Are you a lightweight or a heavyweight?

[alden]

Lets leave the discussion of over heated interior spaces aside for the moment. Most of us, and this has to do largely with our physiques, either accept to be too hot or too cold. That is, some of us can adjust to hot weather in Summer easily but fear the Winter winds. Others are quite happy with the cold, but dread the warmer months.

People who are overly enveloped with natural protection on their bodies tend to accept cold quite well, but the layers of accumulated foie gras act like an electric blanket in Summer. Those who keep their fat content down on the other hand, like a thick dose of Cheviot around their body in January and are quite happy with Summer’s blaze.

So, our choices and preferences in cloth are conditioned by our physiques as well as our overheated or under heated environments. Choose the cloth weights that suit you best, or change the physique.

Cheers

M Alden

[masterfred]

Although I'm carrying around a few extra pounds compared to when I was in my twenties, I'm not too far off the mark of my "prime" fighting weight, as it were. However, one thing that has never changed for me is that I feel the heat very much. Cold has never bothered me. While I love the look and feel of a really weighty suit or jacket fabric, anything much over 12-13 oz is too much for me, I've found - even in cold weather. Even when I lived in the midwestern US, I never wore a really heavy overcoat in winter. I wish I could embrace the drape of an 18 oz worsted, but realistically that's not going to work for me.

[sartorius]

Masterfed - I agree with you.

To my Northern European sensibility it is virtually impossible to retain any measure of elegance when you are sweating like a bitch (to use a technical term).

That said, the fact that we have 4 distinct seasons in the UK means that there is room in one's wardrobe for a great variety of weights and styles.

[HappyStroller]

Having more than one set of cloth weights for different seasons is quite a luxury because of budget constraints, Sir.

I prefer to make do with warmer fur hats, thicker outer coats, waistcoats, cashmere sweaters, thick woolen socks, fur-lined leather gloves, cashmere scarves, thermal underwear, etc. Spending money on such accessories also help make one looks better dressed too.

But supposing one were to have a winter set and another set for the rest of the year, I am not sure that finding heavy-weight wool in places like Shanghai would be easy. I also dread to think of having two sets (one light-weight and one heavy-weight) of the same colour/pattern for executive wear, e.g., solid charcoal gray, solid midnight blue, solid navy, solid medium gray, pin-striped charcoal gray, pin-striped midnight blue, pin-striped medium gray, and just one khaki or tan lightweight suit, all worsted wool.

Not being that used to real winter climates with heavy snow, blizzards, etc., I am also quite knowledge challenged when it comes to the use of winter executive shoes or boots. What can gentlemen wear for places with annual snowfalls more than a foot thick, if I may ask?

...>snipped>...

Choose the cloth weights that suit you best, or change the physique.

Cheers

M Alden

[Richard3]

What can gentlemen wear for places with annual snowfalls more than a foot thick, if I may ask?

It`s been snowing here in Austria for several days in a row. Today a pair of brown suede brogues with dainite sole serves me well.

[Concordia]

Do you do anything special to protect the suede uppers, or is it cold enough that you can just brush the dry snow off them?

[Chris Rimby]

Do you do anything special to protect the suede uppers, or is it cold enough that you can just brush the dry snow off them?

I was just about to ask this same question..

[countdemoney]

heavier cloth is such a dream to wear. Despite enough natural protection, I would always rather be too hot than too cold.

[whittaker]

Living in the UK affords the opportunity to experience the full range of cloth weights. Now that I have grown to love the heavier weighted worsteds and tweeds, I have also come to love the emergence of autumn and winter. There is great pleasure in putting away my frescos and linens, and taking my 15/16 ounce flannels and heavier tweeds out of their covers.

I find it gratifying to have the basic suits matched for each season. There is more than enough difference between a mid-gray fresco for summer wear, a mid-gray 15 ounce flannel for winter Fridays and a mid-gray 15 ounce worsted for the office.

[masterfred]

heavier cloth is such a dream to wear. Despite enough natural protection, I would always rather be too hot than too cold.

My preference is just the opposite. I spent some weeks on business in Washington, DC, this past summer, and a walk through Georgetown one August day reduced me to a sodden mess of perspiration. I (almost literally) could not have been more saturated if I had jumped into the hotel pool while clad in suit and shirt.

[luk-cha]

it has taken me a while to think of the right thing to say, i have been toying with the question of which weight i prefer!

the answer is both i love the 15oz hopsack suits that i am wearing this winter here in HK i have been wearing them since september and while the weight might scare some they aqre actuly not as warm as one might think, being quarter lined!

then that go me thinking further i know in the heat and humidity of the HK summer i can not wear them but this is were my fresco suits come into play! and help maintain the right amount of elegance (i hope) without being too warm!

to pick one over the other would be quite hard. because i love the weighty feel and drape of the 15oz hopsack but also light airy feel of the fresco too.

for me both have there place in my wardrobe and offer me right clothing for the right season and hopfully keeping the balance of comfort and elegance. with that in mind i remember asking my mother when i was younger "whom did she prefer? me or my brother?" she'd reply "i like you both the same, i just sometimes i prefer you to him and visa vera, it does not mean i like ether of you more"

LC

[BirdofSydney]

Overheated interior spaces indeed! As I write it is 1:23 in the afternoon and I am freezing in my Chambers even with my coat on.

I prefer lighter weights generally, though am gradually tending towards heavier cloths for reasons of durability if nothing else.

I wonder, from those who have more experience than I, which is the warmer and the more breathable - a three-piece in a lighter cloth, or a two-piece in a heavier?

[Concordia]

I tend to run warm, and hate being too hot. That said, 13-16oz suits in the cold, dry weather do provide much pleasure. And like hitting one's head against the wall, it also feels good when I stop and switch over to 10-11 oz in the spring.

[Costi]

I wonder, from those who have more experience than I, which is the warmer and the more breathable - a three-piece in a lighter cloth, or a two-piece in a heavier?

In my experience layered clothing, however light, traps heat and tends to wear much warmer than heavier, one-layered clothing. Even a light waistcoat can overthrow my thermal balance in a heated environment.

[RWS]

In my experience layered clothing, however light, traps heat and tends to wear much warmer than heavier, one-layered clothing. . . .

I remember that this lesson, applicable to most men, was relearned during the brief war between the Argentine and the U.K. in 1982. Argentine troops, issued heavy but few garments, suffered horribly from the cold, even those men from Chubut (far south, cold, cold, cold). British troops, by contrast, fared markedly better with lighter but more layered clothing.