On Finishing

[manton]

Every tailor I know, and a good 2/3s of the cloth merchants I have talked to, say that blending in cashmere and/or (even more so) mink is a gimmick that adds nothing to the performance or feel of the cloth.

Today I have on a woolen flannel that is 95% wool, 5% cashmere. It feels marginally softer than a Minnis flannel that is 100% wool, but is also notably inferior. The tailor who made it said that cloth would have been better had it been 100% wool.

[HappyStroller]

Yes, Algernon, you're quite right. Apparently it's flannelette that is made from cotton, not flannel, which is made from wool. Wikipedia explains the fact better.

Too bad for one of my Shanghainese clothiers; she keeps trying to persuade me to make a cashmere suit.

It is my understanding that flannel is made from wool, and so would not class as 'vegetarian' - although no doubt the sheep which provide the wool would classify as such.

My feeling is that cashmere is over-rated for suitings; sure, it's luxurious, but it doesn't wear well. It's the type of thing one might use in a suit for going to the opera etc, rather than day-to-day wear. I'd prefer a woolen flannel under most circumstances.

[HappyStroller]

Thanks, Manton, for your most welcomed advice. So it's a grey flannel suit then.

How about a smoking jacket? Would cashmere be better or more appropriate than velvet?

Every tailor I know, and a good 2/3s of the cloth merchants I have talked to, say that blending in cashmere and/or (even more so) mink is a gimmick that adds nothing to the performance or feel of the cloth.

Today I have on a woolen flannel that is 95% wool, 5% cashmere. It feels marginally softer than a Minnis flannel that is 100% wool, but is also notably inferior. The tailor who made it said that cloth would have been better had it been 100% wool.

[Jackson]

I recently had a conversation with a tailor, further to what Manton mentioned, who said that adding cashmere, mink, and so on to the cloth was something the cloth merchants have pushed to charge higher prices to those who don't know any better (he mentioned the similiarity in this regards with the whole Super Somenumber craze) and that he as a tailor finds the blends to be inferior across the board.

[Will]

Most of what the cashmere does, in my experience, is make the cloth less likely to hold a crease.