

I have similar concerns but the Loro Piana people in London say that Cashmere "only maintains body temperature" and that the fabric is a summer cloth. I would have thought that body temperature would be warm too in summers!

Doesn't core body temperature hover around 35 degrees Celsius?

Sounds like marketing-speak.

Any thoughts on the Scabal Mohair/Linen/Silk 50/35/15 mix; especially as regards the utility of the silk element?

I see you've posted the question everywhere.

You are worried about the silk. More important than the presence of 5% silk is how it is woven. Raw silk can be quite rough in texture and similar in feel to linen. Again, that too is secondary in importance to how it is woven, and how heavy the cloth is.

Sator wrote:
More important than the presence of 5% silk is how it is woven. Raw silk can be quite rough in texture and similar in feel to linen. Again, that too is secondary in importance to how it is woven, and how heavy the cloth is.

The silk content is 15% and the weight is 230 gms

I imagine they used raw silk to avoid the cloth becoming shiney. Does it have a fairly matt finish?

At the end of the day, it depends on how well the whole thing is woven, just as it is with cooking a dish. Good ingredients help, but what matters is the final dish that gets served.

Good point Sator. It has a mat finish indeed

Sir, I may be wrong, but I believe raw silk can be very soft because I know the "raw silk" used as padding in my Winterised smoking jacket is soft. I think it's Thai silk that is quite rough in texture.

Whatever, it's good to learn that rough silk is a good alternative to linen as Summer suiting material; if this is really the case, rough silk should be even better as it's firmer, giving a jacket better ability to retain its shape.

Sator wrote:I see you've posted the question everywhere.

You are worried about the silk. More important than the presence of 5% silk is how it is woven. Raw silk can be quite rough in texture and similar in feel to linen. Again, that too is secondary in importance to how it is woven, and how heavy the cloth is.